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Martyr Missionary, by John Kline

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Title: Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary
       Collated from his Diary by Benjamin Funk

Author: John Kline

Editor: Benjamin Funk

Release Date: September 17, 2005 [EBook #16711]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF ELDER JOHN KLINE.]



LIFE AND LABORS OF ELDER JOHN KLINE

THE MARTYR MISSIONARY



COLLATED FROM HIS DIARY

By

BENJAMIN FUNK



ELGIN, ILL.:
BRETHREN PUBLISHING HOUSE,
1900.




INTRODUCTION.


In the burying ground of the Linville's Creek German Baptist church in
Rockingham County, Virginia, there is to be seen a marble slab engraved
with the name JOHN KLINE.

In walking through a cemetery and pensively viewing the memorials of
the departed, one question of deep interest often presses upon the
mind and heart: Are these, whose names are here recorded on slab and
obelisk, still alive and in the possession of conscious being, or are
they dead--

  "All to mouldering darkness gone;
  All of conscious life bereft?"

We turn to earth, and from her lips the ear of reason catches
deep-toned words of assurance that death is not the end of life. The
hue of the butterfly's wing, "the flower of the grass," the beauty of
the vernal year, these all, all teach the sublime truth that "all
great endings are but great beginnings." The voice of God from the
unrolled page of plainer if not diviner truth, says: "These are not
dead, but sleeping--they shall wake again."

Satisfied on this point, the next question turns to the lives and
characters, works and words of those who lie buried here. Were they
good or bad? Are their spirits now in heaven, or somewhere else? There
are two classes, however, concerning whom no such questions arise. The
first class is made up of those who have died in their infancy; and
ever and anon while looking at the "little lamb," or "rose bud," or
"young dove" not yet fledged, the words flow into the mind as from the
lips of Jesus: "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." The other class is
composed of such as have given clear evidence, by profession and life,
that they are the children of God. The words for them come as did the
others, from the page of Heavenly Truth, "Therefore are they
continually before the throne, and praise him day and night in his
temple."

The epitaph of John Kline is read without a doubt ever springing up in
the mind of any one who knew him. We saw him, not as Elisha saw Elijah
in sight, ascend to heaven; but with the eye of faith we saw him
clothed in a celestial body; and with the ear of faith we heard the
welcome: "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."


THE ANNUAL MEETING OF 1878.

In the year 1878 the Brethren's Annual Meeting was held with the
Linville's Creek church. Brethren and sisters from many sections of
our Union were present. Many graves in the cemetery by the
meetinghouse were to be seen. Epitaphs were read by the throngs of
people who walked around to view them. Few of these bore anything
beyond the simple inscription of the name and the two facts that fall
to the lot of all: The time of birth and the time of death.

But there was one grave from whose humble mound each visitor seemed
eager to pluck a flower, a leaf, or any other little thing that might
be carried back home and enshrined in a casket for a memento of one
never to be forgotten. That grave was the grave of John Kline.

One sister, with tears in her eyes, said: "He preached my mother's
funeral." Another said: "He used to visit us in Ohio; and we always
loved so much to see him come." A brother said: "I traveled with him
over two thousand miles, and he was always one thing." Others said:
"The meeting is lonesome without him." "He was at our love feast in
Pennsylvania the year he was killed," said another. It would be vain
to attempt to follow up all the affectionate memories that were
expressed by the loving throngs of sanctified hearts that surrounded
his tomb.

In this book ELDER JOHN KLINE is set forth not as dead, but as alive;
as living and moving amongst us again. His life work stands recorded
on earth as well as in heaven. With untiring perseverance Brother
Kline kept a record of his work every day for a period of TWENTY-NINE
YEARS. These records contain two great facts common to the life of
every man, woman and child.

FIRST FACT.--Where he spent the day and night.

SECOND FACT.--How he spent the day and night.

A truthful record of these for many, made public, would blast their
reputation abroad and blight their peace at home. But not so with our
beloved brother. Whilst it is true that he had no expectation of his
Diary ever being published, it is equally true that it does not
contain a single entry of which he has cause to be ashamed before man
or God. That the entries are faithful and true needs no proof other
than the testimony that thousands still living are ready to bear to
his untarnished name as a man honest and honorable in all things.

As a Christian, the beloved ministering brethren who spoke at his
funeral are to-day not ashamed to apply to him the same words they
applied to him then, and which were taken as the subject of discourse
on that occasion. In speaking of his appointment to the ministry they
took these words: "And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of
the Holy Ghost." Acts 6:5. They also added the other words spoken of
Stephen in the eighth verse of the same chapter, a man "full of grace
and power." Can anything loftier be said of a man's qualification for
the work of the ministry?

As Stephen was the first Christian martyr, and Brother Kline the last
then known, they closed their discourses in heartfelt realization of
these words: "_And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made
great lamentation over him._" We all took part in the lamentation--the
writer himself being present and speaking on the occasion--and felt
that the ruthless hand of violence had wickedly torn from our midst a
friend and counsellor whose place could not be filled by any other.

As a kind-hearted, loving mother puts her child's best new dress on it
before taking it to church or in public, so have I endeavored to
clothe the diary of Brother Kline in a suitable attire of Sunday
clothes. I sincerely believe that the work in this form will be highly
acceptable to the Brotherhood at large; and as Brother Daniel Hays
says in a letter to me, "productive of much good."


PART II OF INTRODUCTION.

This book, if carefully read, will instruct both young and old. In
this age of progress, when the forces of nature and art are being
applied to practical ends; when "men are running to and fro and
knowledge is wonderfully increased," it becomes us as intelligent
Christians to look around and see whether we are not living in
perilous times.

Far be it from me to discourage any one from seeking that knowledge
which is good, or from availing himself of the benefits to be derived
from the arts and sciences; but if this knowledge and these benefits
are sought and gained only for worldly ends, only to add to worldly
accomplishments or worldly treasure, they are dangerous for time and
ruinous for eternity. What support can the soul have in its deep
conflict with temptation, or in the dark hour of affliction or
bereavement, when stayed on this world only? In all the tenderness of
a father's heart I turn to the youth of our land and say to them in
the words of the best Friend that God himself could give: "Seek FIRST
the kingdom of God and his righteousness," and all earthly blessings
will be added unto you.

In the following pages you may see what one man may do by "patient
continuance in well doing." Brother Kline was a man "subject to like
passions as we are." He was once an infant just as you were, and lay
at his mother's breast. He very well remembered, when an old man, how
he felt when she made for him his first pair of "_pants_." When that
kind mother put them on him, pleased and smiling in the tenderness of
her nature, "the first use that I made of my hands," said he to me
shortly before his death, "was to feel for the pockets." "We incline,"
continued he, "to carry this feature of our boyhood into youth and
age. The pocket never ceases to be a very important appendage to our
dress, and the hand inclines to put into it every valuable thing it
can."

Brother Kline never went to school very much. He learned to read and
write both German and English; and he also studied arithmetic. Further
than this he never went in school. He did not have the advantages of
free schools as young people now have. But you may learn from this
that one may carry on his education after leaving school. In fact,
schools only _open the way_ for acquiring an education.

When a boy I was very fond of reading the lives of great men. I did
not then know very much about poetry, but I surely did feel something
of the fire that Longfellow has made to glow with so much heat and
light in his "Psalm of Life." I am glad to add, by means of this book,
one more name to the list of great men, so that in the lines which
follow he too may be included.

  "Lives of GREAT MEN all remind us
    We can make our lives sublime;
  And departing, leave behind us
    Footprints on the sands of Time:
  Footprints, that perhaps another
    Sailing o'er life's troubled main--
  A forlorn and shipwrecked brother--
    Seeing, may take heart again."

Elder John Kline will be set forth in this work as one of the great
PIONEER PREACHERS of the Cross. A brief but clear outline of many of
his sermons, together with the time and place of preaching them, will
be given. Many of the love feasts which he attended, and the substance
of what he said at some of them will also be noted.

He has left a record of the name of every family he ever visited in
all the States, together with the day and year when such visits were
made. Those brethren and sisters of the Lord who still remember him,
will, while reading this work, live over again the years that have
passed away and been almost forgotten. You will again listen to the
voice of his holy, healing words at some love feast long ago gone by.
You will again sit with him by the "old home hearthstone" as it used
to be when father and mother were living, and all the brothers and
sisters together in the room, and hear him talk and sing, and read and
pray. And will not this exercise of the mind and heart be pleasant?
Will it not be profitable? Will it not serve to refresh your love to
Christ and the Brotherhood? May it not rekindle in your heart a flame
of that first and tender love which shone so brightly when first you
saw the Lord? You then could sweetly sing:

  "Jesus, I my cross have taken,
  All to leave and follow thee."

Since that time many cares and toils and afflictions and bereavements,
perhaps, have caused you to sigh in mournful memory:

  "What peaceful hours I then enjoyed!"

and the heart-sobs sadly echo:

  "But they have left an aching void
  The world can never fill."

In such seasons of sadness and despondency it is helpful to the heart
to hold communion with the great and the good through the medium of
their writings. Men who leave such comforting testimony behind them
are a blessing to all within the circle of their influence while
living, and when dead they continue to speak. Their words are felt and
blessed on both banks of the "River of Time" as it flows down through
the ages.

There were a few points in the life and character of Elder John Kline
which may very appropriately be referred to here. I sincerely hope
that all the youthful members of the Brotherhood, especially, may
become acquainted with these points.

THE FIRST POINT.--_He was truthful._ He never spoke positively about
anything without first examining the matter carefully; and even then
he said about it only what he knew to be true. How different this
habit from that of many who speak positively about things which they
do not well understand, or which they are for the most part ignorant
of!

THE SECOND POINT.--_He never spoke evil of any one._ It is not to be
understood from this that he spoke _good_ of every one. On the contrary,
he spoke freely of the sinner and to the sinner; warning him of his
danger and pointing him to his impenitent doom. But it is to be
understood that he never spoke evil to _injure_ any one. Whatever he
said in that way was to reform and to bless. His heart overflowed with
love to all.

THE THIRD POINT.--_He was temperate._ During a long personal acquaintance
with him, I never knew or heard of his taking a drink of ardent
spirits or intoxicating liquor of any kind. If he ever did use any at
all, it was only as a _medicine_. But as he was very temperate in his
eating, and judiciously careful of himself generally, he was rarely
ever sick.

THE FOURTH POINT.--_He was abstemious._ This, in connection with strict
temperance and pure morality, made him a clean man. His mouth was not
polluted with _chewing tobacco_. His nose was not defiled with _snuffing
tobacco_. His breath was not vitiated with _smoking tobacco_. He
consequently never used tobacco in anyway. My dear young reader, in
all the love of my heart, I urge you to "go and do likewise, that it
may be well with thee."




LIFE AND LABORS

OF THE

MARTYR MISSIONARY

ELDER JOHN KLINE.


We have no certain account of the time and place at which Brother Kline
was set forward to the ministry of the Word. On Sunday, Feb. 8, 1835,
he spoke for the first time after his appointment to the ministry of
the Word. This much, at least, is inferred from its being the first
entry made in his Diary.

He, and Elder Daniel Miller, from near the head of Linville's Creek, in
Rockingham County, Virginia, were together at John Goughnour's, west
of the town of Woodstock, in Shenandoah County, Virginia. The meeting
was at Goughnour's dwelling house. Brother Miller put John Kline
forward to take the lead in speaking. Brother Kline had previously
selected the subject, and thought upon it, to be ready, in the event
of his being required to take the lead in speaking. Matthew 11 was
read; and Brother Kline took his text. It was verses 4, 5 and 6 of the
chapter read. These are the words: "Go and show John again those
things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead
are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And
blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me."

"It may be proper in the first place," said he, "for us to inquire why
John sent the message to Jesus which gave rise to the words of the
text. The message may appear strange to some, as John had, not long
before, pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. He had seen the 'Heavenly Dove' descend from the open
heavens and abide upon him as he came up from the baptismal wave, and
had heard the Father's voice from beneath the same uplifted veil:
'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' It is my belief
that John had become doubtful. The iron gates of Herod's castle had
shut out from him all bodily comfort, and with this his hope seemed to
vanish. This experience has had many a repetition in the realizations
of good men since John's day. He felt himself neglected. If Jesus is
the friend I took him to be, why does he not come to my rescue? I do
not understand him. How can he feel satisfied to know that I am lying
here in great bodily distress and perplexity of mind, and put forth no
effort to release me, and thus restore me to useful activity in his
service? Many, many, not in Herod's castle, but in other castles, such
as beds of affliction, castles of poverty, castles of persecution,
castles of bodily infirmity, castles of bereavement, castles of losses
and crosses in one way and another, have had the same experiences, the
same doubts and misgivings.

"John resolved to try to find out about all this if possible. So he
sent the messengers. Here note the love of Christ. He does not upbraid
John for this half reproachful message. He calmly returns to him in
the shape of an answer a series of the most wonderful truths the world
has ever heard; truths which, in their spiritual sense, comprehend the
work of salvation on the part of Jesus from the alpha to the omega.
'Go and show John again the things which ye do hear and see.' The use
of the word '_again_' implies that a similar answer had been returned
to John at least _once_ before. This testimony, with the love in which
it was sent, may have refreshed John's love for Jesus, and reassured
his faith. The last words of the returned message contain something
like a gentle reproof to John, '_And blessed is he that is not
offended in me_.'

"I think the Lord knew that John had been somewhat _offended in him_;
that he had doubted his love, or his wisdom, or his power, or all
these together; and that the Lord's apparent neglect of him was
traceable to a want of these perfections. Doubts of this kind, from
weakness of the flesh and spirit, have often been known to invade the
hearts of other good men, when the divine love has been partially
veiled from sight in seasons of great distress. Even our Lord himself
upon the cross cried out, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'
I cannot think that the divine love ever did forsake him for one
instant. It was so only in appearance to him.

"The things connected with the life-work of Jesus, which John's
messengers had just seen and heard, bore a much stronger testimony to
his divinity and Messiahship than any declaration he could have made
by mere affirmation. Here is verified the old proverb: 'Actions speak
louder than words.' All may see a valuable lesson here. We are
commanded to let our light shine. What an honor it would be to Christ
and the church, if every member of it would be able to point to his
good works as proofs of the sincerity and genuineness of his religious
profession!

"Notwithstanding John's doubts and impatience, the Lord still loved
him tenderly; and after the messengers had departed, he said to the
multitude: 'Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a
greater than John the Baptist.' Our way would have been to include
this encomium in the message, and let John hear it. In our way of
thinking this would have done him more good than the other. But as the
heaven is high above the earth, so high are the Lord's thoughts above
our thoughts, and his ways above our ways.

"Could our eyes catch a glimpse of the bliss that thrills John's heart
in heaven to-day, we would no longer wonder why the Lord left him lie
in Herod's castle."


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_Preached at Forrer's, in Page County, Virginia,
Sunday, February 15, 1835._

    TEXT.--And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy
    sandals: and so he did. And he saith unto him: Cast thy garment
    about thee, and follow me.--Acts 12:8.

Peter's hands were chained, and he was lying in a cold and gloomy
prison in Jerusalem. Herod, who was at that time viceroy of Jerusalem
and Judea, had imprisoned Peter just to please the Jews. These were
the bitter enemies of Christ.

It looks to us as if it would hardly be worth while to pray for the
recovery of a sheep already dragged into a den of wolves, and lying
there only waiting to be devoured. But the saints at Jerusalem did
pray for Peter, and they had to pray secretly too. You may be sure
they did not pray to be heard of men. They were only afraid that men
might hear. But there was one that did hear. For "the angel of the
Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote
Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And
his chains fell off from his hands."

You know something about Peter's disposition. He often spoke without
thinking very well what it might be best to say; and sometimes he
acted without thinking what it might be best to do. On this occasion I
do believe that he would have followed the angel through the streets
of Jerusalem, bare-footed and in his night clothes, if he had not
kindly ordered him to gird himself and bind on his sandals and cast
his garment about him.

I, for one, do believe that all the miracles and providences wrought
by the Lord and recorded in his Word are for the instruction and
ultimate good of all who read or hear them.


THE LESSONS OF INSTRUCTION.

I. Sometimes men who have been subject to very bad habits are, by the
Gospel and the Holy Spirit, led to forsake them. They form new loves.
They find joy in a new life. Old things with them have passed away.
They come from the baptismal wave clad, as it were, in a new garment,
even the beautiful garment of salvation; and the new song in their
mouth is praise to our God. I can name some of this class in our
church who have run well; some who have fought the good fight of faith
with unflinching courage and resolution to victory complete. But
others have been made to weep and lament from the fearful truth that
this same beloved Brother Peter tells us, that "our adversary, the
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,"
for they have been devoured by him.

In the garden of Eden the devil came to Eve in the form of a serpent.
I imagine this to be his most natural form. We sometimes see him
caricatured as a man with horns and cloven feet. This is a mistake.
A man in this form would make a frightful appearance. But the devil
never approaches any one in a way to frighten him. He is too cunning
for that. A fox takes care not to frighten away his prey. Even the
lion, when he is seeking his prey, never roars at that time, but
crouches and hides in the tall grass or thicket until his prey comes
near enough, and then he springs upon it with a single bound. The
reason why Peter calls him a _roaring_ lion is because he roars
furiously after his prey is in his power. His roaring then is but a
note of victory and defiance. The devil knew that he would not
frighten Eve by coming to her in the form he did, because she had
never then, as yet, known anything of evil. But when he comes to men
now in the serpent form, he comes as "_a snake in the grass_."

I sometimes think that age adds shrewdness to the devil's plans. He
comes to men in so many forms and ways, first to delude and then to
destroy, that they may be called _legion_. But, as Paul says, "We
are not ignorant of his devices, for Satan is transformed into an
angel of light."

He learns to know every brother's and sister's weak point. To the
brother who has been fond of ardent spirits he comes behind the
deceitful, covetous smile of the rumseller. In this instance the order
of the fable is reversed. There the ass put on the lion's skin; here
the lion puts on the skin of the ass. To the brother whose weakness is
adultery he comes in the form of a harlot, "jeweled and crowned." To
the brother whose special sin has been covetousness he comes as a
friend. He takes him by the hand, leads him to the top of some high
mountain, there shows him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of
them, and pledges to him the enjoyment of all this glory and power if
he will but fall down and worship him.

Now, Herod was a type of this devil, and the prison in which Peter was
chained is a type of the "horrible pit" into which many a good-meaning
Christian has been cast by him. But even for such there is quite as
much hope as there was for Peter. The Lord is ever nigh to redeem and
to save. But there must be a willing mind. If Peter had said in his
half-asleep state, "Just leave me alone--I'll come after awhile--I'm
too sleepy to go now"--what then? It would have been impossible for
the Lord to rescue him, if he had not been willing to be rescued by
the Lord.

Some, who have "been taken captive by the devil at his will," keep
awake in a certain sense. The pall of darkness and deep sleep has not
yet settled down upon them. They are conscious of their situation.
They know and feel that they are in the hands of the enemy, but how to
escape is the trouble with them. If such would only have the mind and
will to do as Christian and Hopeful did in "Doubting Castle," they
could readily find a key in their bosoms with which to unlock every
gate, and thus make their escape.

II. In this respect they differ from Peter, for "_he was sleeping
between two soldiers_." Besides this, there were men stationed at
the door to keep watch all night. But the Lord is prepared for every
emergency. What storm can sink a ship when Omnipotence is at the helm?
If you or I, brethren, were to see a brother confined and guarded as
Peter was, I greatly fear we would utterly despair of ever seeing him
rescued; especially so if public sentiment were rife with malice and
rage against him. I fear we would say, It is no use to _pray_ for
that man. Nothing short of a miracle can save that man; and miracles
are not wrought by prayer nowadays. But the loving hearts gathered
together in secret places in Jerusalem thought not so. They "made
unceasing prayer for him."

Now let us note the order in which the Lord proceeded to answer these
prayers. He came to Peter and smote him. Whether the stroke was light
or heavy is a thing of little consequence. It succeeded in awaking the
man. This was its object. I think the Lord gave Peter only a _slight_
tap on the side, because he was not hard to wake up that night. But
there are some, and I have known such, whom the Lord had to smite very
hard to stir them from their sleep. They open their eyes in amazement
and wonder why they have been so smitten. Unfortunately for some of
this class, they open their eyes, but they see not; they hear, but
they heed not. I think I have known a few such; and I fear the Lord
said of them what he said of Ephraim: "He is joined to his idols, let
him alone."

III. There is a third class, and they compose a great multitude, who
have, so to speak, grown up in the devil's prison house, and have
grown so used to his ways that they are willing to stay there. These
may be said to be bound with _two chains_. Their love of the world is
one chain, and their love of self is the other. I may be addressing
some now who are thus bound. Let us see. Jesus says: "Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And a second is
like to it which is this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Does every one who is now under the sound of my voice do this? Are you
sure, my friend, that you love God more than the world, and that you
love your neighbor as yourself? What proof have you to give of this?
Jesus again says: "If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that loveth
me will keep my words." There can be nothing more perfectly in harmony
with human nature in all its phases than these declarations of our
Lord. Where is the subject that is unwilling to render obedience to
the prince or king that he loves? Where is the loving child that
refuses to obey its parents? I tell you that obedience is the test and
proof of love. Do you obey our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you say "No"?
Then, my dear friend, let me say to you, in all candor and love, you
do not love him. You may imagine that you do, but your imagination on
this point is a delusion. But perhaps you are ashamed to confess him.
Hear again what the Lord says: "He that is ashamed of me and my words,
of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his
glory."

But perhaps you ask: "How am I to get rid of my chains?" Get rid of
them, my dear unconverted friend, just as Peter got rid of his. The
Lord is just as willing and as able to rescue you from the chains of
sin and the thraldom of bad habits as he was to rescue Peter from the
chains with which the Roman guard had bound him. The Lord came to him,
not in darkness, but in light. He brought the light with him. He never
works in darkness. Even when he was about to fashion the world, the
first thing he did was to throw a flood of light all over its wide,
chaotic surface. But the light which he caused to shine in the prison
did not wake Peter up, although it must have shone in his eyes. So he
smote him on the side, and no doubt shook him gently.

Peter opened his eyes and saw the light. The angel "raised him up,
saying, Arise up quickly." At the very first move he made to stand on
his feet, his chains got loose, and when he rose to his feet they fell
right off. This is the way you are to get rid of your chains. The Lord
comes to you as he is present now and says to you, "Arise up quickly,
and follow me." The very moment you firmly resolve to obey him in
love, that very moment will your chains begin to get loose; and when
you arise to follow him in the way his Word directs, they will fall
off.

You may here see how the Lord works with man. It is said the angel
raised Peter up; and at the same time, while he had hold of him, he
ordered Peter to arise up quickly. This is just the way we would do in
trying to get one awake and up, whom we dearly loved if he was in
great danger. An infant we would pick up and carry out; but one in
health and strength we would expect to act for himself; we, at the
same time, doing what might be necessary on our part. Just so the Lord
acts with every poor sinner. He comes with light and he comes in love.
Sinner, I am sure he has come to you to-day. He is saying to you now,
Rise up quickly, and follow me.

And where does the good Lord propose to lead the sinner? He offers to
lead you out of your prison house of sin into "the glorious liberty of
the children of God." He proposes to take you out of darkness into
"his marvelous light." He will, if you but rise up and follow him,
give you _eternal life_, and a home in heaven forever, free from
sickness, sorrow, pain and death. Will you not go with him?


VISIT TO A SICK WOMAN.

After preaching the above sermon, Brother Kline, in company with
Brother Kagey, visited a sick woman living on Forrer's land. He says:
"She seemed to be suffering a good deal in body; but more, I think, in
spirit. We told her that Christ Jesus was the only substantial hope we
had to set before her; that faith in him would bring salvation and
peace to her soul. I read to her from the Sermon on the Mount: 'Ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you: for if ye know how to give good gifts unto
your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give
good things unto them that ask him.' The best thing that our heavenly
Father can give us is a heart to love and obey him. God works in us
both to will and to do the things that please him; but we at the same
time must have a willing mind to do them. In this way we come to be
co-workers with God.

"'Baptism,'" I said to her, "is the first public act of obedience
required at our hands. Here our sins are _in figure_ washed away; for
baptism is called in the Word 'the washing of regeneration.' As a
newborn child is washed before it is clothed and set before the
family, so the newborn child of God must be washed and made pure
before he or she can come into the church as a full member. But the
baptism of the child of God denotes a spiritual cleansing; whilst the
washing or bathing of a newborn infant means only bodily cleansing.
Hence Peter says that 'baptism is not the putting away of the filth of
the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.' This means
that it fills the heart with a sense or feeling of 'righteousness,
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.'"

"After instructing her awhile in this way we ended our call with
prayer."

On Sunday, March 15, there was meeting in


DANIEL MILLER'S DWELLING HOUSE.

This is about five miles north of Harrisonburg, in Rockingham County,
Virginia. It is at present occupied by Benjamin Miller, the youngest
son of Daniel Miller. He stands high as overseer of the Greenmount
church. He has a numerous family of intelligent and godly children,
all now grown up, and members of the Brethren church.

At the time of this meeting, Brother Daniel Miller's family was young,
and most of the children were at home, _eighteen in all_; and all
children of one mother. Brother Kline says: "I felt deeply impressed
with the weighty responsibility resting upon the father and mother of
this pleasant and orderly household; and not upon them only, but upon
us also, who are preachers of the Word. In this feeling, I proposed
the reading of the fifteenth chapter of John's Gospel. I spoke briefly
from these words: '_If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had
not had sin._' John 15:22."


_Sermon._

"These words are a part of our Lord's farewell counsel to his little
band of chosen disciples. This was just before his betrayal into the
hands of his murderers. He spoke to them about this sinful world. He
told them how the people of the world would treat them, and what they
would think of the glorious Gospel which they were soon to proclaim.
'In the world,' said he to them, 'ye shall have tribulation; but in
me, ye shall have peace.' The text does not teach that men who are
ignorant of God's Word are sinless; neither does it teach that the
doctrine which our blessed Savior taught tends to make men sinners.
Oh, no! But this is what it means: That God is so merciful and
gracious that until men are instructed and warned of their danger, he
does not hold them severely accountable. But when the light of truth
is shed around them, and the way of life and salvation pointed out to
them, and they then shut their eyes to the light and close their
hearts to knowledge, he holds them accountable, and deals with them as
sinners.

"I feel now to address a few words to the dear young people who are
assembled here. The Lord bless you in the dew of your youth, while
your hearts are yet tender; before age and sin have made you hard,
give your hearts to God. This you can do by loving our Lord Jesus
Christ, who laid down his life for you. When you love him with the
heart, you believe on him with the heart; and when you believe on him
with the heart, you have a desire in your heart to obey him by doing
his commandments. You will purify your souls by obeying the truth.
'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' 'Seek the Lord
while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near;' for, saith
he, 'they that seek me early shall find me.'

"But you may desire to know how you are to seek the Lord, and where
you are to look for him. I hope you are thinking of this now; so I
will tell you. The only place where the Lord can be found is in his
Holy Word. There you find him in the form of the man Christ Jesus. And
whilst he is there set forth as the 'man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief,' he is also set forth as the 'true God and eternal life.'
He there says: 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.'
'And he that drinketh of the water that I will give unto him shall
never thirst.' This water is the TRUTH of his Word. It so fills the
soul with love and light and joy and peace, as to become a fountain of
delight within us. Reading God's Word in the right spirit is drinking
of the Water of Life. When this truth finds a place in the memory
through the love of it, the memory keeps our thoughts perpetually
supplied with it, and thus it becomes, as our Lord says, 'a fountain
within us unto everlasting life.'"

SATURDAY, March 21, Brother Kline, in company with Brother Daniel
Miller, went to Brock's Gap, and spent the night at Brother
Sunafrank's.


BROCK'S GAP.

This is a small area of country in Rockingham County, Virginia,
containing about one hundred and fifty square miles. It is the head
basin of the north fork of the Shenandoah river. It is almost
completely surrounded by high and rugged mountains; and where the
river has broken a gap for its outlet the scenery is not surpassed by
that of Harper's Ferry.

A considerable number of people live in it, and there are some good
farms and thrifty farmers. In Brother Kline's day Brock's Gap was only
a mission field. At this time the German Baptist Brethren have two
well-built and commodious houses of worship in it. At the time Brother
Kline commenced preaching there they had no house of worship and the
membership was very small. The membership at this time includes some
from nearly all the leading families in the section. The Fulks,
Fawleys, Richies, Hevners, Moyerses, Smiths, Doves, Lambs, Shoemakers,
and many others are represented in the Brotherhood.

SUNDAY, March 21.--The two brethren crossed the Shenandoah mountain
and arrived in


SWEEDLIN VALLEY.

This valley lies in Pendleton County, West Virginia. It extends
northward along the west foot of the Shenandoah mountain for about
eight miles, and is separated from the South Fork valley west of it by
Sweedlin mountain. It is the habitation of a good many families, is
exceedingly picturesque, and is in some respects beautiful.

The two brethren were called here to preach the funeral of old Brother
Nazlerode. His father had been a Hessian, and served under British
colors in the American Revolution. At the close of the war he, with
many others, declined returning to his native home in Hesse-Darmstadt
in Germany, and decided to stay in America. But this class of citizens
was not very welcome among the patriots of American liberty. They were
looked upon with a degree of opprobrium; and hence they sought homes
in the more remote and secluded valleys among the mountains. Brother
Nazlerode had died some time before. The preaching was at the house
where the old brother had lived.


_Sermon by Daniel Miller._

Brother Daniel Miller spoke first in the German language. He took for
his subject 1 Pet. 1:24, 25. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the
glory of man as the flower of grass: ... but the word of the Lord
endureth forever."

He spoke very beautifully and impressively on the short-lived
pleasures of earth. He said that the new birth and the new life, which
lift man to God and fit him for heaven, are not begotten of the
corruptible seed of man, but of God through the Word of his Truth,
which liveth and abideth forever. He pointed them to Jesus as the
"Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." He then, in a
very affectionate manner, exhorted all to accept the salvation offered
and walk in the way that our Lord has made plain in his Word.

Brother Kline followed and said: "Brother Daniel and I both felt moved
to pity when we considered the situation of these people. They have a
poor chance to hear the Gospel, and but few of them can read the
Bible. We closed the services suitably, and then went to friend Jacob
Wansturf's and spent the night."

MONDAY, April 13.--Brother Kline, in company with Brother Frederic
Kline, went to Brock's Gap on the yearly visit. He says: "We found
some of the members in a very poor condition. One sister, in
particular, moved my feelings deeply. Her husband is somewhat
dissipated and does not provide for his family as he should. She is
the mother of three small children; and, judging from their present
appearance, they have undergone a good deal of suffering for want of
food and clothing. None of them have any shoes; and the thin coverings
they have on are so patched and darned that one can hardly tell the
kind of goods they were originally made of.

"I inquired how they were off in the way of food. She replied that
they had about a peck of corn meal in the house and several bushels of
potatoes buried in the garden; and she reckoned they could do right
well till she could get some more washing and other work to do. I gave
that patient, uncomplaining sister three dollars out of my own pocket
money. 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' There is a day
coming when we shall more fully realize this truth than now."


THE YEARLY VISIT CONTINUED.

TUESDAY, April 14.--"We have found a quiet and peaceable state of
feeling in the Brotherhood generally. There is, however, among the
younger members, too great a tendency to conform to the world in dress
and conversation."


MEETING AT BENJAMIN BOWMAN'S.

FRIDAY, April 17.--"His son, Samuel Bowman, was baptized to-day, and
the subject of discourse was the baptism of Jesus as recorded in
Mark's Gospel. John seems to have been a sort of open link by which
the chain of prophecy in the Old Testament was united with the chain
of its fulfillment in the New. As a prophet, he went forth in the
spirit and power of Elijah. But Elijah of old uttered his prophecies
surrounded by midnight darkness. John utters his in the light of the
rising Sun of Righteousness; and they all point to the future glory of
that Sun. The Sun rose publicly from the waters of Jordan in the
person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when the Spirit of God in
the form of a dove descended upon him, and a voice came out of heaven,
'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.'

"What a recognition! What a reception! And will not our heavenly
Father meet every true-hearted believer in the same way, as he rises
from the baptismal wave? Not visibly, to his natural eye; not audibly,
to his natural ear; but by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with his
spirit that he is a child of God. For 'baptism is the answer of a good
conscience toward God.' This is its first blessed power."


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_A Funeral Sermon at Sunafrank's in Brock's Gap,
Sunday, April 26._

    TEXT.--Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour cometh, and now is,
    when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they
    that hear shall live.--John 5:25.

The Lord spoke these words to the Jews. They would not believe that he
was the Son of God. They sought to kill him, not only because he had
broken the Sabbath by healing a man on that day, but also because he
said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. In his
reply to them he uttered some of the most wonderful truths the world
has ever heard. He said: "THE DEAD SHALL HEAR."

In the ear of a Jew these words had an ominous ring. They could not
gainsay them in a direct way, because the Lord had, that very day, and
before their eyes, wrought a miracle which was almost equal to that of
making a dead man hear. It appears strange to us that any class of
people could harbor feelings of enmity toward one so kind and good as
Jesus was. But the Jews were a very proud people, and exceedingly
_vain_ in their imaginations. And because the Lord would not flatter
them, and give them credit for great knowledge and wisdom in divine
things, they fell out with him and hated him.

Jesus does not say that _all the dead shall hear_. But he does mean
that all shall have a chance and the power to hear if they will. But
who are the DEAD of whom he speaks? They are all who are not spiritually
alive; Jews and Gentiles. The Scriptures in many places speak of men
as _dead_ who are bodily alive. They are dead in one way, and alive in
another. I will explain this. In respect to faith in the Lord and love
to him, the Jews were dead. There was no spiritual life in them.
Jewish worship was all an outward, external thing. But God regards a
man's spirit, his heart. "For they that worship him must worship him
in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him."

There stands a tree. It is just now in full bloom, and the sight is
beautiful. A few months ago that tree was dead in one sense and alive
in another. It was winter-dead. There were neither leaves, blossoms
nor fruit upon it. Had it continued in that state, it would be cut
down as a worthless thing. But it had a receptacle of life, and that
life is in the sun which imparts heat and light to everything. The sun
makes the earth warm; the watery vapors to ascend and form clouds
which give rain; the sap to rise and form itself into leaves, blossoms
and fruits. Every unconverted man and woman, just like that tree in
winter, is dead as to all divine or heavenly life in the soul. Let us
see: He is dead as to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He does not love
him. He lives just as if there were no God to love and obey; no hell
to shun; no heaven to obtain. He does not love the people of God as
such. But, notwithstanding all this, he has a capacity, such as God
has given to every man, to be made alive in Christ Jesus. Christ is
called the Sun of Righteousness. He is so called because he, like the
sun in our sky, rises and shines upon the evil and the good; and
whosoever opens his heart to the light of this Sun is filled with the
light of _truth_ and _love_, and made alive to walk in the way of
righteousness before him.

This light comes through his Word, the Gospel of our salvation, as it
is proclaimed by his faithful ministers, and falls upon every sinner.
If the sinner will open his ears to the voice, and his eyes to the
light, the promise in the text is that he "_shall live_." Jesus says:
"I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall have the
light of LIFE. In him is light, and the light is the LIFE of men." But
if the sinner, like the owl, closes his eyes to the light of truth,
and his ears to the voice of the Lord, he will abide in death, and,
like the owl, love darkness rather than light forever.

SUNDAY, July 19, Magdalena Wampler and John Miller's wife baptized.


_Sermon by Elder Daniel Miller._

_In the German Language, at the Linville's Creek Meetinghouse._

    TEXT.--And there went out unto him all the country of Judaea, and
    all they of Jerusalem; and they were baptized of him in the river
    Jordan, confessing their sins.--Mark 1:5.

Judging from the multitudes that went out to John's baptism, his
preaching must have created a lively sensation in Jerusalem and Judaea.
All who went out were Jews. In justice to the text, we must notice the
fact that the word ALL, as there used, applies only to the common
people. These came to John confessing their sins. He pointed them to
the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." The scribes
and Pharisees and lawyers, the chief men of Judaea and Jerusalem, went
not out to be baptized of John. These had no sins to confess; no
ignorance to deplore; no spiritual ailments or infirmities. "They that
be whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick."

It was with the common people that John succeeded in preparing the
"way of the Lord." May we not also do the same? When we induce men to
think upon the subject of religion, when we persuade them to repent
and believe the Gospel, we too are preparing the way of the Lord. The
Word of Truth does not have free course all over the world yet. Many
amongst us oppose it. Millions far away are still in pagan darkness.
But every soul that truly believes in Jesus and is baptized has the
promise of salvation; and every such soul is a fresh light in the
world's darkness. The more of such lights we can get to shine in the
world the lighter will it grow, and the more and more will the way of
the Lord be prepared.

In John's day the people were not ashamed to come and be immersed in
the Jordan. There does not seem to have been any doubt or uncertainty
with them as to the mode or form of baptism. Every one went to the
river Jordan. If a few drops of water, applied to some part of the
body, had answered the end of baptism as well as the immersion of the
whole body in water, I think most of them would have saved themselves
this long journey. They would have called John to Jerusalem, to that
wealthy and populous city. He could have just passed through the
streets with a pail or pitcher of water in his hand, and with little
trouble could have applied a few drops to the head or face of each one
that asked it.

For want of room, we now pass over all the entries in the Diary from
July 19 to September 11. This time was actively taken up by our
beloved brother in attending love feasts, council meetings and regular
appointments. In body he was robust, vigorous and active: in spirit he
had long reaches of faith and hope and love. This incited him to great
activity; and I often heard him say: "An hour misspent or trifled away
is just so much time given to Satan."


JOURNEY TO OHIO AND RETURN THROUGH KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE.

This journey occupied _two months_ to the day. Friday, September 11,
he passed up through Brock's Gap, and down the Lost River Valley.


LOST RIVER.

This is a small but very clear and beautiful stream in Hardy County,
West Virginia. It flows through a rich and delightful valley between
Church mountain on its eastern side next to Shenandoah County,
Virginia, and the South Branch mountain on its western side. After a
course of about twenty miles in a northeasterly direction it suddenly
disappears at the base of a mountain extending like a huge dam across
the valley. After a subterranean passage of a few miles it reappears
on the opposite side "clear as crystal." From this point to its mouth
in the Potomac it bears the name of Ca-capon or Capon. Tradition says
this is an Indian name, and means FOUND. This stream, from its head to
its mouth, may aptly represent the life, death and resurrection of the
Christian.


STATE OF THE COUNTRY.

For the information of the young especially, many of whom it is hoped
will read this book, I will give a brief description of the state of
the country through which our beloved brother expected to travel,
partly alone and on horseback. No doubt you have read the story of
George Washington, not quite twenty-one years of age, starting on
horseback with only a single companion, to carry a letter from
Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia, to the commander of the French
military forces at Venango, in the extreme northwestern part of
Pennsylvania. Washington delivered the letter and returned the answer.
Many books of American history give an account of this wonderful
achievement, and praise the man who performed it.

Brother Kline, in part, passed over very nearly the same ground on
this journey that Washington had passed over on his. Washington went
with a motive altogether worldly. He was complying with the wish of
the governor of his State. Brother Kline went with a motive as far
transcending in sublimity and importance anything appearing in that of
Washington as heaven is high above the earth, and the thoughts and
ways of God are above those of men. He went to raise men from the
depths of sin into which they had so deeply fallen, and exalt them to
companionship with angels in the skies. His mission was to turn men
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. He laid no
claim to any power within himself to do this; but he went in the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and in the power of him who is able and
mighty to save.

We must bear in mind, too, that this journey was undertaken more than
fifty-eight years ago. A very large part of the country through which
he had to pass was yet in a state of virgin forest. No railroads bore
the lightning trains on their bosoms. Very few houses in much of the
country were to be seen; and many of these offered little besides
shelter, and some barely that. There were hardly any bridges. Broad
and deep rivers had to be forded on horseback, or crossed in what the
Indians called a CANOE. This is a kind of long boat made from the body
of a single tree, by cutting or burning out the inside, and leaving
the bottom, ends and sides like a trough. He reports having crossed
some streams in this kind of a boat. His life was several times
endangered by crossing deep waters.

SATURDAY, September 12, he arrived at Abbey Arnold's, in Hampshire
County, West Virginia. On the thirteenth he attended a love feast at
Daniel Arnold's nearby, and reports a very joyful meeting with the
Brethren whom he had not seen for a time.

MONDAY, September 14, he took leave of the Brethren in Hampshire
County, and directed his course through Maryland into Pennsylvania;
and on Friday, September 18, he crossed the Ohio river, two and
one-half miles below Acreton. He was ferried across in a flatboat.

SUNDAY, September 20, he arrived at Brother George Hoke's. He says: "I
have been exposed to some bad weather, and have passed over some bad
roads; but to meet such a dear and kind brother as George Hoke, and be
received in such a pleasant way as I have been by the dear brother and
family, is more than a compensation for all the exposure and toil it
has cost."

As nearly as I can, I will now give the substance and manner of a
conversation which took place the same evening between Brother Kline
and Brother Hoke. The Diary is silent upon it, but Brother Kline
related it to me himself in the year 1862. Brother Jacob Miller, of
Greenmount, Virginia, told me afterwards that Brother Kline had
related the same to him. The weather being a little cool and damp, the
two brethren sat by the fire. I will name the parties in the order of
the conversation.

KLINE.--Why do not we ordain deacons in the same way the
seven were ordained at Jerusalem?

HOKE.--Do you think the seven were deacons?

K.--Yes, I have always thought so.

H.--I do not think they were.

K.--Well, here is a difference of opinion between brethren.

H.--Let us try to get together on this point.

K.--I desire, above all things, to know the truth, and to see eye to
eye with all the Brethren on every point of Holy Writ.

H.--So do I. Now let us see. I do not think the seven were deacons,
because they are nowhere _called_ deacons. Have we a just right to
call them deacons when the Word does not call them so? Again: I must
think the church at Jerusalem was fully organized before any demand
was found for the appointment of the seven. Did it not have deacons at
the start? Who attended to gathering up food and hunting shelter, and
making general provisions for the comfortable entertainment of
thousands of brethren and sisters, and their children besides? I
rather think that the deacons already in office attended to these
things. But the number of the brethren increased so rapidly that the
deacons needed help in the way of general oversight, and the most
natural thing in the world would be for them to apply to the apostles
for advice in regard to the matter. But the apostles replied, "It is
not reason that we should LEAVE the Word of God and serve tables."
This proves that they had not done so before, and that it would not be
right for them to do so now. Hence the importance of getting men of
real executive ability to serve the present necessity. Such ability
and fitness they found in the seven whom they set apart to that work.
But they must not only possess business tact; they must be "men full
of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, and men of _honest_ report," whose
record in life proved their HONESTY. This, Brother John, is my opinion
as to the reason why the apostles were so particular on this point.
These seven men would certainly have a great deal entrusted to their
general keeping; and unless they were _honest_, they might take
advantage and make personal gain out of it. They soon got things so
arranged in the hands of the deacons, that Stephen, one of the seven,
could leave and give all of his time, or most of it, to preaching; for
we are directly informed that the opposing Jews "were not able to
withstand the wisdom and the spirit in which he spake." Right on the
strength of this began the terrific persecution which soon resulted in
the martyrdom of Stephen, and eventuated in the dispersion from
Jerusalem of all the leaders and most of the influential and
well-known members of the body. Philip only, of all the seven except
Stephen, is mentioned in the New Testament after this. It seems that
after he had preached for some time he married and settled down at
Caesarea, where, years after, Paul found him, and spoke of him as one
of the seven--not deacons--although it would have been very easy for
Paul to call him such, had he been a deacon. Paul here calls him
Philip the evangelist. Acts 21:8.

K.--I must admit, Brother George, that your argument is fair and
pointed, and I will reconsider the whole subject. I never before saw
the office and appointment of the seven in the light in which you have
presented it to me this evening.

H.--I believe there are points in addition to those already given, but
you may find them yourself.

MONDAY, September 21, Brother Kline attended a love feast at Brother
Snider's.

WEDNESDAY, September 23, he attended another at Brother Samuel
Mishler's. He spoke beautifully on 1 John 3:2: "Beloved, now are we
the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we
know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him."


A SHORT DISCOURSE.

In my view, there is no passage in the Bible which requires a stronger
faith to believe it fully than the one just quoted. No passage that I
know of sets forth in such lofty terms of description the exaltation
and glory of the redeemed. Often have I heard persons express their
wonder that Jesus did not tell us more about heaven and the future
state. This text itself tells us infinitely more about this than we
are capable of comprehending. Let us think a little.

I. It tells us that we are _now_ the SONS OF GOD. To be the son of a
_rich man_ is esteemed a great boon; to be the son of a king is an
honor and fortune enjoyed by few. But what are favors like these
compared with being a son of God! No wonder John says in another
place: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God!" Take the words of my text
all to yourself, my brother, my sister: believe it; love it; and ever
rejoice in the light of it. You desire to know how you attained to
this high distinction. I will tell you. Jesus came to you in his
blessed Word with the assurance that "as many as receive him, to them
gives he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name; which are born, not of blood; nor of the will of the flesh;
nor of the will of man; but of God."

  "This promise ever shall endure,
  Till suns shall rise and set no more."

You received the Lord by believing on his name. This is faith. You
believed with your heart; that is, your faith was full of love, and
your love was attended and followed by obedience, and this made your
faith complete. It is yours now to rejoice in hope of the glory of
God.

II. But you can hardly believe that you are to be just like Christ. On
the mount you saw him glorified. "His face did shine as the sun, and
his outward form was white as the light." Now Paul says: "He shall
change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto the body
of his glory." "Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father."

O brethren, let us look at the _bright_ side of the Christian's life,
for it has a bright side, and that is the side next to heaven, on
which the light of heaven forever falls. I am not unmindful of the
fact that, figuratively speaking, one side is turned to earth, and the
earth in many respects is a very dark place. On the earth-side "clouds
and darkness are the habitation of his throne;" but on the heaven-side
"the city hath no need of the sun to shine in it, for the Lord God and
the Lamb are the light thereof; and there shall be no night there."
"We are fellow-citizens with the saints [in glory], and of the
household of God." Oh, brethren, let us walk worthy of our high
calling. "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give
thanks: for this is the will of God concerning you."

FRIDAY, September 25. Brother Kline passed through Jerome, Petersburg
and Mansfield and got to Brother John Hoover's.

MONDAY, September 28. "This evening," says he, "I am at Judge Watts's.
Having been unavoidably delayed by having to get my horse shod,
darkness overtook me five miles away from here, and nothing but a
continuation of thick woods appeared in every direction. More than
this, the wolves set up a howling in a very threatening manner. Had I
been compelled to pass the night in the woods, I would have been in
danger of being devoured by them. Whilst alone in the darkness I
thought, How quickly would these ravenous creatures fall upon and
devour an unprotected sheep! And how surely would the wolves from
Satan's den fall upon us and make a prey of our souls if Jesus, the
Good Shepherd, did not guard and protect us through the spiritual
darkness of this world! Several verses of one of Watts' old 'cradle
hymns' came to my mind whilst thinking over these things. They run
thus:

  "'Once, as oppressed with sleep I lay,
    With pining hunger bold,
  A prowling enemy came by,
    And robbed my little fold.
  But Thou, Great Shepherd, dost not sleep
    Nor slumber oft like me;
  So that no foe can steal a sheep
    Eternally from Thee.'"

TUESDAY, September 29. "This evening I am at Brother Abraham Miller's
in Allen County, Ohio. From Judge Watts's to this place is only five
miles. But how different my feelings this evening from what they were
last evening! Then I was alone in the woods, in hearing of wolves in
several directions, with darkness on every side; now I am here with my
beloved brother and his pleasant family. Oh, what will it be, what the
ineffable joy to find ourselves, some day, in heaven, eternally safe
from all danger and harm!"

Brother Kline spent the time between this and the next Sunday in
traveling and visiting.

SUNDAY, October 4, he attended a love feast at which he made some very
beautiful and appropriate remarks on Luke 4. "There is," said he,
"much of human nature set forth in this chapter. So long as Jesus
spoke of the things that pleased the assembled Jews they 'all wondered
at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.' They applied
these gracious words to themselves, and flattered themselves into the
belief that they were 'God's favorites' on account of their inherent
virtues. But when the Lord indirectly spoke of them as starving widows
in God's sight, and filthy lepers, 'all in the synagogue were filled
with wrath.' When flowers are thrown upon the surface of a calm
lake--so the poets say--the lake is made to smile with dimples of
delight; but when heavy storms of truth are thrown in, the mud at the
bottom is stirred up, and the lake boils with filth. Brethren, let us
try to 'cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord;' and then we will not get
angry when the truth is presented."

I would like very much to give the name of every family with which
Brother Kline passed a night throughout this entire journey, and also
the name of every brother and sister and family called on, but want of
space absolutely forbids.

October 5 and 6 were spent at a council meeting near Brother
Butterbaugh's. He does not say, but I guess this was in Montgomery
County, Ohio. The names--Samuel Fouse, David Miller, Abraham Erbaugh,
Samuel Kline, John Brower, Abraham Flory--all occur in close
connection as having been visited by him.

SUNDAY, October 11. Brother Kline attended a meeting at which he
reports Jacob Rife, John Garber, James Smith and George Miller, all
from Virginia, as being present with their families. They have come to
find homes in Ohio. They had arrived there on Friday before, which was
October 9. It may be very gratifying to the children and grandchildren
of these parents to find out the exact day on which their fathers and
mothers arrived in the county and State where they settled.

MONDAY, October 12. Meeting at Brother Hoffert's. Brother Kline spoke
to-day on Matthew 25. I can give only a slight touch of his discourse:
"This chapter," said he, "is full of wonders. The parable of the
talents; the parable of the ten virgins; and a description of the
general judgment. Both parables are intimately connected with the
judgment, and indicate the broad basis on which it will be conducted.
I believe that the virgins in the parable represent professors of
Christianity. They all had lamps. They all slumbered and slept. In
these two respects they were all alike.

"But the great difference between them at once appears, when the
announcement is suddenly made, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh! go ye
out to meet him.' Then the folly of the foolish, and the wisdom of the
wise is first disclosed. The foolish had provided no oil for the
replenishing of their lamps. I fear they were like too many now, who,
in the heat of excitement, under the influence of misguided
instructors, blindly fall into the ranks of those who take the name of
Christ in one hand and the fashions and pleasures of the world in the
other, and thus move on through life. Alas! such have lamps that may
answer for this life, and oil enough and of a kind to keep their lamps
aglow while living in this world; but when the day of trial shall come
their lamps will prove useless for want of the right kind of oil. The
only oil that will burn in the presence of Jesus, and whose light he
will own, is the oil of heavenly love proved by a life of self-denial
and obedience to his Word. Lord, help us, that we all may love thee
more, and through obedient faith in thee find the door of heaven open
to our ransomed spirits."

WEDNESDAY, October 14. Our beloved brother now takes leave of the
brethren and sisters in Ohio and starts on his way to Tennessee. On
the fifteenth he is ferried across the river from Cincinnati to
Covington in a flatboat, and from this point he pushes on to
Lexington, Ky., which he reaches on the seventeenth, having traveled
from home to that point, 788 miles. Think of it! The toil of this
journey, on horseback; over rough or bad roads; through thinly settled
sections of country, and dark forests; in sight of Indians, and in
hearing of wolves; more than sixty years ago; and all for Christ and
a burning love for his people. Well could he say what he publicly
expressed at a love feast at the Linville's Creek meetinghouse some
years after this: "I have a house that will accommodate fifty: and a
heart to accommodate a hundred if they could find room in my house."

He pushed on, scaled the Cumberland mountains; got across the
Cumberland and Clinch rivers as best he could, as both were high from
the recent rains, and arrived

FRIDAY, October 23, at Christian Shank's, in East Tennessee. On the
day before he stood by the tree that marks the spot where the States
of Virginia and Kentucky corner on the line of Tennessee. He says: "I
could not help thinking while there, What a glorious country we have
in prospect, and what a goodly land it may come to be, if the people
can be induced to turn to the Lord and become faithful followers of
the meek and lowly Jesus. What a work we have to do! How much
wickedness have I witnessed on my way since I left home! In our way of
looking at it, enough to sink a world. By turning once around I can
look over a part of three States; but how few of the followers of the
Lord are found in each, compared with the number who know him not, and
who ask not for him."

He reports delightful weather. After spending some days among the
Bowmans, Zimmermans, Crouses, Garbers, Basehores, and others,
attending love feasts, councils and appointments for preaching, he
reports a night meeting at Hase's schoolhouse. This was on the night
of

THURSDAY, October 29. The people were somewhat Calvinistic in their
views, and his discourse was so pointed in that direction that I will
give a few thoughts presented in it.


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_Preached at Hase's Schoolhouse, Tennessee._

    TEXT.--Enter ye in at the strait gate.--Matt. 7:13.

I tried to impress upon all present the danger of continuing in the
broad road of sin. This includes every lust of the flesh, everything
the heart desires through the eyes, and all the pride and vanity
of life. I said to this audience: I learn that there is quite a
Calvinistic or predestinarian sentiment in this community; and from
the expression of the countenances of some of you I fancy I hear some
of you saying to yourselves: "How can a dead man hear, except the Lord
first give him life; or a blind man see, except the Lord first open
his eyes?" I will answer your questions in order.

Lazarus had been dead four days. Jesus called to him with a loud voice
to "_come forth_." How could Jesus expect the dead Lazarus to hear?
Why did he call? Why did he not first make him alive; and then after
he found out that he _was alive_, and stirring round in the grave,
call to him and tell him to come out of that dark place? This is
precisely the way a Calvinist would think he ought to have done. But
Calvinism was not known in the Lord's day, and so he took a very
different way. He threw his voice into that cave, and it went right
into the ear of the dead Lazarus, because his power went with the
words, and the very instant they struck the ear of Lazarus the life
was in his body and he heard. Thunder and lightning always go
together; but Calvinists think the lightning must always be first.

The resurrection of Lazarus is a clear exemplification of our Lord's
meaning where he says: "My words are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE." No
sooner did the Lord call to Lazarus than his heart began to beat and
his lungs began to breathe. The Lord's words to him were _life_ and
_breath_. _Spirit_ [in one sense] means breath; and _life_ means a
beating of the heart; for as long as man's heart beats there is life
in him. Is any one here to-night willing to charge our Lord with the
folly, the _madness_ of commanding one of his creatures to do what he
knows he cannot do?

Sinner, if the popular view of election be correct, I have a word of
comfort for you right here. In Jer. 13:21 we read this question: "What
wilt thou say when he shall punish thee?" I will tell you what to say.
When you stand before his judgment seat and hear from his lips,
"Depart, thou cursed into everlasting fire," just say to him: "Why do
you condemn _me_? You told me to enter in at the straight gate, it is
true; but you did not give me the power to move in that direction. I
was blind, too, and you did not open my eyes. I was all leprous with
sin; I knew that all the time; but you did not cleanse me, although
you cleansed others. I am told that you say in your Word that you are
no respecter of persons; how then can you make such a difference in
your treatment of men, when you have 'included all under sin?'"

Now I say to you, poor sinner, the Lord never will and he never can
send you to hell with such questions in your mouth and in your heart.

There is no need of one sinner under the sound of my voice going to
hell, because Jesus is the STRAIT GATE and he is the NARROW WAY OF
LIFE; and wherever his Gospel is preached his power goes with it, just
as it went with his voice into the grave of Lazarus, or fell upon the
bier of the widow's son. The blind man did not see until he went to
the pool of Siloam and washed; but did not the power of Christ go with
him?

Say not then, O sinner, "I have not the power to believe, repent and
obey the Gospel." You have the power. God is giving you now, this very
moment, all the power you need to reach hither your hand and take the
gift of his grace. He has already opened your eyes to see the light of
his truth; and were I to say to you this night that you are too dead
to feel your duty; too blind to see the path; and too grossly ignorant
to know your right hand from your left hand in spiritual things, you
would feel yourself grossly insulted by me. But I do not say so; I do
not believe so; and in this connection--and I beg you to think
seriously upon it, to read the Bible and pray over it--I must repeat
the language of Jeremiah: "What wilt thou SAY, when he shall punish
thee?"

SUNDAY, November 1. Meeting and love feast at Bowman's meetinghouse.
This was Brother Kline's last meeting with the Tennessee Brethren on
this visit among them. I must extend the outlines of his discourse as
it was his last among them for some years.


_A Short Discourse by Elder John Kline._

    TEXT.--He died for all, that they which live should no longer live
    unto themselves, but unto him, who, for their sakes, died and rose
    again.

This was Christ. Our natural feelings and desires are selfish. Jesus
has given us the clearest example of unselfish love the universe has
ever witnessed. "For God commendeth his love to us"--that is, he shows
the exceeding greatness of it--"in that, when we were enemies, Christ
died for us." I do not believe that we ever, in this world, can fully
understand the merits of our Savior's life, death and resurrection.
Enough for us to know that he has opened a "new and living way" by
which we may come back to our heavenly Father and be his children
again.

Do you know that Adam was a son of God? Luke calls him so. But he,
like Esau after him, sold his birthright, lost the divine image in
which God had created him, and fell from his sonship. But now we read:
"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how
shall he not, with him also, freely give us all things?" The phrase,
"all things," as here used, includes a restoration to our former
sonship with God. We, as the children of God, are exhorted to follow
in the steps of our blessed Lord. This not only means that we are to
shun evils and bear reproach, but it also means that we are not to
live unto ourselves and for ourselves alone, but unto him and his
people; for "He went about doing good."

John says: "We love him because he first loved us." We, who are here
assembled in his name, can truthfully repeat this language. But how do
we prove to ourselves and the world that we DO love him? It is by
letting our light shine. Men do not light a candle and put it under a
bushel. A city on a hill cannot be hid. Brethren, I hope we have all
made clean "the INSIDE of the cup and the platter;" for this is the
only way in which the outside can be kept clean. A pure life flows out
of a _clean_ heart, and it can come from no other source. We show our
love to the Lord by observing his ordinances: by baptism, by washing
one another's feet, by partaking with each other of the Lord's Supper,
by communing with him in his broken body and shed blood, symbolized by
the bread and wine: next, in "denying ourselves of all ungodliness and
worldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously, and godly in this
present world."

Think on this last text a little bit. "Soberly" means _calmly sincere_;
not moved by fits of excitement. "Righteously" means _doing right_;
right toward God by obedience, and right toward men in our dealings
with them and in our influence upon them. Many a brother has ruined
his power for good by not being _watchful_. He told "jokes." He
delighted in frivolous, trifling things. He put on a square face at
church, to be sure; but a little disappointment would lengthen it
fearfully, and a little fun or glee would broaden it out of all
Christian shape.

For the benefit of such and all, I will define the last but _not
least_ word in the apostle's category--"godly." Brethren, this means
LIKE God; and it includes all the rest, for "God is love." To abide in
God is to live in holy, heavenly love. "Abide in me, and I in you."
Wonderful, wonderful words! This is heaven on earth.

The apostle says: "We have been made to sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus." A beautiful figure. We sit in the sun, or in
sunny places, when the light of the sun falls upon us in that
position. We sit in heaven, or in heavenly places, when the light of
heaven with its love falls full into our souls. I feel like giving
utterance to the emotion of my heart in that sweet old love-song of
ours:

  "My willing soul would stay
    In such a place as this;
  And sit and sing herself away,
    To everlasting bliss.

  "Here the Redeemer's voice
    Sheds heavenly peace around;
  And life and everlasting joys
    Attend the blissful sound."

And now I will close in the words of Paul's valedictory to the saints
at Corinth: "Finally, brethren, farewell: Be of good comfort; be of
one mind; live in peace. And the God of love and peace shall be with
you." Amen!

TUESDAY, November 3. Our beloved brother started on his homeward way
down the Valley of Virginia. He passed through Abingdon, Salem,
Lexington and Staunton, and on

TUESDAY, November 10, he reached home after an absence of two months
to the day. He says: "I have been absent from home just two months to
the day; and in this time I have traveled on horseback 1,317 miles.
With much thankfulness to our Father in heaven, do I recount my
protection and preservation through the dangers and toils of
traveling; the strength and support given me in preaching the Word;
and the great joy I have had in meeting so many dear brethren and
sisters in the Lord. Amen!"

Thus closes one of the most remarkable missionary tours on record. One
would feel sad to think that no memorial should be reared in
commemoration of it. But the heart finds relief in the thought that
this book will perpetuate the memory of it to future generations, as a
tale that will never grow old.

Brother Kline spent the remainder of the year about home; in visiting
the sick; in attending to his domestic interests; and in preaching at
the different appointments in the district. The Brethren at this time
had but few houses of worship. They consequently held meetings in the
dwelling houses of Brethren; some of which had been constructed with
an eye to that end.


BROTHER KLINE'S OPINIONS RELATIVE TO THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.

The Diary shows that in the course of this year, Brother Kline entered
a new field of useful activity. In his desire to do good; in his heart
of general beneficence, we are reminded of the philanthropy of Howard
and Wilberforce. They, it is true, wrought in a wider sphere, and
operated on a grander scale; but it may be seriously questioned
whether they had any more of the love of God in their hearts, or any
deeper sympathy for suffering humanity in their souls, than was to be
found in our truly devoted pattern of genuine benevolence, Elder John
Kline. This new field was that of administering medical relief to the
afflicted.

FRIDAY, January 1, 1836. He says: "I have long had doubts in
regard to the curative efficacy and health-restoring virtue of the
regularly established course of medical practice of the present day.
Active depletion of the body, by copious blood-letting, blistering,
drastic cathartics and starving, is, to my mind, not the best way to
eradicate disease and restore the diseased human body to its normal
state. I am well aware that every age has had its own way of treating
diseases, and every age has thought its own way the best; but fashion
and custom have, no doubt, had quite a controling power in this as in
other things; and 'the fashion of the world passeth away,' because
there is little or nothing of substantial good in it."


SAMUEL THOMPSON.

"Dr. Samuel Thompson, of Vermont, is introducing a new system of
medical practice which I believe to be more in accordance with the
laws of life and health than any I know of. His maxim, applied to
disease, is: 'REMOVE THE CAUSE, AND THE EFFECT WILL CEASE.'

"Every diseased condition of the body is the effect of some cause.
This cause being removed, the disease, either simple or complex, must
yield to the restorative forces of nature. But to diminish the
activity of these forces, by copious depletion of the body, to be
followed by a regimen so severe as to withhold, almost absolutely,
the nourishment and support nature demands, is, in my view, to say
the least, irrational."

Had Brother Kline penned these words fifty years later in the century,
they could not be more in harmony with the popular theory of medical
science as it is taught in the schools of the present day. They are
almost prophetic. He goes on: "I am therefore determined to try the
new way of treating disease, and see what I can do with it. I feel
sure it will do no harm, even if it does but little or no good."

His subsequent success as a physician for many years proves that he
was not mistaken in the conclusions at which he arrived preparatory to
his entering the field of medical practice.

He procured his remedies in their virgin purity from the mountains,
meadows and woods, either in person, with hoe in hand, or through
agents whom he employed for the work. Lobelia, Boneset, Pleurisy-Root,
Black-Cohosh, Blue-Cohosh, Lady's-slipper, Red Raspberry, Ginseng,
Spignet, Black-Root, Seneca-Snake-Root, Gentian, May-Apple, Golden-Rod,
and many other roots and herbs were quite familiar to him, not only as
they were seen growing in their native mountains, fields and forests,
but also as to their medical properties and uses.

No recreation could be more delightful to the true lover of nature
than to get on a good horse and go with him to see the Brethren, as he
called it. This may sound a little odd; but the reader must know that
Brother Kline rarely went on an errand with a single aim. His object
seemed to be to crowd into his life all the service for both God and
man that it was possible for him to do. In this desire to do good he
would sometimes humorously repeat the old saying: "Kill as many birds
with one stone as you can."

When the season approached for gathering "_roots and herbs_" he would
sometimes write to the Brethren among the mountains of West Virginia,
that they might expect him to be with them at a given time. This
announcement always sent a thrill of joy through their hearts. The
news of his coming spread rapidly; and he was sure of large
congregations for that sparsely settled country.

One Sunday, toward the close of his life, he said to me: "Brother
B----, would it suit you to go with me over to Pendleton and Hardy? I
have a line of meetings in view; and if it would suit you to go with
me I will be very glad of your company. I want to gather some
medicines by the way, and as you are fond of rambling among the
mountains you may enjoy the trip and make yourself useful at the same
time."

I agreed to go. So on Thursday morning about the latter part of July,
very early, we mounted our horses. "Old Nell"--as he called his
favorite riding mare, that had up to that time, as his Diary will
show, carried him on her back over _thirty thousand miles_--seemed to
understand where we were starting for, and how fast she ought to go.
In the early part of the day she walked very moderately; but as the
hours went by she quickened her gait, and really walked with a
livelier step in the evening than she had in the fore part of the day.
Soon after our arrival the people began to come together for night
meeting at the house where we staid.

After a most refreshing supper and a little rest we were ready to
engage in the sacred duties of worship. Brother Kline very kindly took
the lead in the services, and in a very plain way delivered one of the
best discourses I have ever heard on Col. 1:12. This is the TEXT:
"_Giving thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light._"

He showed, in a very impressive way, that if an heir to an estate is
not qualified to appreciate that estate, to enjoy it by making a right
use of it, it can do him but little good. From this thought his mind
ascended heavenward; and he said that heaven, with all its glory and
bliss, can never be a desirable inheritance to any but to those who
are qualified or prepared for it. Those who are thus qualified are
described in the text as "_the saints in light_." He then drew a most
lively picture of the difference between a saint in light and a sinner
in darkness. It almost chilled my blood to see how low in the scale of
intelligent beings the one stands contrasted with the lofty elevation
of the other.

The next day we repaired to the Shenandoah mountain to procure medical
herbs. We went up into a very deep and rich hollow, where it looked as
if the rays of the sun could hardly penetrate, and soon I saw his face
light up with something that evidently pleased him. "Ah! here it is,"
said he. "What is here?" I asked. "Don't you see this patch of
Ginseng?" he replied. "Is this Ginseng? It is my first sight of it."

As I was much younger than he I insisted upon using the hoe; but no!
He was so pleased that he seemed to want to do all the digging himself.
When a supply of Ginseng was obtained we went to the top of the ridge,
where we found a considerable quantity of Seneca-Snake-Root, an article
very much in demand at the present day.

The next thing sought for was the Red Raspberry. We hunted and hunted,
and were on the point of giving up the quest, when, at the extreme
head of a very rough mountain hollow, we discovered a "patch" of the
bushes. They were full of berries of a bright scarlet, resembling
somewhat in form the common raspberry, but in some other respects they
were quite different. They were very beautiful. If the plant would
bear domestication it would be highly ornamental. Having filled a
"poke" with the raspberry leaves, we set out to return to the place
where we had left our horses. I doubt exceedingly whether I could have
found the spot; but his familiarity with the mountains generally, and
his acute perception of topographical relations in particular, enabled
him to find the place without difficulty.

On our way back to where we had left our horses, however, we came
across a "patch" of Golden Seal. This is a graceful plant, each one
having a single calyx enclosing the seeds, somewhat in the shape of a
button or seal of a bright yellow color; hence its name. "The root of
this plant," said he, "is an excellent alterative and tonic." We dug
up the yellow roots with zest; but being by this time very hungry, I
began to fear that we might come across a "patch" of something else
that might still longer delay our return. But he seemed satisfied with
his success, and we found our horses all right. "Old Nell" had,
however, loosed the strap of her halter, and was quietly browsing
around. When she heard us coming she threw up her head; and at the
call of his voice she came up to him.

It was past two o'clock when we got back to Brother Judy's. Dinner was
soon served; and to this day I do feel that if ever I have been truly
thankful for the good things of this life it was then.

We followed up the line of appointments to the last one, and returned
home.

And now, my dear reader, I can truly say, that if it is as pleasant to
you to _read_ these reminiscences as it is to me to _write_ them, you
are well repaid.


_Sermon by Peter Nead._

_Preached at the Linville's Creek Meetinghouse,
Sunday, January 3, 1836._

    TEXT.--Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.--I Pet. 2:7.

Dear Brethren, this chapter is full of instruction and encouragement.
Peter knew by experience what it is to backslide. Now, that he is
restored again to full fellowship with the Lord and the church, Jesus
seems nearer and more precious to him than ever before. In the seventh
verse he says: "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious." I
know he must be so, because he is so precious to me. I shamefully
denied him when he most needed my loving support, and swore that I did
not know him in the darkest hour of his temptation. Who can comprehend
his grace? The meekness, the gentleness, the calmness of his forgiving
heart under trials the deepest, under persecutions the greatest, even
unto death, are surely worthy of God incarnate.

"'_I know not the man_' were the very last words he heard me utter on
his way through tribulations to the cross; and I added oaths to the
declaration. I now fail to find words to express my surprise and joy
at the message he sent me on the morning of his resurrection. When he
was placed in the tomb I had no hope of his ever coming out thence.
But what surprised and overcame me more than the direct news of his
rising was the special message of love he sent me by the women who saw
him first. He said to them: 'Go and tell my disciples AND PETER, that
I go into Galilee, and there they shall see me.' His forgiving love
singled me out as one of its special objects, because I was such a
vile sinner, and had treated him so badly. Brother Paul calls _himself_
the 'chief of sinners,' because he persecuted the saints of God; but I
feel that _I_ must be, for I denied his Son. Truly did Paul say of all
such great sinners as we are: 'Where sin abounded, grace did also much
more abound.' Thanks to my risen Lord, I can now with heart and voice
join the chorus of those that sing:

  "'O, the length and the breadth,
  And the depth and the height
    Of the love of Christ!
  It passeth all understanding!"

I have here represented Peter as giving us some of his experiences;
and I believe that my representations are correct; for in the chapter
next preceding the one just read, we find this joyful exclamation:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his ABUNDANT MERCY hath begotten us again unto a lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." I must think
that the mercy was much more _abundant_ than Peter expected, for it
wrought an effect upon him which he calls a _regeneration_, or a sort
of new birth. At any rate, he says he was "BEGOTTEN AGAIN." It looks
as if it made a new man of him. It gave him new life. He never denied
his Lord again. When called to fulfill the prophecy of the Lord
concerning "the death by which he was to glorify God," he faltered
not, but met it "as seeing him who is invisible."

Brethren, some of us may, at times, have a taste of Peter's experience.
We feel so vile in our own eyes, that, like him, we go out, and over
our sins "weep bitterly." Ah, but these are "pearly tears" in God's
sight. Though we may not know it, though we may still feel too bad to
repair, on bended knees, to a "throne of grace," yet God knows how to
value them. They are precious in his sight; and it is your experience
and mine that after seasons of this kind he sends us the brightest
tokens of his love, and we are joyfully amazed that it is so.

I once, when a boy, disobeyed my father. I have in mind a particular
instance of disobedience, and of a character very trying to his
patience. When I came rightly to myself and realized my sin I was
afraid to meet him. He discovered, without any confession on my part,
what I had done. I expected severe punishment. To my surprise he met
me with a smile. Taking me by the hand he said: "Let us go out into
the orchard." We sat down upon the fallen trunk of an apple tree, and
gently placing one arm around my neck, he said: "Peter, do you know
that I love you?" I instantly broke down under the weight of this arm
of love, and answered as well as my sobs would let me, "Yes, sir!" "Do
you love me?" he next said. Again I answered, "Yes, sir!" "Then never
again disobey me, my boy, and we will have a sweet and happy life
together." And I can say from my heart, right here, I never did.

I now think, dear Brethren, that you are prepared to understand what
Peter meant by the words: "Unto you therefore which believe he is
precious." You feel that he is precious to you, because he has taken
away your sins by giving you a _new heart_ and filling you with his
love. You can now say with the Apostle John: "We love him because he
first loved us." Now then, inasmuch as ye love him, "abide in his
love," and "the God of love and peace shall be with you." May his
grace, mercy and peace be with us all forever. Amen!


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_Preached at Tobbins,
Sunday, January 10._

    TEXT.--As ye therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
    ye in him.--Col. 2:6.

Paul addressed these words to the church at Colosse, a city of Asia
Minor, in the Roman province called Phrygia. It may be of interest to
you for me to tell you something about the character of these people
at the time Paul first visited them. Ancient history gives a very dark
picture of this. What Paul said of Athens applied equally to Colosse:
"The city was wholly given to idolatry." The lower classes, especially,
were very ignorant, having no knowledge of God save that which the
light of nature gave them.

But when Paul went into their midst, preaching the Gospel of
salvation, the prophecy of Isaiah, concerning Zebulon and Naphtali,
was fulfilled unto them, as it had been before at Capernaum on the
shore of the Galilean Sea: "The people which sat in darkness saw a
great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death,
to them did light spring up." They opened their eyes to the light and
rejoiced to see it; and their hearts to the love it revealed, and they
took it in. They accepted Christ Jesus the Lord in all his fullness.
Faith became to them a living principle. They felt its truth as surely
as though with their natural eyes and ears they saw and heard all that
it comprehended for time and eternity, for earth and heaven.

But you want to know how I find all this out. Turn with me to the
first chapter of Paul's letter to them, and I will show you. Now
notice that right in the beginning he addresses them as "SAINTS and
FAITHFUL BRETHREN in Christ." By "saints" he means that they are
_holy_; and by "faithful brethren" he means to tell how they got to be
so. This, I think, is saying a good deal for them; but he goes on: "We
give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you; having heard of your FAITH in Christ Jesus; and of the
LOVE which ye have toward ALL the saints, because of the HOPE which is
laid up for you in the heavens."

You now see that these Colossian brethren had the three essentials
that distinguish a Christian from a pagan, a saint from a sinner, and
an angel of light from a demon of darkness. These three are _faith_,
_hope_ and _love_; but of these Paul says that "love is the greatest."
This they had in large measure, because it extended "toward ALL the
saints." It is natural for every Christian to love SOME of the saints
when he is free "to pick and choose;" but to love ALL is quite another
thing.

If you will thoughtfully read this first chapter through, you will see
the high place these Colossian brethren held in Paul's confidence, not
only as to faith and love, but also as to the enlightenment of their
understandings with heavenly wisdom. He sets forth our Lord Jesus
Christ as the triune God--Creator, Redeemer and Savior--in loftier
terms than are to be found anywhere else in his epistles. Had there
been any doubt in his mind as to their ability to understand these
revelations, and thus profit by them, they would have been withheld.
He would have fed them with milk, as he did his Corinthian and Hebrew
brethren, and not with strong food.

My text says: "As ye therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so
walk ye in him." They had received him in _faith_, and _hope_, and
_love_. So were they instructed to walk in him. "Ye have been buried
with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through
faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead." "Inasmuch
then, as ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that
are above where Christ is seated on the right hand of God." "Set your
affections on the things above, not on the things that are upon the
earth. For ye died; and the new life which ye now live, ye live by
faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you."
"Avoid fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness
which is idolatry; for the wrath of God is revealed against all these
things. And ye know that a little while ago YE LIVED AND WALKED IN ALL
THESE THINGS." This last quotation tells what these brethren _had
been_, and the foregoing quotations show what they were when Paul
wrote to them.

After a careful study of these good instructions, these faithful
brethren could not mistake the way in which they were to walk. Paul
not only showed them how to get into the good way in the first place,
but he also told them how to _keep_ in the way. It is one thing _to
get into_ the right road to any place, but it is quite another thing
to keep it. In writing to his Galatian brethren, Paul says: "Ye did
run well for awhile; who turned you out of the way?" Ah, brethren,
there are many by-roads leading off from "the king's highway." I have
known brethren and sisters to start well, to all appearance, and run
well for a time; but by and by the cares of the world and the
deceitfulness of riches, and other things, like the thorns in the
parable, choked the Word in their hearts, so that they brought forth
no fruit unto perfection.


AN ILLUSTRATION.

In my travels among the mountains of our Virginia I have often seen
the laurel holding out its evergreen but poisonous leaves in sprays
of most enticing beauty. Miles and miles of road, in one unbroken
stretch, may there be seen densely hedged on either hand by this
beautiful emblem of sin and death. Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep
are every year driven over these roads. Every herdsman and shepherd
knows the danger to be apprehended from the inclination of some of
either kind to "sidle" off from the plain and beaten track and pluck
the green leaves of the laurel to their own destruction.

Many a time have I overtaken flocks of sheep, some of which were lying
along the road "_down with the staggers_." This last is the name of
the disease which is brought on by taking laurel. The old sheep avoid
it. They will not taste it. The young sheep and lambs are the only
ones that incline first to taste and then eat it. It is hardly
necessary for me to point out to you the lesson of instruction to be
gathered from what I have just said. The _staggers_, by veterinary
surgeons, is said to be a kind of drunkenness often fatal in its
effects.

The Prophet Isaiah speaks of some who "are drunken, but not with wine;
who stagger, but not with strong drink." I fancy I hear someone in the
congregation say: "I guess they must have taken laurel." Precisely so,
friend! They took the very laurel that has been the ruin of thousands
of the Lord's sheep and lambs. Let me tell you exactly what I mean.

The love of _worldly pleasure_ is laurel of _one kind_. It blooms
forth in the desire for fine dress, gay company, night gatherings,
social parties, and the like things.

_Worldly treasure_ is laurel of _another kind_. It blooms forth in the
desire for worldly possessions, no matter how obtained, and only to
gratify selfish ends. I have known some old sheep to take this kind.

_Ambition to be great and highly honored_ is still _another kind_.
This is the "deer-tongued" laurel, the very tallest kind that grows,
and has the richest looking flowers. But it is just as poisonous as
any, and it blooms forth in the desire to be admired for beauty, to be
looked up to for superior power and wisdom, and to be held in high
honor for great deeds. I have known some _old sheep_ and even _leaders
of the flock_ to eat of this kind until they staggered considerably.
It was plainly visible in their steps that their heads were not
exactly level. I am glad, however, to be able to say, that in the
flock to which we belong, I have met with very few who ever gave any
signs of being afflicted in the way last described.

In his letter to the Philippian brethren, Paul says: "For many walk,
of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are
the enemies of the cross of Christ."

But, brethren, there is a remedy for all these evils. God has provided
the remedy. Nor is it a bitter draught. It is the "milk and wine" of
his Word. Both mean TRUTH. I used to wonder why the Prophet Isaiah
used both terms, when both mean the same thing. Now I will tell you.
He says: "Come unto me, buy WINE and MILK, yea, buy WINE and MILK
without money, and without price." _Milk_ is TRUTH in its simplest and
plainest forms. Gospel truth presented in a way that very young and
uninstructed minds may readily take it in, is what Paul calls "_milk
for babes_." But wine is the very same TRUTH extended and expanded
into forms of instruction adapted to the understandings of "men in
Christ Jesus."

All are invited and even exhorted to come; to come to the "fountain
that was opened in the house of David." It is the same that is meant
by the "river of the water of life which proceedeth from the throne of
God and of the Lamb." I exhort every one, both old and young, to study
God's Word for the truth it contains, represented by the beautiful
symbols set before you therein. Even the unconverted sinner is invited
to come and take of the "water of life freely."

  "Here pardon, love, and joy divine
    In rich effusion flow,
  For guilty sinners lost in sin
    And doomed to endless woe."

The interval between the last given date and MONDAY, February 15, has
nothing in it claiming special notice. But here he says: "To-day I
attended the funeral of little Susanna Brower, who died yesterday
morning. As it is our privilege to 'rejoice with those who do
rejoice,' so it is our duty to 'weep with those that weep." I could
but weep to see the remains of this interesting little girl laid in
the cold and silent grave. I think it was the ancient Romans who
personified DEATH in the form of a walking skeleton, scythe in hand,
cutting down whatever the whim of his fancy might suggest. This
representation may accord with the relentless strokes his scythe is
sometimes seen to make; but the light of heaven reveals a Hand that
holds his bony arm within its grasp; and that Hand is the hand of our
God. For,

  "'Not a sparrow to the ground may fall
  But our Father's in it: Heart of Love that governs all.
  Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.'"

"Heaven is largely made up of children; and until every crown shall
have a head, and every white robe have a wearer, God will recall his
own."

WEDNESDAY, March 16. Brother Daniel Trump and Sister Polly Moyers were
both buried to-day. These make six funerals that I have attended in
the space of four weeks.

  "One by one, we cross the River;
    One by one, we're ferried o'er;
  One by one, the crowns are given
    On the bright, celestial shore."


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_Preached at the Old Brick Meetinghouse, Augusta County, Virginia,
Sunday, April 24._

    TEXT.--Lest there be any ... profane person, as Esau, who for one
    morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward,
    when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he
    found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with
    tears.--Heb. 12:16, 17.

Esau and Jacob were twin sons of Isaac. But Esau was born first; and
this, according to the law of primogeniture in that day, gave him
special privileges, among which was the right on his part to a double
portion of the heritage to be received from the father.

This right Jacob treacherously bought of his brother Esau. Rebekah,
their mother, was favorable to the contract, and laid the plan for its
successful completion. Esau had been unsuccessful in his pursuit of
game, and soon found himself in a famishing condition. Jacob took
advantage of this, and proposed to purchase the birthright. He said to
Esau: "Sell me this day thy birthright." And Esau said: "Behold, I am
at the point to die; and what profit shall this birthright do to me?"
And he sold his birthright to Jacob. "Then Jacob gave Esau bread and a
mess of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up and went his
way: thus Esau despised his birthright."

Esau is here regarded as a profane or wicked person, because he did
not more highly esteem the blessing to which he was born. Paul refers
to this fact, to teach us that it is our duty, as the regenerated or
"firstborn" children of God, to place a very high value upon our
relation to him conferred by this birth.

"Esau found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with
tears." This means that all his sorrow or regret for the foolish
bargain he had made would not and could not place him back where he
was before. The blessing of his father had been given to another past
all possibility of calling it back. I do not, and can not, however, as
some do, apply this to the sin against the Holy Ghost. The blessing of
Jacob was all external. It comprehended only earthly things. I will
read it, so that you may hear it: "God give thee of the dew of heaven,
and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: let people
serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren,
and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that
curseth thee; and blessed be he that blesseth thee." There is nothing
in all this giving Jacob any claim to special favor from God, beyond
that of mere earthly good. Neither does the sale of the birthright
exclude Esau from any higher claim. He did not sell his right to serve
the Lord, and thus inherit a heavenly blessing.

The people of God sometimes do things in the way of sin that cause
them deep distress. At the same time they do not shut themselves
irrevocably out of heaven, because repentance and reformation of life
will reinstate them into the divine favor, and place them back into
the good way again. But such may lose much, both in the church and the
world by the misstep. After the sin of adultery, for example, has been
fairly proved against a brother or sister, he can hardly reinstate
himself fully into his former standing either in the church or in
society at large. Thus is he like Esau. He has sold his birthright;
yet still the Lord is ready, with outstretched arms, to receive him
the moment he resolves to return, just as the loving father received
his prodigal son. Thus it is with many other sins. They leave a sting
in the heart which may rankle and fester a long time; and a stigma in
the character which may never, in this world, be entirely wiped out.

In regard to the relation of Esau and Jacob, one more thought presses
upon my mind, and I will give it utterance. In Jehovah's prophecy to
Rebekah before the birth of the children, these words from his own
lips were spoken: "_The elder shall serve the younger_." And in the
prophecy of Malachi, the Lord Jehovah is represented by the prophet as
saying: "I loved Jacob; I hated Esau." Paul to the Romans quotes both
these passages.

The Bible reader justly enquires: "Why this opposition to Esau and
this favor to Jacob, when the children, as yet unborn, had done
neither good nor evil?" Paul says it was: "That the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that
calleth." Brethren, I do sincerely believe that right here we find the
key to many obscure passages in Paul's writings on the subject of
election and predestination. God can do nothing without means. Ends as
surely imply means as effects imply causes. Esau and Jacob are the
Lord's chosen, elected, predestinated means of teaching his people
a lesson of instruction that covers the whole ground of every
Christian's state and experience from the alpha to the omega.

Every true child of God possesses two distinct natures. A knowledge of
this wonderful truth lies within the range of every one's experience.
But it is equally confirmed by divine revelation. Paul calls the one
nature or consciousness the OUTWARD MAN, and the other the INWARD MAN.
The one bears the image of the first Adam, and is of "_the earth
earthy_;" the other bears the image of the last Adam who is the Lord,
"_and is heavenly_." Esau represents the first; and, as such, he can
not inherit the heavenly birthright, because he is carnal, and "flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven."

As the antitype of this great truth which underlies the scheme of
redemption, God could not but "hate Esau," because "the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, are not of the
Father, but are of the world." "But Jacob he loved," because Jacob is
the child "_born of God_" in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, "_the
inner man_," which after God, is "created in righteousness and true
holiness." "The elder shall serve the younger." This means that "the
natural body" must be brought under subjection and serve "the
spiritual body." For "there is a natural body" first born, and "there
is a spiritual body" last born.

In another place Paul uses lofty terms to designate these two. He there
calls the one "the earthly house of this tabernacle," which must perish;
the other "a building of God, a house not made with hands"--God's
hands--"eternal in the heavens." The reason why he says "in the
heavens" is because it is in the light of heaven; just as he says in
another place, "We have been made to sit together in heavenly places,"
by which he correlatively means just the same that we mean when we say
we sit in the sun, meaning that we sit where the light of the sun
shines upon us.

Now, Brethren beloved, I have been very brief on a subject that might
be profitably expanded into a volume. I hope that I have given you
points by which you may take the subject and think upon it for
yourselves; and thus add faith to faith, and knowledge to knowledge.
May God add his blessing to what I have said, that it may prove to be
strength in much weakness.

During the interval between the twenty-fourth and the twenty-eighth,
Brother Kline visited many Brethren in Augusta County, Virginia.

THURSDAY, April 28, he attended a love feast at the brick meetinghouse.
Of this he says: "The afternoon meeting was well attended. The second
chapter of Peter's first letter was read. Much good instruction for
self-examination was given, both in German and English, from the
general scope of the chapter. I made a few remarks on the middle
clause in the seventeenth verse: '_Love the brotherhood_.'

"I fear we do not speak and exhort one another as plainly and warmly
as we should on this most essential part of every true believer's
experience and life. What keeps us a united and happy people? _Love of
the Brotherhood._ What keeps us from quarreling with one another, from
slandering and defrauding one another? _Love of the Brotherhood._ What
keeps alive our sympathies for each other in times of distress and in
seasons of sorrow? _Love of the Brotherhood._

"This is the golden chain that binds us together on earth, and will
forever bind us together in heaven. As the rain first comes from the
sea, and after refreshing and beautifying the land goes back to the
sea again, so it is through us, Brethren, that the love we receive
from Christ here will be made perfect and return to him there. Oh,
Brethren, 'let us not love in word only, but in deed and in truth.'"

WEDNESDAY, May 4. Peter Nead and Daniel Garber started to the Annual
Meeting.

SUNDAY, May 22. Meeting at the Linville's Creek meetinghouse. Brother
Kline spoke briefly on Acts 2. He said: "As this is the traditional
day on which the Holy Spirit was poured out in a miraculous way, so
that the whole house wherein the apostles and brethren were sitting
was filled with his presence, so that they were all baptized in the
Holy Spirit and in the heavenly fire, we think it good to meditate and
speak upon these things.

"It may be that we err by believing that each apostle was endowed with
the gift of all the tongues here enumerated. It would be natural, I
think, for those who spoke the same tongue to sit or stand together in
companies. We may, even at the present day, see examples and instances
of this in large cities and public places. Here we see a group of
Germans. There, a company of Swedes, or Dutch, or Italians. People of
the same nationality as naturally seek for each other as birds seek
for their own kind.

"The order appears beautiful to our minds in the light of this
interpretation. Each apostle was gifted by the Spirit to speak in
_one_ tongue at least. If we go to the pains to count, we will find
there were nearly as many apostles as nationalities represented. In
this way all could speak at the same time; each one to his own group
or class of hearers, in gentle tones of voice; and all in the house
hear at least _one_ speak in the tongue in which he was born. This
interpretation relieves the mind of the apparent confusion which seems
to have pervaded that assembly, from a mere cursory reading of the
account given of it in the second chapter of the Acts.

"I pray God, that our dear Brethren in Yearly Meeting to-day and to
its close may all, like the apostles, be of one mind and speak the
same thing."

SUNDAY, June 5. Meeting at the Dry Fork. Brother Kline made a few
remarks upon Eph. 5:14, "_Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the
dead, and Christ shall give thee light_."

"We called upon the drowsy, sleeping sinner to arise from his deadness
and indifference, pointing him to the promise that Christ would shine
upon him and give him the light of life. Whilst speaking on this
subject to-day, I related what was said to be a well authenticated
fact which I lately read.

"An Indian, one evening, tied his canoe fast to a tree not far above
the falls of Niagara. Feeling that all was secure, he lay down in his
canoe and went to sleep. Just about the break of day the fastening
from some cause got loose. Very probably the cord was untied by some
mischievous person. The Indian continued to sleep. Noiselessly the
canoe glided down the stream, nearer and yet nearer the awful brink,
softly rocking its sleeping victim to destruction. Just before the
frightful leap, roused by the thunder of the cataract, the poor Indian
awoke, only in time to see himself hurled into eternity.

"O, how many unconverted men and women are borne down upon the stream
of time, unconcerned, thoughtless, careless of the doom that so surely
awaits them!"


_Sermon by Elder Daniel Miller (German)._

_At Lost River Meetinghouse, West Virginia,
Sunday, July 3._

    TEXT.--But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
    the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were
    born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
    of man, but of God.--John 1:12, 13.

This Scripture has a very deep meaning; and it should be well
understood, since the power in us to become children or sons of God
depends on the nature of our birth. If this be in any other nature
than that of God, it is like counterfeit money; it may look to be all
right, and pass current for a while, but it will not bear the test of
a rigid scrutiny.

Some are born of _blood_. Such may be those who adhere to a certain
church, and hold certain articles of faith without examining the Word,
because their father and mother and other _blood_ relatives held the
same, lived and died in that faith, and lie buried in the churchyard
where they worshiped.

Some are born of _the will of the flesh_. Such may be those who make a
profession of religion; but because they cannot have their own way in
everything, and take the _lusts of the flesh_ with them under the
cloak of a Christian profession, they either forsake the people of God
entirely or else never come into their number.

Some are born of the _will of man_. Such may be those who suffer
themselves to be influenced by others; coaxed, persuaded, nor even
induced by the promise of reward, to join a certain church and worship
in a certain way, because it is fashionable and in good style.

Some _are born of God_. Such are those who out of an honest heart
bring forth the fruit of the Spirit unto perfection.

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, shows the striking contrast
between the fruit of man's fleshly, sensual or animal nature and that
of his spiritual or renewed nature. The first he calls THE FLESH; the
last, THE SPIRIT. Man's spirit is what is born again. In one place he
designates the new birth as "being renewed in the _spirit_ of the
mind." In another place as "dead to the world, but alive unto God."
The prayer of such is: "Lord, what wouldst THOU have me to do?"
Finding a clear answer to this prayer in the Word of Truth, they are
willing to follow its leadings. They descend into the baptismal wave
"for the remission of sins." They go into the house of God and are not
above stooping to wash one another's feet. They eat the Lord's Supper.
They commune with him in the emblems of his broken body and shed
blood. They continue to walk as nearly as they can in all the commands
and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

The difference between the present and future state of the man who
lives after the flesh and that of the man who lives after the spirit
is very sharply marked in many places in Paul's writings, in words
that cannot be easily misunderstood. He uses such language as this:
"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds [lusts] of the body, ye shall live." "To
be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace." "He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap
life everlasting." "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of
God,"--which is the new birth,--"is eternal life, through Jesus Christ
our Lord."

All these quotations are in perfect accord with our Lord's closing
words to the Sermon on the Mount: "Every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish
man, which built his house upon the sand: ... and it fell: and great
was the fall of it."

I do not think it is very hard for any one to tell the kind of birth
he is of. As an individual can tell by looking in a glass, if in no
other way, whether he is black or white, so the professor of religion,
by turning to the Gospel Mirror, can see what kind of a birth he is
of.

I sometimes feel sorry when I think that a child has no control over
its own natural birth. If it is born black and into slavery, poor
little thing, there it has to remain for life, and bear and suffer all
the evils incident to its color and condition. If one is born with
natural deformities which baffle all surgical skill; or with blindness
or deafness past all remedy; we can but pity and weep. True, our
sympathies are aroused, and but for such objects probably the very
purest and noblest springs in our nature would remain forever sealed
with ice.

But, thanks to our God, no such unalterable conditions ever attend
man's spiritual birth. He himself is a party to the covenant under
which every spiritual birth is effected from conception to
parturition. God is one party; and man, in whom the new spiritual
birth is to be effected, is the other party. This I speak in respect
to the divine, heavenly birth. Men are the parties on both sides in
all the other births spoken of in the text. God has nothing to do with
them.

The Jews were nearly all born after these ways. Most of them seem to
have been "born of blood." "We have Abraham to our father." Some were
born of the "will of the flesh," for when the Lord told them the truth
"they took up stones to stone him." These were included among those to
whom he said: "Ye are of your father the devil." The will of the flesh
and the will of the devil in spiritual things is one and the same.
Some among them seem to have been "born of the will of man." There may
have been a good many of this class. When the Lord was teaching in
Jerusalem many asked the question; "Have any of the rulers believed on
him?" Such were the children of the rulers, born of their will.

One fact is true of all these births; no matter how black, or
deformed, or blind, or deaf, all these were spiritually, they were all
born just as they wished to be; and all chose, with comparatively few
exceptions, to remain in the state in which they were born. On the day
of the crucifixion spirits from all classes of births culminated in
the cry: "His blood be on us and our children."

I hope what I have said may awaken some thought in the mind of each
hearer, as to the state of his own heart. Do I love the Lord my God
with all my heart, and my brother as I love myself? Do I show this
love in my dealings with him, and in my daily conduct towards him? Do
I show my love to the Lord by walking continually in his ways? Enoch
walked with him thus for three hundred years. Am I careful to follow
his example during the _few_ years allotted me here? If I do not love
my brother and find delight in his company here, how can I be happy
with him in heaven? If I do not love the Lord here, in whose love
alone there is bliss, what will heaven be to me?

No wonder the doom of the hypocrite is so fearful! When his cloak is
removed and the wolf appears in the presence of the angels, will they
not shrink from him as one of us would shrink from a viper coiled
about our feet?

Brethren, let us be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord; forasmuch as we know that our labor is not in vain in the
Lord.

Brother Kline bore a hearty testimony to Brother Miller's discourse
throughout.


_A Short Discourse by Elder Daniel Garber._

_Sunday, August 7._

    TEXT.--For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by
    Jesus Christ.--John 1:17.

By the law spoken of in the text we are to understand the Decalogue,
or Ten Commandments, as they are usually called. We are not to
understand that this law is not truth. Far from it. It is truth so
sacred and holy in God's sight that he directed Moses to construct an
ark or small chest out of pure gold and place therein the two stone
tablets on which the law was engraved by the finger of God, and keep
them there forever.

Jesus the Lord honored it. He fulfilled it, not only in the letter,
but in the spirit. His outward life was so righteous that none could
convict him of sin. "He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate
from sinners:" not _separate_ in the sense of not eating and drinking
with them, of not associating and conversing with them; but separate
in the sense that he was not, like them, a transgressor of the law of
God.

The Lord's heart and hand were together in all he did. His thoughts
and his words were one. His looks, and all the expressions of his
face, were but images of the love within. His denunciations against
Pharisaical hypocrisy, cloaked under the guise of outward rectitude,
were like an avalanche of snow and ice, unlocked by the rays of the
Sun of Righteousness.

Jesus said: "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for
one tittle of the law to fail." A tittle is a very small point in a
letter. Many Hebrew letters have dots or tittles. A change in the
tittles of the letters that compose a word changes the meaning of the
word. But Jesus says not a tittle shall pass from the law. It will to
eternity mean just what it means now, and will continue to be the bond
of union with saints and angels forever in heaven. It is all love.
Love is the alpha and the omega of the law; for the law is of God, and
"God is love."

Some people call MERCY God's _darling_ attribute. They clothe her in a
white robe down to the feet; they fill her eyes with the milk of human
kindness and her mouth with the tender words of forgiveness. But
JUSTICE is a very different personification in their eye. He is not
only masculine as to gender, but all his looks and ways have an air of
_condemnation_ in them. He is a dark-faced, frowning judge, forever
watching with keenest eye not only the outward life of every man, but
his mind and heart within; and is always ready to pass judgment
against every one guilty of the slightest transgression and
disobedience.

Such conceptions may not be sinful; but they are very far from
agreeing with the revelations God has made of himself to men. In these
he discloses himself as "a God merciful and gracious; abundant in
goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands; slow to anger; ready
to pardon; and of great kindness." (Nehemiah 9:17.) He is just, it is
true. But what is justice? I answer that justice, in its highest and
divinest sense, _is equal good and equal right_ to all. And does not
this imply love? I do unhesitatingly declare that there is quite as
much love in the administrations of justice as there is in the
bestowments of mercy.

In _justice_, however, the love appears in one light; and in _mercy_
or _grace_ the love appears in another. God's love for the holy angels
and the spirits of just men made perfect is unmixed love, or the love
of complacency. This manifestation of his love is JUSTICE in its
highest and purest sense. God's love for sinners who have transgressed
his law, and who, on this account, are "miserable and wretched, and
poor, and blind, and naked," is mixed love. It is mixed with pity, and
is what is called the love of compassion. This manifestation of his
love is GRACE in its highest and purest sense. This is just what our
Lord Jesus Christ brought with him. If all the race of mankind had
continued righteous, as man was when first brought into being, the
word GRACE would never have had a place in heaven's vocabulary. But
since man has fallen, fallen into sin, into death both corporeal and
spiritual, into sickness and sorrow, into labor for his bread, into
hunger and thirst, and anxieties and cares, God has ever pitied him.
Instead of our Lord's saying, "God so loved the world," he might have
said, "God so PITIED the world."

In reading the New Testament now you need not wonder why the word
GRACE is so often met with. It means just what Jesus has brought into
the world--_love for sinners_. "He came not to condemn the world, but
to save the world." But notice, he brought not only _love_ but _truth_
with it, and _truth_ is neither more nor less than the forms or
manifestations of true love. Let me illustrate this. You love your
brother. But he does not know it until you manifest your love by the
thousand ways that are open for this in your associations and dealings
with him. Every manifestation of this love is a _truth_ by which you
prove that you do love him.

How does our Lord prove that he loves sinners? By the TRUTH that
manifests or shows it. In the first place he went about doing good, in
the way of healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, cleansing the
lepers, making the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the dead to
come to life. In the next place he showed his love by the meekness and
patience with which he bore the scoffs and sneers, and persecutions of
the opposing Jews. In the next place, by the promises of eternal life
and salvation which he gave to the very worst of sinners, on the easy
terms that they repent of their sins, by turning to God and living a
life of faithful obedience to his Word. In the next place,--and all
the other proofs culminate in this,--by dying upon the cross, by which
he atoned for the sins of the whole world. In this, his last
temptation, he conquered sin, death and hell; and as a mighty
Conqueror he has become the Captain of our salvation and the Author of
eternal life to all them that obey him.

But light will not enter the eye that is closed; neither will the
words of grace and truth enter the heart unless there be a will to
take them in. Some here present, I feel sure, have taken the words in,
and ye rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Yours is the joy that no
man taketh from you. Yours is an unfailing treasure in the heavens.
Yours to sing:

  "Should earth against my soul engage,
    And fiery darts be hurled;
  Now I can smile at Satan's rage
    And face a frowning world.

  "Let cares, like a wild deluge, come,
    And storms of sorrow fall,
  So I but safely reach my home,
    My God, my heaven, my all.

  "There shall I bathe my weary soul
    In seas of heavenly rest;
  And not a wave of trouble roll
    Across my peaceful breast."

But I am sad to think how many there are who have never yet "tasted
that the Lord is gracious." May I not induce some to look to him
to-day? There _is life in a look_ when it springs from love and
is followed by obedience. "Look unto me, saith the Lord, and be ye
saved, all ye ends of the earth." Sinner, thou art one of these ends.
Look and live.


BAPTISMAL SCENE AT BENJAMIN BOWMAN'S,
SUNDAY, AUGUST 29.

Peter Driver and wife, and Benjamin Byerly were baptized to-day.

Whilst it is our delight and joy to see even the vilest and the lowest
come into the church through the divinely appointed way, still it is
an additional pleasure, especially in the view of helpfulness to the
cause, when such excellent and true-hearted people as those above
named cast in their lot with us.

These dear people will draw their children into the church where they
are, and many of the grandchildren will follow their steps. Thus will
they sow the seeds of a good life by the power of example, and others
will reap the harvest. These, in turn, will sow again for others,
until, after awhile, all will realize the truth of our Lord's words:
"He that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."


LOVE FEAST AT BEAVER CREEK MEETINGHOUSE,
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24.

Preparatory services began at two P.M. Second Corinthians 5 was read.
There was much good speaking. One brother's remarks on the ninth
verse deeply interested me. They were in substance as follows:
TEXT.--"_Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent,
to be well-pleasing unto him._"

No better aim can ever have place in the breast of man or angel. But
how natural it is for us to aim to please ourselves and others! There
is no wrong in trying to please others, when that aim does not
conflict with what pleases God. But for any one, especially a minister
of the Gospel, to make it his chief aim to please others, that he may
become popular and be highly esteemed of men, is an abomination to
God.

Whether we are as humble and self-denying in all things as we should
be, is a subject for self-examination, not only on the part of our lay
brethren, but as well on the part of us who are ministers of the Word.
Self-love is self-worship. "_Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve_," is as true to-day as when it was
hurled against the devil from the lips of Jesus Christ. Worship is
love; and love unites us to the Lord, as the branch is united with the
vine which is its life. Man has no spiritual life in himself other
than what comes from the Lord.

A man's home life is his _real_ life. In the presence of his
family, when no stranger's eye or ear is nigh, he is out and out
himself, and he then and there appears in his real character. But when
absent, either among his brethren or strangers, he aims to put the
best foot foremost and leave a favorable impression. I do not say that
this is true of every one; but I _do_ say, and say it from the
depth of my soul's deepest affection, that the apostle's resolution
should be true in the heart of every brother and sister: "We make it
our aim, whether at home or abroad, _to be well-pleasing unto
God_."


BAPTISMAL SCENE AT THE LINVILLE'S CREEK MEETINGHOUSE,
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9.

John Zigler and wife, Celestine Whitmore and wife, and David Haller
were baptized to-day.

I rejoice that these good people have cast in their lot with us; and
hope that they will prove to be a blessing and an ornament in the
church. Brother David Haller is a very sensible and active man, with a
young family, and he can do much for the good cause. Brother Celestine
Whitmore will exert a good influence on Lost River. And Brother John
Zigler will show to the world how an active business may be carried on
in a godly way. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, did
put on Christ."

History tells us that Xenophon, in his famous retreat from Cunaxa,
wore a wolfskin about his shoulders and breast. This was becoming to
him as the general of an army of Greeks trained to slaughter, and bent
on cutting his way through all opposition with the sword. It might
also have been a suitable covering for each soldier in his army; since
the uniform of an army is thought to signify, in some measure, the
spirit by which the soldiers are incited to action.

The uniform of the soldier in the army of the Lord should, therefore,
signify the spirit and mind that is in him. If the spirit is that of
nonconformity to the world, so should the dress or uniform be. If the
spirit is that of meekness, humility, kindness, goodness, purity,
peace and love, the dress of both sexes, each in its appropriate form,
should correspond to these affections of the heart.

THURSDAY, October 20. Brother Kline and Daniel Garber started to


THE GLADES.

The Diary does not say where THE GLADES are, but, from the churches
and Brethren visited, it is inferred that they lie in the southern
part of western Pennsylvania.

Among the places named at which they attended meetings may be
mentioned Abraham Beachley's; Myers's schoolhouse; William Miller's;
Brother Blaugh's; Berben; Brother Moser's; Dr. Krone's; Jacob Myers's
and Bearkles. At the last-named place a council meeting was held at
which brethren Cover and Fahrney were established in the second degree
of the ministry. "They both," so the Diary says, "have a good report
from those that are without, as well as from those that are within."

On their homeward way our two brethren had night meeting at Abbey
Arnold's in Hampshire County, Virginia. The last chapter of Revelation
was read. Brother Kline says: "Toward the close of my discourse I gave
a farewell invitation to sinners to come and take of the 'Water of
Life freely.' After meeting one man came to me and said that he was
tired of drinking of the bitter waters of sin and thirsted for the
sweet 'Water of Life.' I told him that our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the Way, the Truth and the Life as revealed in his Word, is the Water
of Life, that _our loving acceptance of the truth of his Word as a
matter of faith, and our living a life of obedience to God in
conformity with that truth_ is drinking the Water of Life. It then
becomes eternal life to our souls. I tried to encourage him to drink
in this way; but I do not know what he may do."


DEPARTED MINISTERS.

Some things may appear in this book that are of little interest to the
general reader. In this respect, however, it may not differ from many
other books. The reader should kindly bear in mind that nearly all of
the ministers and other Brethren whose names appear, in the fore part
of the work especially, are known on earth no more, save as they live
in the memory of those whom they have left behind.

In the list of deceased ministers are to be seen the names of Peter
Nead, Abraham Flory, Daniel Garber, Daniel Miller, Martain Miller,
George Hoke, Benjamin Bowman, Jacob Wyne, John Wyne, Daniel Thomas,
John Harshberger, and a host of others. The records of these noble
ministers of the Word are on high. No earthly monuments have ever been
reared in honor of their achievements; and they need none. The good
they have done by leaving the world and the church better off than
they found them has won for them a crown of glory in heaven as
imperishable as the throne of the eternal. The reader should remember
that a sort of filial love for these men still lingers in the memory
of many, who, in their younger days were personally acquainted with
them. They heard them preach; and they looked up to them as children
to parents. A lock of hair from a loved one long since passed away, is
a little thing,--a _very_ little thing in the eye of a stranger,--but
in the eye of a loving friend it is above price. So some things in
this work, apparently trivial to the general reader, may be highly
prized by others. I will give, for an example, the following
statement:

MONDAY, November 21. Peter Nead and Benjamin Bowman go with me to
Harrisonburg, and obtain license of the County Court of Rockingham
County, Virginia, to perform the ceremony of marriage.

This statement, taken from the Diary, may seem of no consequence to
some; they may feel, as their eyes glance over it, that it is of no
interest to them; when at the same time, to others it will be an
incident they will never forget. Many can now say that one or the
other of these ministers performed the ceremony when their father and
mother were married. One or the other of these names stands upon the
"Marriage Record" in many an old Family Bible. Even the grandchildren
will find interest in things like these; and to learn more about
these, and many other great and good men who have lived and died in
the church of the Brethren, will not only interest the mind, but
improve the heart.


A MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY OF THE AURORA BOREALIS.

THURSDAY, January 26. This night, says the Diary, a very wonderful
display of the Aurora borealis was witnessed. The sky was all over a
bright red, with white streaks streaming up from the north. The sight
was wonderfully grand. As to the cause of this sublimely beautiful
phenomenon various opinions have been held, and various theories
launched upon the waves of scientific thought; but none, as yet, to my
knowledge, have covered the ground of a satisfactory solution. Let the
cause be what it may, there seems to be no good reason for fearing any
harm to the earth or its inhabitants from its occasional appearance.

I have since learned, however, that many people were frightened at
the sight, and feared that the last day was at hand. One sister in
particular, not far from here, wrung her hands screaming almost
spasmodically, fearing in her soul that the next thing would be the
sound of "the last trumpet."

Some may smile at this; but suppose the trumpet had then sounded!
Would those who now smile, or perhaps laugh, have been able to hear
the thunder of its voice with a steadier nerve than she? Her faith was
strong; nay, too strong for the weakness of her feeble body. She
believed every word of Divine Truth. She believed in a final judgment,
than which nothing is more positively declared in the sacred
Scriptures. But because she had never seen such a sight before, and as
no one could account for it, the conclusion was quickly reached that
it was supernatural and sent as a herald of the coming Lord.

But he will come, and every eye shall see him. But "who shall abide
the day of his coming?" Only they who shelter under the almighty wings
of Jesus. "How often"--said he to Jerusalem, and now to every one
else--"would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen doth
gather her chickens under her wings." To those who laugh at sacred
things now, it may _then_ be said what follows in the above
connection: "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."

  "Hide me, O my Savior, hide;
  'Neath the shadow of thy wing."

The above phenomenon lasted till midnight.

SUNDAY, February 12. "Peter Nead was with me at the Plains to-day."
Whether Brother Kline saw or heard something in Peter Nead to-day that
especially wrought upon his attention, he does not say; but this
follows in the entry: "Brother Nead gives promise of becoming a very
able speaker and a very useful man. May the Lord prosper him in all he
sets his heart and hand to in his service." The church now knows the
singular correctness of Brother Kline's estimate of the man, written
over sixty years ago.

Brother Nead, like many other good and live men, may have had some
apparent eccentricities in the direction of practical conservatism and
the like; but, take him through and through, it is questionable if the
church has ever been favored with a purer or sounder man.

THURSDAY, May 4. Preparations are being made to-day for the Annual
Meeting. The brethren and sisters are all alive with desire to make
all the visiting brethren and sisters as comfortable as possible
during the meeting.

The Diary reports the arrival, during the next week, of brethren from
Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Among those named are John and
Joseph Bowman, Henry Kurtz, George Hoke and Brother Yant.

THURSDAY, May 11. Brother Beachley arrived. Brother Kline reports
something like a heavenly feeling permeating the heart at the sight of
the arrival of those beloved brethren. They all stopped with Brother
Kline, whose house and heart both were large enough for their
reception and entertainment.

As editor of this book, what would I not give for an exact report of
the heart-refreshing conversations and sweet interchanges of thought
and sentiment enjoyed by this group of heavenly-minded brethren,
during their sojourn here! As a relief, however, to this thought
another comes to mind, that this same group are again together, not
for a "Yearly Meeting," but for an eternal meeting. The last one has
been called to glory. The cross then; the crown now.

The interviews of brethren with each other fifty or sixty years ago
present a striking contrast when placed side by side with those of
the present day. The native simplicity, the artless manners, and the
honest motives of all betokened a purity of heart and life that was
truly charming. We mourn the absence of these marks of genuine piety,
when at the present day, we see artistic display, formality, stiffness,
and a "putting on" of studied courtesies and civilities on the part of
many. The exterior of the hive is more ornamental now than it was
then, and the swarm may have the appearance of better order in some of
its workings, but it is a question whether there is as much pure honey
inside. The _robe_ may be more showy, but there is less wool in the
"_nap_."

FRIDAY, May 12, and SATURDAY, May 13, were spent at the meetinghouse
preparing to have everything in order.


YEARLY MEETING BEGINS.

_Introductory Sermon by Elder George Hoke, of Ohio,
Sunday, May 14._

    TEXT.--And it came to pass, that while they communed together and
    reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.--Luke
    24:15.

To the true child of God no conceptions of bliss are worthy of being
compared with those that flow from an ideal companionship and
association with our Lord Jesus Christ.

  "To dwell with him; to feel his love,
  Is heavenly bliss enjoyed above:
  And the sweet expectation now
  Is the same bliss begun below."

The text selected is suited to the occasion that has brought many of
us together. We have met to commune in our thoughts with each other,
and to reason together. Since the first hour of my arrival here I
could but notice the delight, and even joy, on the part of many at
meeting former acquaintances and renewing the ties of love, both
social and Christian, that have bound us together in one common
Brotherhood for years in the past, and which are still to bind us and
our children's children together in the future on earth and the
eternity in glory.

The subject for to-day naturally divides itself into three propositions:

    I. _They communed and reasoned together._
   II. _Jesus himself drew near._
  III. _Jesus himself went with them._

We readily enough, at the start, inquire who they were that communed
and reasoned together. This we never can know with certainty, until
the scales of mortality drop from our eyes. One, we are told, was
Cleopas by name. It may have been the same Cleopas whose wife had
stood by the cross. Some think the other was Luke, the writer of the
Evangel, whom Paul calls the beloved physician.

Slowly and sadly, with crushed hopes and broken hearts, these two
loving disciples of our Lord were wending their way from the scenes of
confusion that had attended his crucifixion in Jerusalem to a quiet
little village about eight miles distant, called Emmaus. Here, at
least, they hoped to find exemption from the taunts and sneers of the
infatuated mob in the city, whose mutterings were still to be heard in
the distance, like those of a cyclone that has done its work.


I. "THEY COMMUNED AND REASONED TOGETHER."

The particular point in their conversation is not stated, but it is
included in the general topic which is given as "the things which have
happened in Jerusalem concerning Jesus of Nazareth." The imagination
here finds scope to multiply themes without limit, on which they could
reason, and over which they could be sad. At this very point of time,
just when despair, like darkness at the close of an evening twilight,
had settled down upon the entire landscape of their mental sight,


II. "JESUS HIMSELF DREW NEAR."

_"But their eyes were holden that they should not know him."_ This
simple statement has more than once caused "smiles in tears;" _smiles_
at the half playfulness of Jesus talking to these two beloved
disciples as a tender father sometimes talks to his little children;
and _tears_ at the condescending love of Christ our God and Lord,
walking as a wayfaring man with two of his heartbroken creatures. Can
you take this in, and not fall at his feet and kiss them? Can you take
this in, and not look up into his face smiling through your tears?

And then he said: "Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things
and to enter into his glory?" This very sentence, by which he shed the
first rays of light upon the dark waters of their storm-beaten bosoms,
tells the whole tale of Christ's redeeming love. The cross and crown!
Joy of earth and bliss of heaven! The cross of dishonor; the crown of
glory! The cross of death; the crown of life!

"But their eyes were holden, that they should not know him." He came
as the divine Word. He is the truth and the life of the Word; for "the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Though they knew not that it
was he, still their hearts did burn within them as he opened unto them
the scriptures. "Beginning at Moses he interpreted to them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning himself." They do not tell us the
passages he quoted and explained; but it is believed we have them all
in our Bibles. I think it is evident we have all the Scriptures now
that were extant then; and it is our great privilege to hunt up for
ourselves and others these broken pieces of the Bread of Life.

The word "HOLDEN" means simply, _held back; restrained_. For wise
reasons he _held back_ the sight of their eyes that they should not
know him. Had they known him at first sight, it would have interfered
with and prevented the accomplishment of his gracious purpose to make
himself known in the "breaking of bread." In this very act he has
taught his people one of the most precious lessons in all the
Christian's experiences. He is the Bread of eternal Life. His whole
Word is but one great loaf, and he is that loaf. And how my soul
quivers with the thought that if we invite him in as these loving
disciples did, and ask him to abide with us, he will take a seat with
us at table, and break unto us the Bread of Life. Our spiritual eyes
will be opened, and we shall joyfully know him. Then will

  "Our hearts grow warm with heavenly fire;
  And kindle with a pure desire;
  While our blest Savior from above
  Feeds all our souls with holy love."

None but those

        "that know the Lord,
  And taste the sweetness of his Word,"

can ever know the joys of his salvation.


III. "JESUS HIMSELF WENT WITH THEM."

We are not informed how many of the sixty furloughs they had already
passed over on their way when "Jesus himself drew near, and went with
them;" but from the loving kindness of our Lord we readily conclude
they had not gone very far. "Can a mother forget her sucking child?
Yea, she may forget; yet will not I forget thee." He knew the depth of
their disappointment and the grief that followed when they could say:
"We hoped that it was he which should redeem Israel." "_We hoped_--;"
but alas! all hope is now forever gone. It lies buried with him in his
tomb.

If one born blind could unexpectedly open his eyes to see the light of
the morning sun in a cloudless sky, the surprise and joy could not be
greater than were these to the two sitting at the table. They forgot
to eat. They were so filled with the sight of the Lord that their
hunger for that which merely represented him was all gone. They not
only saw the proof of his resurrection; but in him they felt the
resurrection of their own buried _faith_, and _hope_, and _love_.

"They rose up that very hour,--" I do not believe they sat still one
minute after he vanished out of their sight--"and returned to
Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, ... saying, The
Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." This was to them
one of the wonders connected with his rising, as Simon had so
shamefully denied him so shortly before. But such is the fullness of
his grace, that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound unto
all such as are willing to receive it.

Some people do not believe the story of the resurrection. But, strange
to say, they can believe something a hundred times less reasonable,
and absolutely false. They can believe that a LIE has done more to
better the condition of mankind in this world than all the truth that
has ever been told. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the keystone
to the great arch upon which rest all the truths of Divine Revelation.
Destroy this, and the arch, with all upon it, falls a pile of ruins.

There is one special fact connected with the Lord's resurrection which
we must not forget. He never appeared to any but his own. They, only,
had eyes to see him. Some may wonder why he did not go out into the
streets of Jerusalem and there, to gaping crowds, show his risen form
with the nail prints and the spear mark still fresh in his hands and
his feet, and in his side. In answer to this I have but little to say,
more than that he was ever averse to casting pearls before swine or
giving that which is holy unto dogs. I will add this, however, that as
none but spiritual eyes can see him now, so none but spiritual eyes
could see him then. This is what he meant by saying: "Yet a little
while, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold me: because I
live, ye shall live also."

And now, my dear Brethren, what have we learned by our meditation
to-day? If we have learned to know the Lord a little better, that we
may draw nearer to him, we are edified, and our preaching and hearing
have not been void. In all our communings with him, Brethren, let us
believe and love with all our hearts. In our reasonings together let
us know and _feel_ that "_he is nigh, even at hand_." When we are in
the way of duty, we love to feel that Jesus is with us, that he knows
all we think, and sees all we do; but when out of the way, when
walking in forbidden paths, how abashed and confused would we feel, if
"_Jesus himself_ were to draw near!" O brethren and sisters, let us so
live, that every thought and word and act of our lives may be fit for
his eye. Lord, give us grace so to live. Amen!


YEARLY MEETING OPENS

_At the Linville's Creek Church,
Monday, May 15._

Brethren Henry Kurtz, John Garber, Umstead and Price spoke in
exposition of the Word and doctrine in the forenoon meeting, which
opened at 8 A.M.

Brother Price took the lead, and spoke from 1 Peter 1:12. I will give
a faithful report of his discourse as nearly exact as it can be made
from the very brief outlines left by Brother Kline. Had the thought
ever entered Brother Kline's mind that his Diary might at some future
day be published in a regularly prepared form, I feel sure he would
have left more extended entries on points of intense interest.

    TEXT.--"Which things the angels desire to look into."

Salvation is infinitely the most momentous subject that can engage the
thoughts of men. It embraces a knowledge of God on the one hand and a
knowledge of man on the other. It is a pleasing thought that as the
knowledge of God is unfolded to the mind, a knowledge of man's own
sinful and lost condition flows in along with it; so that the very
same light which enables him to perceive the love and goodness and
truth and holiness of God imparts to him at the same time a view of
his own sinful state. He is led to see and feel in himself a spiritual
condition which is the very opposite of that which he discovers in God
his Creator, Preserver and bountiful Benefactor.

The Bible tells us that "in the beginning God made man upright," that
he created him in his own image, after his own likeness, and pronounced
him, with all else that he had made, "_very good_." But how is man
now? What is his moral and spiritual condition? I appeal to the heart
experience of every one in this house for an answer. Brother, there is
no charge on the part of the church against you. The church has never
at any time preferred a charge against you. You are loved and held in
high esteem by all the brethren and sisters. The laws of your land
have never brought an accusation against you. You have, in the most
minute particulars, been "a law-abiding citizen." More than all this,
you labor to do all the good you can, by feeding and clothing the
poor; by helping to keep up the church, and by aiding in the spread of
the Gospel. You also help your neighborhood, county and State by
paying all your dues and by voluntary contributions of money or labor
to public improvements, education and whatever else may be for the
general good, as necessity may demand.

But, with all these excellencies in your character and life in full
view, I ask you, as in the presence of God: Do you feel in your
_heart_ that you are a _good_ man? Would you be willing for the world
and the church to know every thought and imagination and desire that
enters your heart and passes through your mind in the short space of
one day of your life? Do you feel that all within is fit for the eye
of God? I know, or _think_ I know, just what is in your mind, and your
answer is in words like these: "I do not feel that I am good. It is
only by constant watchfulness, by looking to Jesus in his Word, and by
reading his Word with prayer, in connection with my attendance upon
the ordinances of his house, that I am enabled to walk in the path I
go, and lead the life I do.

  "'He LEADETH me: HE leadeth me:
  By his own hand he leadeth me.'

"His promise, 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world,' sustains my hope and assures me that 'he will never leave me,
nor forsake me.' Thus, God being my helper, I do all the good I can,
and shun the evil. In this way 'I labor, whether at home or absent, to
be well-pleasing to him; and work out my own salvation with fear and
trembling;' feeling, however, at the same time, a blessed assurance
that it is God who worketh in me both to will and to do the things
that are pleasing in his sight."

Brethren, this is salvation. It is the sum of "the things which many
prophets and wise men desired to see, and saw them not; and to hear,
and heard them not." But let us look at the divine forces, brother,
that have wrought in you this wonderful change from a life of
_self-love_, into which you were born by nature, to a life of divine
love, joyful, holy, heavenly love to God and your brother, into which
you have been born by the Spirit.

Peter tells us something about this in the chapter read. He here says:
"Ye were REDEEMED, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold,
from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; but with
the precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,
even the blood of Christ.... Ye have purified your souls in your
obedience to the truth; ... having been begotten [or born] again, ...
through the word of God, which liveth and abideth."

He now introduces the contrast between man's natural birth and his
spiritual birth: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit;" and he says:

  "All flesh is as grass,
  And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass.
  The grass withereth, and the flower falleth."

"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," is the doom of flesh
and blood sealed to every mortal as a consequence of sin. No wonder
the grave is sad and lonely to the contemplation of those who have no
hope of aught of life or love beyond it. It is sad to think how many
have no higher claim to life and happiness than mere fleshly, bodily
existence. But our Lord hath "brought life and immortality to light,"
and

  "The good Spirit of the Lord
    Reveals a heaven to come;
  The beams of glory in his Word
    Allure and guide us home."

"Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it is not yet made
manifest what we shall be;" but we know that we have the promise of
"an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not
away."

Brethren, this inheritance which Peter talks of--what do you think
about it? Is it something extraneous to the man, something outside of
him? Or is it something intrinsic to the man in his renewed state,
something internal, something inside of him? I, for one, believe that
man's eternal and blissful inheritance, which Peter and John and Paul
describe in such glowing terms, is in the man himself, in his
adaptation to the bliss-inspiring garniture of heaven. It is "Christ
in him the hope of glory."

This exalted and blissful state of man redeemed is what Peter calls
his "_inheritance which is incorruptible_." Think of it, Brethren. No
more sin to bewail; no more sickness to suffer; no more death to
dread! It is also "_undefiled_." No more "filthiness of the flesh;"
"neither idolatry, nor adultery, nor whatsoever loveth and maketh a
lie." And "_that fadeth not away_." The luster of the eye; the bloom
of the cheek; the facial expressions of beauty and love, purity and
truth, know nothing of decay in the amaranthine bowers of spotless
purity.

We often wonder about heaven. But I will tell you, Brethren, what I
believe about it. I do believe in my very soul that every Christian
man, after the death of his body, finds himself in the very heaven he
takes with him from this world; and that every man's heaven is the
LOVE and the TRUTH that abound in his mind and heart. If his heart is
filled with _love_ to God and to his brother, and his mind stored with
the _truth_ of God as revealed in his Son Jesus Christ, that man's
heaven is _in_ him. Do you remember, Brethren, that when Jesus was on
earth he said that he was also at the same time in heaven? Now let me
show you this. He says to Nicodemus: "No man hath ascended to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, _even the Son of man_ WHICH IS IN
HEAVEN." John 3:13.

And right here a difficulty confronts us which we must try to settle.
Did not Elijah ascend to heaven? How about Moses? These two redeemed
saints were both of them in heaven at the very time our Lord said this
to Nicodemus. Very shortly after this conversation they made their
appearance, not only to Jesus, but to Peter and James and John on
the holy mount in glory. How had they gotten there? I will tell you
just what I think our Lord meant. He meant to teach that stupid,
_materialistic_ Nicodemus that people do not go to heaven by merely
ascending, like as one would ascend or go up from a lower room in a
building to a higher one. He meant to teach him that heaven must be in
the man, inwrought into his character and life. This follows in
perfect harmony with what he had just before told him about the new
birth and a change of heart. "That which is born of the flesh is
flesh," and nothing more. But Paul says: "Ye are not in the flesh, but
in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." Elijah
had not _really ascended_. The Lord just took him up as he had taken
Enoch many years before. He was in heaven whilst on earth, just as
Jesus was. The only change he underwent in his departure from this
world was a change in the relations of his state. While here his
_state_ was a _heavenly_ state, but surrounded by earthly things.
After his departure from earth his _state_ was the same; but his
surroundings were heavenly, and he could feel at home.


THE ANGELS.

No wonder, Brethren, that the angels desire to look into these things.
Some very good and wise men are of the opinion that all the angels of
heaven are none other than saints redeemed from the earth. How this
may be I do not know; but some things that the Bible says about angels
seem to favor this conclusion. The main thing in this direction is the
deep interest they have always felt, and the active part they have
always taken in the things of man's salvation. Paul covers this whole
ground by a single sweep of his pen. "Are they not all," says he,
"ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be
heirs of salvation?" Of course he means by the _heirs of salvation_
those still tabernacling in the flesh, and still exposed to the ups
and downs of the waves of life.

I think, though, that one reason why the angels feel such a deep
interest in the things of man's salvation is because they are
there--in heaven, I mean--always beholding the face of our Father who
is in heaven. They see and feel the glory; they know the bliss of that
celestial state. So full of love are they even for poor, fallen, lost,
ruined man that we are told by the Lord himself that "there is joy in
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
Their joy in this is commensurate with the exalted knowledge they have
of the blessedness of true penitence. In it they see light shining in
the darkness of the poor sinner's heart. Peace to the waves of his
storm-beaten soul,--a new creature in the image of their and our Lord
Jesus Christ coming forth into the enjoyment of a new life in him;
deliverance from the bondage and power of sin, and restoration to the
glorious liberty of the children of God! How much more than all this
they see in the return of one soul to God. I do not know; and we never
can know fully until we go up higher.

  "The blessedness of those above,
    Why longs my panting soul to know?
  For future bliss I know is LOVE,
    And love is felt by saints below.

  "But love so pure, exalted high
    Beyond compute, beyond compare--
  No eagle wing that height may fly;
    No mortal breathe that upper air.

  "There, love springs pure and unrepressed;
    There, all are loved, and love again.
  Love fills each burning cherub's breast;
    Love fires each flaming seraph train.

  "Soon, soon shall I, this conflict o'er,
    From sin be freed, with love be fired;
  Soon, soon in heaven, my God adore,
    With love, celestial love inspired."

And right here this thought comes to mind: If angels are so much
interested in the salvation of men, should not men be quite as deeply
interested in the salvation of one another? If there are such exultant
emotions of joy in the bosoms of _angels_ over one sinner that
repents, should there not be an equal measure of joy in the bosoms
of _men_ from the same cause?

But the text says: "The angels _desire_ to look into these things."
We should not infer from this that their knowledge of the way of
salvation is limited, or that they meet with difficulties in the way
of understanding it. Oh, no! Their _desires_ are being constantly met
and supplied with the means of acquiring knowledge upon this subject,
fully up to the measure of each one's capacity to take it in. We may,
therefore, justly infer from the text that the subject is immensely
vast in its proportions and range.

As salvation is infinite in respect to the TRUTHS contained in it and
connected with it, so is it also eternal in respect to the SCENES and
experiences through which the redeemed will be forever passing.

  "Could we, so rich in rapture, fear an end,
  That ghastly thought would drink up all our joy;
  And quite unparadise the realms of light."

And here, dear brethren and sisters, another thought comes to mind
suggesting another question: If _angels_ desire to look into the
things of man's salvation, should not _men_ have an equal desire to
look into them? Should not those who still have the stream to cross,
and to whom the ford looks somewhat dark and uncertain, be quite as
much interested in it, and in all connected with it, as those who are
safely landed on the other shore? Think of this, will you? Let me
impress this thought: If the _angels_, who are out of the reach of all
harm and danger, feel such a glow of interest to learn all they can
about the way in which all are saved; should not _men_, who are still
exposed to danger, feel an equal or a still deeper interest?

But how is it with the bulk of professors? Who of you, my dear
Brethren, make the Bible the man of your counsel? Who of you read and
study it with that devotion of faith which makes you feel that your
eternal life is in that Word? With joy would I give you the touch of
heaven's galvanism to quicken your souls to a livelier sense of the
transcendent importance of this matter. I feel sure that many of you
do read. You love your Bible because it tells you of your sin and your
Savior, of your cross and your crown. But how is it with many? They
read some, no doubt; partly from a sense of duty and to quiet their
consciences; but not, I fear, with a deep and inmost desire to learn
the things of salvation.

Brethren, if the Bible be true, it is tremendously true. It is true
with a power that lifts the contrite, penitent, faithful follower of
our Lord to the gates of the Holy City, and opens them to him; and it
is true with a power that sinks the faithless, impenitent, careless,
sin-loving sinner to hell. To which class do I belong? With which
class am I going to spend a long eternity? I am happy to see in the
luster of many an eye here the evidence of your being in the class
first named, and on the side of salvation. God grant that all may be
in that number; and in a better world and a purer life, with angels on
high, sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.

Brother Price was followed by brethren John Garber, Henry Kurtz and
Umstead, all bearing testimony more or less extended. The services
were brought to a close, and an intermission was given. In the
afternoon queries were taken in.

TUESDAY, May 16. The meeting was continued to-day. Seven queries were
disposed of. Love and harmony abound.

WEDNESDAY, May 17. The meeting was brought to a close to-day. The
business being all disposed of, it broke up in the afternoon by the
singing of the hymn:

  "Blest be the dear uniting love
    That will not let us part;
  Our bodies far apart may move,
    We still are joined in heart."

O my God, I pray that we, as thy dear people, may ever be thus joined
in heart; that we may ever be of one mind and speak the same thing;
that thy Spirit may fill us and guide us into a clear understanding of
thy revealed will that we may not err therein; that we may keep all
pride and emulation of the flesh out of our hearts; that each one may
esteem another better than himself with all lowliness and meekness;
with long-suffering; forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; till we all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a
perfect man; unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ. Amen!

THURSDAY, May 18. Some of the Brethren from a distance start home
to-day. Set things in order at the meetinghouse. While thus engaged
our thoughts would turn to the pleasant season of brotherly communion
we had just passed through. I can but wish and pray that the same
spirit of love and union may pervade every meeting yet to be held in
the Brotherhood, through all time, to the end of the world.

THURSDAY, August 10. Benjamin Bowman and Samuel Wampler were
established in the ministry to-day, in a council at our meetinghouse.

TUESDAY, August 29. Brother Kline and Brother Flory start to Maryland
and Pennsylvania on horseback. Brother Abraham Flory, by the way, was
a suitable companion for Brother Kline. He loved home, it is true, and
he had a home worthy of being loved. But when he made up his mind to
go he left all his home cares behind; and, like Abraham of old, he
said to these servants of life: "Stay ye here while I go yonder to
worship; and I will return again unto you." He consequently never
fretted about home in his absence; but was habitually calm and
self-possessed. Even a rainy day or high water did not interfere with
the equilibrium of his mild temper.

These two brethren were well mounted. Their horses were good travelers,
not only as to gait, but _bottom_ as well. This, in common _parlance_,
means great power of endurance. We must not forget that this journey
was undertaken more than sixty years ago. The two travelers did not
know what weather they might have to contend with on a journey which
was to occupy more than _five weeks_. Umbrellas were rare in that day;
but even if they had been abundant they were too much "after the
fashion" to have been used by these unfashionable brethren. Indeed
umbrellas were not used by the Brotherhood, at least in Virginia,
until many years after this.

A GREAT COAT, made of heavy and compact stuff, with long skirts
reaching to the feet, and a large cape attached, covering completely
the shoulders, and buttoning over the breast, constituted a covering
defying both rain and storm. Superadded to this was a very
broad-brimmed hat of solid felt. Every saddle in that day was provided
with what was called a _coat-pad_. This was a flat leather pad fastened
to the saddle just behind the seat, and furnished with straps and
buckles so as to hold an overcoat, when properly rolled up and
fastened, in perfect order whilst traveling. Leather saddlebags well
stocked with changes of clean underwear completed the outfit.

Thus equipped, these two brethren started on their journey. Their
spirit in all this reminds one of what passed between two ministering
brethren of another persuasion who were traveling together, neither so
well equipped nor mounted, but on foot. Trudging along in the face of
foul weather to meet an engagement, Comer said to Proctor:

  "I don't mind the rain
  If souls I may gain."

To which Proctor instantly replied to Comer:

  "I can face every storm of rain and foul weather,
  When I and my Lord are walking together."

Wherever Brother Kline and his companion went they were recognized,
whether personally known or not, as DUNKARD PREACHERS. No doubt the
_sneer_ was sometimes thrust at them, and the lip curled with contempt
by those whose stolid ignorance and stupid brains had locked the door
against the inflow of good breeding and truth. But in the eyes of all
honest, sincere-minded people their mission was one of mercy, truth
and love; and they were loved and respected accordingly.

Near the close of the third day of travel, they passed


HARPER'S FERRY.

Brother Kline's experienced eye took in the whole scene at one view.
He says: "The scenery here is greatly surpassed by that of many places
within the Allegheny ranges. It is not nearly equal to the South
Branch Gap below Petersburg in Hardy County, Virginia; nor does it at
all compare, in sublime grandeur, with the Rocks at the mouth of the
Seneca, in Pendleton County, Virginia. It is tame in comparison with
either of these places. But so goes the world. It is with places as
with people. When one gets a name by being lauded high by some
distinguished personage, as Thomas Jefferson, for example, he soon has
the eyes and the ears of the world; whilst others, more worthy,
perhaps, in all the elements of true greatness, are left unnoticed and
unknown. This thought awakens my recollection of a stanza in Gray's
'Elegy.' It touches tenderly and beautifully upon the neglect and lack
of appreciation often experienced by real beauty, virtue and goodness.
Here is the verse:

  "'Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
    The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
  Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
    And waste its sweetness on the desert air.'

"But we must tone our criticisms down to a just standard. The lack of
fame with many justly meriting it is not their own fault, nor is it
the fault of the world; but the trouble lies greatly in the place of
their birth and in the surroundings of their lives. If the South
Branch Gap had had its birth at Harper's Ferry the summit of its fame
would reach the clouds; whilst Harper's Ferry, born among the rugged
recesses of the Alleghenies, would never be thought of. The world is
not so partial and full of favoritism as we think. It readily takes up
what suits its uses and its tastes, without stopping to inquire
whether there might not be something better found."

Crossing the Potomac at the Ferry, they go to Brother Letherman's and
spend the night.

FRIDAY, September 1. Love feast at Brother Herschman's in Middle
Valley. Luke 3 was read. Three persons were baptized. Next day the
brethren go to Beaver Dam, and pass the night at John Garber's.

At this time letter postage was very high, as much as twenty-five
cents on some letters; and the transportation of mails very slow.
Regardless of this, however, by means of letters, Brother Kline knew
just where to go and what to expect before starting on a journey.
Appointments for preaching, councils and love feasts fell in the line
of his route from beginning to end. Have a little bit of patience,
please, and let me quote the entries just as I find them in the Diary
for this journey. If they do not interest you, they may interest
others deeply, especially the children and the grandchildren of the
good people named in them.

SUNDAY, September 3. Love feast at Beaver Dam. Luke 14 was read. Three
persons were baptized.

MONDAY, 4. Visit Brother Deah's and Saylor's, and stay all night at
Joseph Engle's.

TUESDAY, 5. Meeting at Pipe Creek. Luke 16 was read. Stay all night at
Peter Royer's.

WEDNESDAY, 6. Meeting at Rupp's. John 1 was read. Stay all night at
Christian Royer's.

THURSDAY, 7. Stay at Brother Keeney's.

FRIDAY, 8. Love feast at Brother Keeney's. John 18 was read.

SATURDAY, 9. Visit Jacob Myers's. Stay all night at David Brillhardt's.

The families visited in the order of Brother Kline and Brother Flory's
route were as follows: Christian Longenacker's, John Zug's, Abraham
Zug's, Daniel Zug's, Jacob Gipe's, John Gipe's, Abraham Harshey's,
Shoemaker's, Brother Myers's on the other side of the Susquehanna,
Andrew Deardorf's, David Pfoutz, Fogelsanger's, John Stauffer's,
Brother Royer's, Brother Holsinger's, Welty's, Fahrney's, Joseph
Emert's, Eschleman's, David Kinsey's, Brother Martain's, James
Tabler's; Carter's, in Frederick County, Virginia, Jonas Goughnour's,
in Shenandoah County, Virginia; and home Tuesday, October 3.

Brother Flory and I did not separate for one day or night on this
journey. He preached a good deal, and has, I think, left a very good
impression. He related a little incident about a local preacher with
whom he was personally acquainted, and which he stated for a fact,
that has several times amused me. It came in at a suitable place in
one of his discourses. The preacher had been regularly receiving one
hundred dollars a year from his Conference, for stated preachings to
several poor congregations not far from his home. The preacher owned a
farm and a mill, both at the same time; and with the two combined he
became independent. His brethren saw this and concluded that he ought
_no longer be paid_ the hundred dollars a year; so the pay was
withheld. But his preaching stopped as suddenly as his pay. When asked
about the cause of this he pointed to his _mill wheel_ and said: "_Do
you suppose that that wheel will run if you keep the water off?_"

The brethren and sisters generally appeared to be alive to their
spiritual interests. The meetings were usually well attended, and good
attention was paid to the preaching. In some places, however,
worldliness in dress and manners is becoming too apparent.

In Maryland we happened to fall in company with a man traveling our
course, who represented himself as a United Brethren preacher. He was
very plainly dressed himself, and as we were plain I guess he thought
that to give his conversation a turn upon the _fashions_ of the world
would not be unpleasant to us. At any rate he went on to tell how
pride was gradually creeping, inch by inch, into his own denomination;
and, "worst of all," said he, "it looks like it is beginning to take
hold of some of our preachers." He then stated that at their last
yearly Conference, the bishop had scored some of them fearfully about
it. He then repeated what the bishop had said on the occasion about
the


ORIGIN OF FASHIONS.

"Some of you may be curious to know from what place the American
people obtain their fashions. I will tell you. They get them from New
York City. And from what place does New York City get them? From
London. And from what place does London get them? From Paris. And
from what place does Paris get them? I answer," said the bishop, "that
Paris gets them from hell through the devil and his agents."

In the journey from which I have just returned I preached _twenty_
times; attended _eight_ love feasts; visited and conversed with many
families on religious topics. In all this service, if I know my own
heart, I have been actuated by no selfish motives. As Paul said: I
desire that my service may be acceptable to the saints; but to make it
so, I have used no deceit, no flattery, and have put forth no effort
of any kind save that of trying, by the grace of God, to make myself a
faithful minister of Jesus Christ. As one called to preach the Gospel,
this is my duty at all times. Conscious of this, I aim to be "instant
in season, out of season." May God bless our labors, including those
of the dear brother who was with me. "Paul may plant, and Apollos
water; but God only can give the increase." We must, by his grace, use
all means to keep the Brotherhood pure, by defending it against the
inroads of worldliness and pride in every form. May God forgive all
our sins. Amen!

SUNDAY, October 15. Brethren Martain Myers and Samuel Lehman were with
us at our meeting to-day. They spoke beautifully on John 5:24.


_Resolutions Made by Elder John Kline,_

_Monday, January 1, 1838._

He says: I now resolve

  To do all the good I can this year.

  To shun all evil in thought, word, and deed as far as I can.

  To learn all I can of wholesome truth.

  To make the best use I can of what I learn and know. To do all this
  with an eye single to the glory of God and the good of mankind.

Could any one resolve better? Could an angel from heaven, if sent down
to live with men on earth, resolve to a better purpose? But it is
easier to resolve than to carry into effect; easier to think wisely
than to _act_ wisely; easier to plan well than to execute. But of this
one thing I am sure: If Brother Kline failed in any of the above
resolutions, his failure was not chargeable to his _will_, but to his
weakness. Even Paul could say: "To will is present with me, but how to
perform that which is good I find not. When I would do good, evil is
present with me." The cause of this conflict in the course of every
Christian's experience is what has been very appropriately called
"_indwelling sin_." The serpent's head may be bruised to death, but
the tail will not die until the sun goes down. It is true, the tail is
not at the dangerous end of a snake; but while the tail rattles and
wriggles it gives evidence that there is still some life left; and
before one turns away from it in the satisfied assurance that it needs
no further attention it might be well for him to look again and make
_sure_, beyond all doubt, that the _head end_ has been crushed to
death.


_A Funeral Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_At the Burial of Mrs. Lauck,
Feb. 7._

    TEXT.--Man that is born of woman, is of few days, and full of
    trouble He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth
    also as a shadow, and continueth not.--Job 14:1, 2.

The bulk of Divine Truth is addressed to our faith. We are not
expected to receive it as we receive knowledge that is based upon our
own experience, or upon the experience of others. God expects us to
take his Word for the truth of what he says, whether we fully
understand it or not. He addresses our faith, as a father does his
child when he seeks to inculcate some truth or principle which the
child cannot fully comprehend. But the text selected for this occasion
is not of this character. It is addressed to our knowledge and every
day's observation and experience. We have only to look at ourselves
and at others to see and feel the truth that it tells. It is not,
therefore, given to teach, so much as to remind us of what, in the
busy whirl of life, we may for a time partially forget. The benefit of
being reminded of our mortality comes to us in the way of leading us
to seek for something better than this world can give.

The phraseology of the text is exquisitely beautiful. Notice the
smoothness of its rhythm, the simplicity of its style, the harmony of
its cadences: "_Man that is born of woman, is of few days, and full of
trouble._" This is the direct opposite of what all naturally desire.
All living human beings would rejoice in a life of many days, exempt
from trouble. "_He cometh forth like a flower._"

  "They bloom in beauty, side by side;
    They fill one home with glee."

This is pleasant to contemplate; and if the beauty could but last,
forever free from all decay, few would wish for aught of life or love
beyond the things of time and sense. But, alas! "_he is cut down_--"
and soon

  "Their graves are severed far and wide,
    By mount, and stream, and sea;"

and these graves all tell a tale of buried hopes, buried love, buried
peace.

  "The same fond mother bent at night
    O'er each fair sleeping brow;
  She had each folded flower in sight:
    Where are those dreamers now!"

We can but sigh our sadness in the closing lines of this beautiful
poem--

  "Alas, for love! if thou wert all;
    And naught beyond, O earth!"

Thus do Inspiration and Poetry alike paint the sombre realities of
life and death; and point to death as the doom of life.

But I do not love to dwell upon these sad scenes, and will turn your
attention at once to a birth that knows no death, to a flower that
never fades, to a beauty that knows no decay. And can this be true?
Can it be that there is a deathless life, a fadeless flower, a
shadowless beauty? It may be that some of you are skeptical about
things like these. You may have the unbelief that held the heart of
Aaron Burr's daughter against all comfort, when she saw her son die.
In her agony of despair she cried out: "Omnipotence itself can never
restore to me what I have lost in my only boy."

Your faces may be turned the wrong way. You may be like Lot's wife,
_looking back_. And one might just as well talk to a pillar of salt
about the glory, and the beauty, and the bliss of the eternal state
of the righteous after death, as to talk to men whose backs are
heavenward and their faces earthward. You have no eyes in the back
part of your heads. Your ears are set to hear what is said to your
face, and to catch the sounds that meet you in front. You must turn
yourselves round. And more than all this, you must open the eyes of
your understandings that the light may shine in, and take the wads of
earthly wax out of your ears that you may hear the Savior's words of
"_spirit_ and _life_," and loose the strings of your hearts that the
_good_ and _truth_ of God's Word may enter. If you will do this I will
show you wonderful things. I will show you a fountain from which, if
you drink, you will never thirst again. Not like the fabled "Fountain
of Youth," which many sought, but never found. The fountain I mean has
been found by millions of the human race. It has quenched their thirst
forever.

Do not, I beseech you, understand me to mean that _one_ drink of its
water is sufficient to do this. No! no! But I do mean that after you
have come to the spring and taken _one_ drink it is your privilege to
stay by it forever: nay, more; the spring, like the Rock in the
wilderness, will follow you wherever you go; and by and by a spring
will be opened up in your own heart, flowing with the same sweet water
of everlasting Life, and then you can sing:

  "I heard the voice of Jesus say,
    Behold, I freely give
  The Living Water: thirsty one,
    Stoop down and drink, and live.

  "I came to Jesus, and I drank
    Of that life-giving stream:
  My thirst was quenched; my soul revived:
    And now I live in Him."

But I will show you bread also. It is wonderful bread. The Israelites,
many centuries ago, kept a representation of this bread upon the table
connected with their altar of worship; and they called it "showbread,"
because it showed something to come. A kind of bread also fell upon
the face of the ground all around them, when they were encamped in the
wilderness; and they called it "MANNA." They gathered this in the
morning, and the supply never failed. But it did not keep them from
dying. They died all the same as if they had lived on wheat bread, as
we do. It is of this that Jesus says: "Your fathers did eat of the
manna in the wilderness, and they died." But our Lord, in speaking of
the Bread of Life, which is none other than the great love of God in
Christ Jesus, says: "This is the bread which cometh down out of
heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread
which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall
LIVE FOREVER."

_Live forever!_ Does not that sound pleasant in your ears? Does it not
have the note of solid comfort? If you believe it, it does. It is on
this account that our Lord says so much about FAITH. Faith makes a man
thirsty for the water of eternal life, and faith makes a man hungry
for the bread of eternal life. Millions in heaven to-day, each one out
of his own heart, can sing:

  "I heard the voice of Jesus say:
    I am the Bread of Life:
  Eat of this Bread, O hungry one,
    And have eternal life.

  "I took the Bread he gave me then:
    My hungry soul it fed;
  For this, he said, I gave my life,
    And on the cross I bled."

When our Lord was on earth he spoke to the people and to his disciples
mostly in parables. In fact we are told that "without a parable spake
he not unto them." It is from this that so many similitudes, and
metaphors, and figures of speech are found in the New Testament. Thus,
_water_ and _wine_, in many places, mean divine truth; and _bread_
means divine love. And now I will venture to make a statement for the
consideration of every thinking mind in this house--a statement which,
if it be true, is of infinite and eternal importance--and it is this:
_Love and truth support and keep life in man's spirit, just as bread
and water support and keep life in man's body_.

Jesus said to the tempter: "Man does not live by bread alone." Do any
of you suppose that Jesus meant to inform the devil that man needs
other kinds of food in addition, such as meats, and fruits, and
vegetables? He had no such thought. He did not mean to inform or
instruct the devil by anything he said to him. But he did mean to
teach his tried and tempted followers to the end of time that _love_
and _truth_ are the very life and support of man's spirit. "My words,"
says he, "are spirit, and they are life." Man may love, and ardently
love, what is evil. But divine truth tells him what to love. Hence our
Lord's answer is about equivalent to this: "Man does not live by bread
[_love_] alone; but by [water also, which is the _truth_ of] every
word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

And now, in conclusion, I will ask you, friends, do any of you desire
everlasting life? If you do, I say unto you, Come to Jesus. Accept his
love. He loved _you_ "_and gave himself for you_." Accept him by
faith. He is the Bread of eternal Life. "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved." He invites you to come and take of
the water of life freely. This water is none other than the _truth_ of
his Word. Be filled with it. Be immersed in it. As a most impressive
emblem of your willingness to be thus, submit to the ordinance of
baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost.

By your immersion in the name of the Father you declare to the world,
and say to the church that you believe that God the Father loves you,
and wills your salvation; that you accept his love in faith, and prove
your faith by this act. By your immersion in the name of the Son you
profess your faith in the efficacy and sufficiency of what Jesus
Christ did to save you, that he is the Word made flesh, and that men
should honor him, even as they honor the Father. By your immersion in
the name of the Holy Ghost you profess your faith in the power and
everlasting presence of the Holy Spirit in your heart, to lead you
into all truth, to make you more and more holy by means of this truth,
until you are filled with it, thoroughly leavened with "the leaven of
truth and sincerity." The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Truth,"
and "if the truth make you free, ye shall be free indeed;" free from
falsities in your faith. What benefit can there be in believing what
is not true? Whoever yet found any substantial good in believing a
delusion, a falsehood, an error? But we do read of some who "believe a
lie that they may be damned." This sounds rough I know; but it is
their own fault, because they _love_ a lie; and "whosoever loveth a
lie" is excluded, shut out of the Holy City, because nothing but truth
and love can enter there. I again call upon every one here present to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and, believing, he shall have life
in his name.


AN ENCOURAGING THOUGHT.

The following encouraging thought comes into Brother Kline's mind in
connection with a review of his work on Lost river. It is dated:

SUNDAY, February 18. One man may sometimes strike a hard stone a good
many times without breaking it; when another may take the same hammer,
strike it in a slightly different place, or in a different way, and it
falls to pieces. It may be that the first man's strokes accomplished
more than he knew of. The force of his blows may have diminished the
solidity of the stone, and thus made it easier for the second man to
break. If I cannot see much fruit of my labor here now, perhaps some,
who will come after me, may.


THE COVE.

SUNDAY, April 22. Brother Kline and Daniel Miller had meeting in a
place among the mountains in Hardy County, Virginia, called the Cove.
This consists of an area of country so nearly enclosed by mountains
of a somewhat circular form that it has but one outlet both for its
streams and its inhabitants. Viewed from the summit of some
neighboring peak it has the appearance of a vast amphitheatre whose
dome is the sky, whose floor is a variegation of corn and wheat fields
interspersed with beautiful green meadows, and whose walls are the
substantial mountain masonry of nature's own sublime art. Here these
two beloved brethren broke the Bread of Life to a small gathering of
people, mostly residents of the place we have described.

Acts 3 was read. After many instructive remarks by Brother Kline
concerning the great Prophet spoken of in the latter part of the
chapter, Brother Daniel Miller followed with a brief discourse, so
clear, so pointed, so forcible, that I will give his remarks as nearly
as I can in the order and manner in which he presented them.

He first endeavored to draw the attention of the unconverted part of
the audience specifically to these words: "_Every soul, which will not
hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed._" "I know of no
expression in the Bible," said he, "more sharply pointed than this.
The word '_destroyed_,' as here used, does not mean blotted out of
existence. But it does mean _cast out as evil_, unfit for the
companionship of God's people in heaven. In much the same sense of the
word it is said that intemperance _destroys_ men. It unfits them for
the duties of life, and for the society of the pure and the good.

"A ship may be said to be destroyed even though its dismantled hulk
still floats upon the sea, borne by the waves and driven by the winds.
A fruit tree is destroyed when a worm, secretly gnawing at its root,
girdles it with a belt of deadness. It may still stand, but fruitless
and lifeless. An eye is destroyed when it becomes so far injured by
disease or accident as to be forever out of the reach of power to
restore its sight.

"And is this the sense in which every soul will be destroyed who
refuses to hear this Prophet? Most assuredly it is. O, friends, how
shall I tell you the difference between a soul saved and a soul
destroyed? The one is forever happy, the other forever miserable. The
one is an eye that sees and enjoys all the beauties of earth and sky,
the other is an eye forever blind. The one is an ear that will forever
hear the melodies of heaven, the other is an ear forever deaf to all
but the wailings of hell. The one is a ship completely rigged and
fitted to bear herself nobly and safely over the surging surface of a
stormy sea, the other, a floating hulk; mastless, sailorless, only
waiting to be cast upon some desert shore to rot.

"But no one can ever have a just excuse for being thus destroyed; for
it is plain that whosoever hears this Prophet shall be saved. Jesus
Christ is a wonderful Savior. 'He is able to save to the uttermost all
who come unto God through him.' Will not you come? 'God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on
him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world.' The text
does not say that GOD will destroy every soul that will not hearken to
that Prophet. I do not believe that this is meant. Our Lord says in
one place: 'Fear him, who, after he hath killed the body, is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him.'
Who is this that is thus to be feared? I tell you that it is SIN,
impersonated in the devil. _Sin_, SIN is what is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell. Sin, disobedience to God, transgression of
God's law, has placed the seal of _death_ upon every living human body
in the world; and sin has stamped the _seal of death_ upon every
unsaved soul in hell.

"O friends, I am _afraid_ of sin. I am afraid to disobey my God and
Savior. I am more afraid of sin than I would be of smallpox in an
infected district. I am more afraid of sin than I would be of leprosy
on the plains of Syria. That or this could only kill my body; but SIN
is able to destroy both my soul and body in hell.

"It is plain that to hear the voice of that Prophet, who is none other
than our Lord Jesus Christ, to hear his voice with an ear to find out
what he says and what he wants us to do, and then in love and faith to
do it, is the only way any soul has by which to escape the threatened
destruction. I wish that I could implant in the heart of every sinner
here to-day such a fear of sin and its awful consequences as would
lead him to flee for refuge, to lay hold of the hope set before us in
the Gospel. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is this house of refuge.
Sinner, come to him. No, no! You need not do that, for he comes to
you, and you only need rise up and open the door and let him in."


A SINGULAR PHENOMENON.

FRIDAY, June 1. This day, says the Diary, I witnessed a very wonderful
appearance about the sun. About eleven o'clock I saw a bright circle
around the sun like a rainbow, with the sun in the center. At the same
time there was another circle somewhat larger than this, on the west
side of the sun; and the east side of this ring rested upon the face
of the sun. At the points where the rings crossed each other there was
a peculiar brightness and blending of colors. The whole was a sublime
and beautiful sight.


_Sermon by Benjamin Bowman._

_Preached in Brock's Gap, Virginia,
June 17._

    TEXT.--There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of
    God.--Heb. 4:9.


FROM NOTES IN THE DIARY.

We are informed by the Apostle of the Gentiles that the sojourn of the
children of Israel in the wilderness and the subsequent dealings of
Jehovah with them were examples to us who live under the gospel
dispensation. These examples comprise two great facts:

   I. Their obedience was always attended with blessings.

  II. Their disobedience was always attended with sufferings.

These two great facts comprehend the _all_ of man's life and
experience in both worlds, from the alpha to the omega. I am well
aware that many in this assembly are not Bible readers. I will
therefore give you a brief sketch of the children of Jacob or Israel
as I find it in the books of Moses and the book of Joshua, which
comprise the first six books of the Bible.

Jacob, who is also called Israel, was the grandson of Abraham. He had
twelve sons, of whom Joseph was the next to the youngest. These twelve
sons, with their descendants through all time, are called the children
of Israel. Later on they are also called Jews. The Jews of the present
day claim to be the descendants of these twelve sons of Jacob or
Israel. Joseph's older brothers became envious of him and sold him to
a company of merchants who carried him into Egypt. Here he was
elevated by the Lord to a position of great power, to a place and
power next to the king on his throne.

Soon after this a very grievous famine came upon the land of Canaan,
the country in which Israel, with his other sons, still lived. They
heard that there was plenty of food in Egypt, and so Jacob sent his
sons there to buy grain for bread. When they arrived in Egypt, to
their great surprise, they found their brother Joseph there, whom they
had sold to the merchants for thirty pieces of silver. He received
them kindly, supplied their immediate wants, and very soon made
arrangements for them and their father Jacob to come down to Egypt and
live with him. And Jacob went down into Egypt and lived with his son
Joseph till he died.

These Israelites grew and multiplied in Egypt until they became a
great people. But the time came when the Egyptians oppressed them,
laying heavy burdens upon them; and treated them as slaves. At this
time the Lord said to Moses: I have seen the affliction of my people
in Egypt; and I now send thee thither to bring them out of that land,
and into a land that I will tell thee of. Under the leadership of
Moses, the most interesting and instructive part of their history is
found.

After a succession of miracles, wrought by Jehovah through Moses,
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, agreed to let them go. But they had to
pass through a desert and uninhabited country, which lay between Egypt
and the land of Canaan. Pharaoh knew this, and to get revenge for the
way the Lord had compelled him to let them go he gathered a very large
army and pursued after them. Just at the time Pharaoh thought he had
them in his power, and when the whole camp of Israel trembled with
fear of being suddenly destroyed by the hosts of the Egyptians, the
Lord opened a passage for the children of Israel through the


RED SEA.

The Red Sea, at this place, had a very smooth bottom of sand, as has
been discovered since, although it is very deep, and perhaps twenty
miles across. The water stood like a wall on both sides of this
passage. Some of you may think this could not be. I will here relate
the substance of a conversation, which is said to have really taken
place between the first English minister to Siam, and the king of that
country. Siam is a very hot country in the south part of Asia. There
is never any winter, or even cool weather, in that country. So the
people there know nothing of ice, and even the king himself had never
heard of any such thing. The English minister told him many things
about England and other countries, and among other things referred to
the effect of cold upon water, that it makes it hard.

"You do not say," said the king, "that water gets _hard_ in your
country!" "Indeed I do," said the minister. "It sometimes gets so hard
all over the surface of broad rivers and lakes that men, and even
heavy beasts, may walk upon it with dry feet; and if your heavy
elephants were there, even _they_ could walk upon the hard water too."
"I have, thus far," replied the king, "been willing to listen to you,
and believe what you say; but now I _know you lie_."

So it may be with some who read or hear the story of the children of
Israel. They may think it all reasonable and fair enough, until they
come to the passage through the Red Sea: there faith stumbles and
falls. But we must never forget that all things, not self-contradictory,
are possible with God. It is just as possible and easy for him to
crystallize the billows of an ocean as to freeze a drop of dew on a
blade of grass. At the command of Moses they enter this avenue through
the deep, walled by the waves, and roofed by the sky. Surely no eyes
but theirs ever witnessed so sublime a sight.

  "Water to right of them;
  Water to left of them;
  Water in front of them;"

while over their heads passed the cloud of Jehovah's presence and
glory to follow in their rear; at once to hide them from the sight,
and to shield them from the attack of the enemy that was pursuing
them. I can hardly ever read this simple statement without a tear. The
kindness, the _love_ of the Lord in thus placing himself between
his children and their enemies, like as a tender father would shield
his offsprings from danger, always melts my heart. But this is just
the way the Lord always does. If his own dear people will but shelter
under his wings, the devil will never be able to get one of them.

Some of you may wonder why the Lord did not close up the way behind
them, after they were all in, so that Pharaoh and his hosts would be
compelled to stay back. But God knew best. He is wiser than men. He
allowed the Egyptian army to enter. They followed just as close behind
the Israelites as the Lord would let them come. The way was still
open, and Pharaoh, no doubt, thought the way as free for him, and
quite as safe too, as for Moses. His intention was to slaughter the
whole camp of Israel as soon as his army got through. But see how he
failed! The salvation of Moses was the destruction of Pharaoh. When
the children of Israel had all reached the land in safety they
ascended the hills on the shore to look back at the long train of
Pharaoh's host. But what did their eyes behold! All at once the walls
of water broke down; and the sea closed over them.

It seems strange to us now that Pharaoh would venture to follow the
Israelites. We now think he might have known it would prove his own
destruction. But this is one example of the folly of which Satan is
always guilty. At the very time he thinks victory is within his grasp
disappointment and defeat overtake him. Let me show you another
instance of this.

For some time he had been plotting the destruction of our Lord Jesus
Christ. One time he tried to have him cast down a very steep place on
the side of a hill. But he failed. At another time he tried to have
him stoned to death. But the Lord escaped out of his hands. At last,
however, he succeeded in having him put to death. He entered into the
heart of a man by the name of Judas, and made arrangements with him to
betray our Lord into the hands of his enemies. The plot was successful,
and when Satan saw our Lord expiring on the cross he felt jubilant
over the victory he had gained, in the belief that he had now rid the
world of its most dangerous foe to his kingdom. But you see how it
turned out. The resurrection and glorification of our Lord have given
such a deathblow to Satan's power that, after awhile, the eyes of all
heaven will see that old Serpent, the devil, and Satan cast into the
lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

After the children of Israel all got through the Red Sea they formed a
camp on its eastern shore, and each family prepared the food they had
brought with them to eat. But the supply soon gave out, and as there
was none to be had in the desert where they were encamped they began
to fear that they must all starve. They complained to Moses, and he
carried their complaints to the Lord. Very soon the manna began to
fall in abundance.


THE MANNA.

This was a kind of bread which fell all over the ground at night, and
looked like hoar-frost. They gathered it every morning, except the
morning of the Sabbath day. It was just what they needed to satisfy
their hunger and impart health and strength to their bodies.

The Lord also caused a great spring of fresh water to burst out of a
solid rock near the camp; and thus they were supplied with water.

We can hardly see how these people could ever turn against the Lord
and become unthankful and disobedient toward him after he had been so
kind and done so much for them. But they became so. They even went so
far as to make a golden calf to worship instead of Jehovah, who had
brought them through the Red Sea. For this they were sorely punished.

After awhile Moses died, and Joshua led them into the land of Canaan,
after they had wandered about in the wilderness under Moses for the
space of forty years. The land of Canaan was a good land, flowing with
milk and honey, and if they had been willing to serve the Lord by
obeying his commands they would have found rest and peace. But they
never found either rest or peace, because they were never able to
drive their enemies from the land. They found many enemies in the land
when they entered it, and on account of their disobedience to the Lord
they were unable to rid the land of Canaan of them. This is what is
meant by the verse that next precedes my text: "_For if Joshua had
given them rest, the Lord would not have spoken of another day_."

But as Joshua failed to do this, on account of their disobedience, we
have the words of the text: "_There remaineth therefore a rest unto
the people of God_." But where is that rest? In the beautiful lines
of Montgomery we ask:

  "Oh, where shall rest be found?
    Rest for the weary soul:
  'Twere vain the ocean's depth to sound;
    Or pierce to either pole.
  This world can never give
    The rest for which we sigh."

Where may be found that favored spot in whose delightful shade the
soul may fold her wings and be at rest? I imagine that some of you are
now saying to yourselves, "_This rest is in heaven_." In this you are
right, in one sense. Heaven is a place of rest to those who are
prepared for it. But let me say to you in all candor and love that
_heaven_ is rest only to those who first find rest here in our Lord
Jesus Christ. He is now calling to every sin-burdened sinner: "Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and _I will give you
rest_." The hardened unbeliever could no more be happy in heaven, even
if allowed to enter there, than a fish could be happy out of water.
Heaven is not the sinner's element. Besides, an unconverted sinner can
never get there.

  "Those holy gates forever bar
    Pollution, sin, and shame;
  For none can find admittance there,
    But followers of the Lamb."

Rest must first be found in Jesus by coming to him, accepting his
yoke, and working in his service. And to encourage all to do this he
himself says: "_My yoke is easy, and my burden is light_." If you want
to find out how easy his yoke is, and how light his burden, take it
upon you, and see if it does not give your soul rest.

I sincerely believe that Charles Wesley, long ago, gave expression to
feelings similar to those of some in this house, in the lines of a
beautiful hymn, a part of which I will repeat. See if it does not find
an echo in your soul:

  "O, that my load of sin were gone!
    O, that I could at last submit,
  At Jesus' feet to lay it down!
    To lay my soul at Jesus' feet!

  "Rest for my soul, I long to find:
    Savior of all, if mine thou art,
  Give me thy meek and lowly mind;
    And stamp thine image on my heart.

  "Break off the yoke of inbred sin:
    And fully set my spirit free:
  _I cannot rest till pure within:_
    Till I am wholly lost in thee."

You will realize the truthfulness of every one of these lines by
coming to Jesus and fully consecrating your life to him. But rest does
not necessarily imply _inactivity_. It means a heart and mind at
peace. It means a heart filled with love to God and his people. It
means a life of good works, wrought in righteousness, peace and joy in
the Holy Ghost. This is the rest that remaineth unto the people of
God. It begins here; it goes on eternally in the heavens.


THE YELLOW SPRINGS (at present Orkney Springs).

This health and pleasure resort is near the head of Stony Creek, in
Shenandoah County, Virginia. It is now universally known by the name
of "Orkney Springs." It is beautifully situated near the eastern base
of the Church mountain. From the yellow color of the sediment, left by
its chalybeate waters, it first got the name of Yellow Springs.

It was, for many years, a favorite health resort for the German
population of Rockingham and Shenandoah Counties in Virginia. Almost
every Sunday during the "spring season," there would be preaching
there by the ever earnest German Baptist Brethren. Attentive audiences
would assemble under the shade trees, and on rustic seats listen to
the plain but earnest sermons of such men as John Kline, Peter Nead,
Samuel Wampler and others. All was quiet and order. But the goddess of
fashion soon found her way to this lovely spot, and a long train of
worshipers at her shrine, robed in rustling silks and sparkling with
jewels, followed her leadings. In a few years not only the character,
but the very name of the place was changed. It is at this time a very
popular pleasure resort for the rich and fashionable.

On SUNDAY, August 19, Brother Kline delivered a very interesting and
instructive discourse at the above-named place. It is with profound
emotions of gratitude that I report this sermon. I was there myself
and heard it. Whilst I do not retain in memory much of the substance
of it, being at the time very young, I do well remember the feelings
of veneration and regard for the preacher with which his earnest
manner and kind looks impressed me. Little did I then think that
fifty-five years from that date I would be expanding that discourse,
and thus preparing it for the eyes of the world, from the leaflets of
the Diary that was then being faithfully kept by that good man.


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_Preached at Orkney Springs,
Sunday, August 19._

    TEXT.--Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life
    freely.--Rev. 22:17.

In view of our surroundings and the attractions that have drawn so
many of us to this quiet and beautiful mountain retreat, I feel that
the subject selected for to-day suits the occasion.

When I look at a mountain spring and see the wavelets playing on their
pebbly beds, or chasing one another down their steep descent, I am
ever led to think how free from all the taints of sin these innocent
drops of water are! Not one of them has ever transgressed the divine
law of its being. Not one has ever failed in a single point to fulfill
its mission. Are you thirsty? They never refuse to quench your thirst.
Does your field need rain? They never refuse to wet the ground. Always
ready, they cheerfully serve the behests of God and man.

The diversity of the applications and uses of water, the variety of
its forms--its frozen state in that of ice, its fluid state in that of
a liquid, its aeriform state in that of clouds and other modes of
atmospheric suspension--all these, together with its transparency and
cleansing power make it a most appropriate emblem of DIVINE TRUTH. As
such, water is much spoken of by the prophets in the Old Testament,
and by our Lord in the New. I will here quote some passages from each:

"_Then with gladness shall ye draw waters out of the wells of
salvation._" Isaiah 12:3. What can be meant by the "wells of
salvation," but the _fountains of truth_ in God's Word?

By way of describing the _abundance_ of the supply of truths from this
source I will here quote from the forty-first chapter of Isaiah, as
follows: "_I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the
midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and
the dry land springs of water: ... that they may see, and know, and
consider, and understand_." One man is a _hillside_; another is a
_valley_. One man is a _desert_; you think he never can be made to
produce anything. But he shall be supplied, and thus be made to
blossom as the rose. Others are _dry land_ of a general character; but
there is water enough to make all fruitful: so that instead of the
thorn, the myrtle; and instead of the thistle, the fig; and instead of
the deadly upas, the olive shall grow.

In Jeremiah's description of the departure of the Jews from the TRUTHS
of God's Word we find the following complaint against them from the
mouth of the Lord himself, recorded in Jer. 2:13, "_My people have
committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living
waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no
water_." This can mean nothing, spiritually, but a departure from the
TRUTH of God as revealed, and substituting in its place some false
doctrine of man's own invention.

Jesus said: "_If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink_." For,
said he: "_My words are spirit, and they are life_." His words are the
water of life. This explains my text.

It might surprise some of you if I were to point to that spring yonder
and say, "There flows the water of life." But would I not tell the
truth? Can man or beast live one moment without it? Let us think a
little. What is your blood? It is water, holding in solution the
various elements with which your bones, and sinews, and muscles, and
nerves, and other tissues of your body are to be supplied and
nourished. Can man or beast live a moment without blood? Then they
cannot live a moment without water. Can trees and plants live a moment
without sap? They cannot, because their sap is their blood. But the
water of that spring, indispensable as it is to your bodily life,
ceases as to its uses in this respect when this end is met; and if man
had no life other than that of mere corporeal or animal existence, no
other water would ever be demanded by him. In that case there would be
no need of the invitation given in the text.

But every human being has a twofold nature. He has a _spiritual_ body
as well as a _natural_ body. Paul says: "If there is a natural body,
there is also a spiritual body." Man's natural or physical
organization consists of _flesh and blood_. Paul calls this the
"_outer man_." This is man's animal or sensuous nature. Man's
spiritual body consists of _will_ and _understanding_. Paul calls this
the _inner man_; because it is the interior, "hidden man of the
heart." This is capable of becoming the higher, nobler, better part of
man, because it is the "house" of his affections and thoughts, of his
loves and enjoyments.

There is a wonderful difference between the two natures; and yet the
one corresponds to the other so perfectly that in all of man's
experiences, in all that pertains to his life in this world, the two
natures make _one man_. Whilst this is so, we must not forget that our
natural bodies are _mortal_; they will soon die. But our spiritual
bodies are _immortal_; they will never die. This is quite as true of
the evil as of the good. The spiritual bodies or souls of men will
live on, after the death of their natural bodies, through the
countless ages of eternity,--the good, in the enjoyments of ineffable
bliss; the evil, in the sufferings of deepest woe.

And is this true? Can it be that one or the other of these experiences
is sure to be realized by every one present here to-day? Can it be so?
Or am I here just beating the air to make you and me hear myself talk?
I solemnly protest that I am not here for that purpose. I have a
higher aim, a nobler end. But let me point you to my authority for
what I say, and show you the Rock on which my faith is built. All the
authority which any man dare claim on this subject is found in God's
revealed Word. I will here quote a few passages:

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: and before him
shall be gathered all the nations; and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.... Then
shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.... Then shall he say
also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire.... And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment; but the righteous into life eternal."

These words are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ; he here portrays,
in one grand view, the good state of the righteous in the next world
and the evil state of the unrighteous. In the very inmost of my heart
I believe what our Lord here says, and out of the abundance of my
heart my mouth now speaks. I also sincerely believe, friends, that
every one here to-day can most surely determine for himself, even
while living in this world, whether he will be happy in heaven
forever, or miserable in an everlasting hell. You may justly ask,
"How can this be determined?"

I answer that a man's life in this world determines this for every
individual, as surely as the fruit of a tree makes the quality of the
tree known. Notice these passages from Paul's writings: "He that
soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." "To
be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace." "God will reward every man according to his works."

Every intelligent man can know with certainty what kind of seed he is
sowing. Is he sowing the seeds of love and good will to his neighbor,
the seeds of peace, and order, and comfort, the seeds of faith, and
hope, and love? He surely can know what his _will_ is, at least; and
if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted of a man according to
what he hath; and if he does his all it is the widow's mite in God's
eye. Every intelligent man can know with certainty whether he loves
God or loves him not. His readiness to keep his commandments is the
proof of this both ways. I tell you, friends, there is no getting
around this. Your obedience to our Lord is the unquestionable and
undeviating test of your love. "He that loveth me, keepeth my words.
He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings." "A good man, out of
the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things: but an
evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil
things." Is not this plain?

It may now be asked, "How is an evil man to become good?" No question
of deeper interest can ever be asked. No answer of deeper importance
can ever be given. The Lord direct me in this. Relying on his Word, I
answer, that the very first step in the direction of this change is to
respond to the invitation given in my text: "_Whosoever will, let him
take of the water of life freely_." Jesus says to Nicodemus: "Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God." _To be born of water_ is to _drink_ of the water of
_life_--the TRUTH of God's Word--by _hearing it_, by _loving it_, by
_believing it_, by _obeying it_, until it makes a new man out of
him,--a new man in the image of Christ our Lord.

As a most impressive and appropriate emblem of this change water
baptism has been ordained by the Lord; and every convert to Jesus
Christ is commanded to submit, cheerfully in love, to this ordinance.
Baptism, say what you please, is one of the first fruits of this
change. To the church it is the external act of the internal birth. To
be _born of the Spirit_ is to live the life and enjoy the blessedness
of the kingdom of God, which is a life of righteousness, a life of
peace, a life of joy in the Holy Ghost.

All this is effected by taking the water of life freely, by drinking
in the TRUTH of God's Word because one loves it, because one desires
in the heart to be saved, because one desires in the heart to glorify
God and enjoy him forever.

"If any man thirst," says Jesus, "let him come unto me, and drink."
The water of this mineral spring here can do no one any good except he
drink it. But not one of us can go to that spring yonder and take a
drink of water from it without the power of God in us. "In him we
live, and move, and have our being." But he gives us the power so
freely that in the use of it we are unconscious of any power within us
but our own. So with drinking of the _water of life_. The power of
every one to drink is all of the Lord, but is so freely given by him,
and so freely used by us, that it is to all intents and purposes the
very same as if it were all of ourselves: and this makes us
accountable.

Jesus wants every man's will to drink the water of life. A sick man
may come here to regain his health. But upon tasting it he may say, "I
do not like this water; I have no thirst for it; let me have some of
another kind." But his physician says: "You must drink it or you will
die." He obeys his physician and drinks the water. After awhile he
begins to feel better, and as his health improves the water tastes
more natural to him; and by and by, as he regains his health, he loves
it and feels loath to leave the spring. But no one ever need leave the
fountain of divine love and truth: for if a man drink of it freely to
the healing of his soul, it will be in him "a well of water, springing
up into everlasting life" and he will love it more and more.

In a large spring you will hardly ever see all the water come from one
orifice or opening. It boils up through the sand and pebbles in many
places; and one observer will think this the main stream, and another
that. So with the water of eternal life. It is not all found in one
verse; nor in one chapter: nor in one book even. Jesus said to the
devil: "Man liveth _by every word_ that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God."

Ah, friends, time would fail me, were I to attempt to bring to your
minds the many precious promises we have in Jesus Christ. His Word is
full of them; and I most affectionately exhort every one here to-day
to go to that Word and find the water of eternal life.

  You may sit by the spring;
  And in your soul you may sing:

  "I heard the voice of Jesus say:
    Behold, I freely give
  The Living Water; thirsty one,
    Stoop down, and drink, and live.

  "I came to Jesus, and I drank
    Of that life-giving stream:
  My thirst was quenched; my soul revived;
    And now I live in him."


DIRECT FROM THE DIARY.

THURSDAY, October 4, 1838. Attended the funeral of one of Brother
Christian Niswander's sons. His age was thirteen years and one month.

MONDAY, October 8. Attended the funeral of another one of Christian
Niswander's children to-day. Age, nine years, nine months and
twenty-one days.

SUNDAY, October 14. I attended the funeral of Susanna, daughter of
Brother Christian Niswander, to-day. She was fifteen years and nearly
seven months old. This is the third child that this deeply bereaved
family have been called to part with in the brief space of ten days.
Gladly would we pour into their bleeding bosoms the oil of consolation.
We weep with them that weep. Our tears mingle with theirs. We lead the
way with them to the throne of grace. Our Father on high, pity them,
and do for them exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.
Help them to feel that their dear children are not dead; that their
deathless spirits have soared above all sickness, sorrow, pain and
death. Thus we pray, and thus we try to comfort. But our feeble,
tender, sympathizing natures sink under the load of grief; and the eye
of faith but feebly catches the rays of hope that beam from the pages
of Heavenly Truth. Verily, here we see through a glass darkly.


_Sermon by Elder Daniel Garber._

_Preached at Arnold's Meetinghouse,
Sunday, October 28._

This sermon was delivered in the course of a visit brethren Kline and
Garber were making among the churches and Brethren in Hampshire
County, West Virginia. They left home October 25, and returned October
31, by way of Moorefield and the South Fork in Pendleton County, West
Virginia.

    TEXT.--Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and
    walk in love.--Eph. 5:1, 2.

Some one has said of this letter to the Ephesians that it is the whole
Gospel in a nutshell. This may be true; but I must confess for myself
that in some parts the shell is so very hard, that in my efforts to
crack it the broken fragments, under the hammer of investigation, fly
out of sight, with the kernel still sticking in them. It may be that
Peter had some of these hard shells in mind when he said: "Our beloved
brother Paul hath written many things hard to be understood; which
they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they also do the other
scriptures, unto their own destruction." The Lord forbid that I should
thus do with any of the Scriptures.

I am delighted to say, in full view of all this, that there is not
much danger of the honest seeker for truth being misled by anything
Brother Paul has left on record. If there is any danger at all of this
kind, I think it is to be found in giving what he says on election and
predestination a wrong interpretation. I have been frequently asked
how I interpret his strikingly bold utterances on this subject, and
how I reconcile them with my belief in the absolute freedom of the
human will.

In the first place, I unhesitatingly profess my belief in the absolute
freedom of man's will. How else could man comply with the injunction
given in the text: "Walk in love?" If he has no will of his own, why
give him a command? This freedom of man's will is a logical necessity.
Reason demands it. Now, let us look at this a little. If man is not
free to choose between good and evil; between right and wrong; between
truth and falsity; wherein lies the reasonableness of instructing him?
of exhorting him to do what is right, and to shun what is wrong? of
commanding him to do good, with promises of reward for his obedience,
and threatenings of judgment and fiery indignation as the sure
penalties of his disobedience and sin?

Some admit the freedom of man's will to do evil, but not to do good.
But do you not see that if this be true man's will is only half
free--free to act in one direction, but not in another? On this
assumption, where is the reasonableness of giving him admonitions,
invitations and entreaties to do good, when he has not the power
within him to comply?

You may answer by quoting the Lord's words: "_Without me ye can do
nothing_." I fully believe these words of our Lord. But if you apply
them specifically to the will, they prove that men can do neither good
nor evil without the Lord. This you may not admit; but I believe it is
just what our Lord meant. All life is from him as God. All beings, the
evil as well as the good, "live and move in him." I believe that our
Lord is, every hour and every moment of every man's life, seeking to
turn the heart, the WILL of the man from evil to good, from darkness
to light, and from the power of Satan to himself. "He causeth his sun
to rise on the evil and the good; and sendeth his rain on the just and
on the unjust."

The light and heat of the sun, as well as the falling of the rain, are
beautiful emblems of the life-giving love of our heavenly Father. He
freely imparts the power to every one who hears the words of gospel
grace, to love and obey him if he will; to turn from his sins, and
walk in newness of life. It is the goodness of God that leads men to
repentance; and repentance is neither more nor less, and nothing else
than a change of one's love or _will_ from evil to good; from the
love of self and the world to God supremely.

Thus briefly have I sought to prepare your minds for a few remarks I
propose making on the doctrine of election.

Election simply means _a choosing_. It is an undeniable fact that our
Lord Jesus Christ elects, chooses, accepts every one that truly
repents or turns his heart from evil to good. "_Him that cometh unto
me_," says he, "_I will in no wise cast out_." "_He that believeth and
is baptized_, SHALL BE SAVED." "WHOSOEVER WILL, _let him take of the
water of life freely_." TRUTH is the broad platform on which the
_elect_ of God forever stand; and LOVE is the golden chain that first
drew and forever binds them there.


PREDESTINATION.

There is not a living thing upon the face of the earth but is
predestinated to a certain end. The horse, in his very _creation_, is
predestinated to be the horse in kind, and to serve the end of his
creation; and his nature and characteristics as such admit of no
change. Predestination is one of the essentials of God's eternal
order. If the horse, or the ox, or anything else which God has
created, could be changed from the nature and order of its creation,
confusion would be the inevitable result.

I do not wonder that Paul wrote what he did upon predestination,
because it implies the immutable, eternal order of God's love and
wisdom. Heaven and earth may pass away, but Christ's love shall never
pass away from the lowliest and poorest soul that loves and obeys him.
His love to Christ is the seal of his predestination to eternal life.

"He that believeth the Son hath life; but he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." This is
the sum of election and predestination. God's eternal love has given
to man the way of man's salvation. All who choose that way are on that
very account elected and predestinated to eternal life in heaven.
_Elected_, because this fits them for heaven: _predestinated_, because
it is God's eternal purpose to save all such. Predestination applies
equally to the impenitent; because, according to the same plan and the
principles involved in it, they must be forever lost.

Nothing can be more reasonable than that God's elect, the people of
his choice, should be holy and without blame before him in love; that
they should be followers of God as dear children, and walk in love.
This is both the cause and the proof of their election to eternal
life.

If you will take the pains to look into a dictionary for the word
WALK, you will find that it means: _To conduct one's self; to order
one's life_. Every man feels in himself the power to order his own
life according to what is just and right in the sight of God and men.
To regard man in any other light would be to place him on a level with
the brute. It would be taking away from him his moral feelings, and
depriving him of the just exercise of his will through the
understanding. Whilst man feels in himself this power, still he must
not forget that all life is from God, and that without God man is
nothing. "_Herein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved
us._" And every true child of his can say: "_I love him because he
first loved me_."

Sinner, let me say to you that God loves you and wills your salvation.
But he cannot save you without your will to be saved by him. You must
reciprocate his love. You must answer his call. You must obey his
voice. His Holy Spirit is now saying to you: "Be thou reconciled to
God. Turn thou, turn thou, for why wilt thou die?" You need not pause
and wonder whether or not you are one of his elect. I can answer this
myself. I say to you that in your present state you most assuredly are
_not_ one of his elect. But if you truly repent of your sins by giving
your heart to him in love and obedient faith, just as surely as his
Word is true, you will become to be one of his elect; for election is
salvation. But if you stay away, who is to blame? "_He that will not
plough by reason of the cold, shall beg in harvest._" If you fail to
sow, where will your ingathering be? But note this: "He that soweth to
his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to
the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." To sow to the
Spirit is to do the will of God from love to God; and to all who do
this, the promise is sure.

Brethren and sisters, I must exhort you to remember the text. Don't
forget it as you go home after meeting closes. When you get home look
for it. Some of you, I fear, have already forgotten the place where it
is found; so I will tell you again. It is the first, and part of the
second verse of the fifth chapter of Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
These are the words: "_Be ye therefore followers of God as dear
children; and walk in love_."

You know that good children imitate good parents. They follow their
examples. Now ye are called to follow the leadings of God, to imitate
the examples of love he has set before you. Let me present to you some
of these: "_If any of you have a quarrel against any, even as Christ
forgave you, so also do ye_." This is the best way to settle a quarrel
I have ever found.

Here is another: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do
unto you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the
prophets." This means that all that God has ever spoken to man is to
the end that each one love his neighbor as he loves himself. No one
can be a true neighbor who does not love God. The neighbor, then, that
is to be loved in this way must be a brother or sister in the Lord;
and none but a brother or sister in the Lord is capable of loving in
this way, and to this degree. So you see that love to the neighbor,
such as the law of Christ sets forth, implies supreme love to God.
This love makes heaven here, and there, and everywhere.

Here is one more: "Love not in _word_ only, but in deed and in truth.
He that hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and
shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love
of God in him?"

Brethren, the devil does not like the odor of CHARITY and FAITH in the
church. It is worse in his nose than the smoke of burning brimstone.
If you want to keep him out of the church, all you have to do is to
keep brightly burning the fire of love on the altar of every heart;
and from these altars, all together, there will ascend the odor of an
incense that will put the devil to flight and keep him away forever.

FRIDAY, December 7. Brother Kline, in company with brethren Brower and
Rodecap, started to


THE PASTURES.

The Pastures comprise a considerable scope of rich grazing country in
the western part of Augusta County and the eastern part of Highland
County, Virginia. This section is watered by two principal rivers of
small size, respectively called the Calf Pasture and the Cow Pasture.
They are tributaries of the James river in Virginia. Here these
brethren preached day and night for some time.

We rarely find anything amusing in the Diary. Brother Kline's mind and
heart were too deeply imbued with sincerity in religion and the life
flowing out of it, to give place to things of a light or trivial
character. But for once, on this journey, we find one entry that
brings a smile to the face: One evening, when they were all seated
around the fire at Brother Henry Snell's the conversation turned upon
a company of Indians that had, shortly before, passed along that way.
They asked permission to spend the night in one of Brother Snell's
outbuildings, which was cheerfully granted.

These Indians, Brother Snell went on to relate, had killed a wild
turkey on their way that day, and in the evening asked the family for
a suitable vessel in which to cook it. This being furnished, they went
on to prepare the turkey for the pot. This they did in true Indian
style. Two squaws went through the performance. One took hold of one
wing, and the other took hold of the other wing; and thus between the
two most of the feathers were removed. They then opened the bird,
removing such of the internal viscera as were thought not fit for
food, washed it in a vessel of water, and then put it on to cook _in
the very same water they had washed it in_.

Brother Kline could not help applying the last point in the above
incident to some features in the lives of men. He says: "That minister
who gets up and in a beautiful and glowing discourse sets forth the
Christian 'cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit;' and
then comes down to mix with the world, and follow its fashions and
vanities, _is cooking his turkey in the same water he washed it in_.
That professor of religion who, to appearance, makes a very humble
confession of his sins, with seeming repentance and deep contrition of
heart, only to go away and thrust himself again into the filthiness of
his former life, is cooking _his_ turkey in the same water he washed
it in."


REFLECTIONS ON THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.
FROM THE ENTRY OF DECEMBER 31.

This evening closes the work of another year. The record of this year
is now nearly complete. Have I any idea of that record? I think I
have. Of one thing I feel sure. It has not been kept with paper, pen
and ink. Neither has it been written in the skies. Each one's yearly
record is written by no hand but his own, and upon no tablet but that
of his own heart. Each one's LIFE, therefore, is his record. This,
before God and the angels, is a faithful transcript of his mind and
heart within. "A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart,
bringeth forth good things; likewise an evil man, out of the evil
treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil things." The good things of
the one and the evil things of the other constitute the life record of
every man. This makes character, and character is the basis on which
men make up their opinions of one another; but the HEART, out of which
the character grows, is the BOOK that will be opened before the
throne, out of which every one will be judged. A _good heart_ is each
redeemed saint's BOOK OF LIFE: and an evil heart is each lost soul's
book of condemnation.

Hence we are told by our Lord "that every idle word that men shall
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment;" and
that "whatsoever is spoken in the ear in the closet shall be
proclaimed upon the housetop." Good words leave the lines of their
light upon the heart's love-tablet; but evil words leave their shadows
in the chambers of the soul, and deepen the darkness there.


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_Preached on Lost River, West Virginia,
March 3._

    TEXT.--Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and
    broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many be they
    that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the
    way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it.--Matt.
    7:13, 14.

It is declared that our Lord spake to his disciples in parables; "and
without a parable spake he not unto them." A parable is a brief
statement of such _facts_ as men are well acquainted with; which
facts are designed to correspond to or represent things they are
_not_ well acquainted with. Every parable, then, carries with it
two lines of thought. The one line is natural, and is based upon the
natural things given in the parable. The other line is spiritual, and
follows the natural line, as a shadow follows its substance. My text
is not properly a parable, but it is in the parabolic form, and must
be treated as such.

We notice at once the two gates and the two ways. We also notice that
these two ways or roads lead in opposite directions and to opposite
destinies. These statements the simplest mind can lay hold of. Even
young children know what gates are, and what roads are. They can also
look in thought toward the ends of roads, and comprehend, in some
measure at least, what is meant when they are told that one road ends
in a great fire that will burn forever, and that the other ends in a
delightful garden where flowers of beauty and fragrance, with fruits
of exquisite taste and healthfulness, hang upon trees and vines of
unfading loveliness.

It is never necessary to speak to the simple-minded man or child about
the freedom of the human will. Their lessons in this are learned from
observation and experience. By experience every one knows that he has
the power to choose what he likes and to reject what he does not like.
Even beasts, and birds, and reptiles do the same. They choose and
appropriate the foods they like. They mate together according to the
same free will, which is their love. Birds select their roosting
places, and construct their nests where and how they will. "Foxes have
holes;" but this is so because God first made the caverns in the
rocks, and the foxes afterward chose them for their habitations. Every
unit in the whole animate world, not only chooses the place of its
abode, but also the modes and means of its subsistence. Even plants in
a state of nature conform to this general law. Shall man, born to
glorify God and enjoy him forever, be cut short in the free exercise
of his will? I cannot believe it. But I do believe that the brightest
saint in heaven is where he is because it was first his will to go
there; and being there, it is forever his will to stay.

I am not ignorant of the arguments advanced by the other side. Many
good, but, I believe misguided men, hold the opinion that man is so
depraved as to his will, so lost to all sense and understanding of
what is good, that he is wholly incapable of choosing the right and
shunning the wrong. But I believe the Lord knows just what man can do
and what man cannot do. And it is a thing self-evident to my mind that
Goodness and Wisdom has never yet commanded man to do anything that is
out of man's power to do.

Let us grant that man is dead in trespasses and sins, as Paul
represents him. But does not Jesus say: "My words are spirit and they
are life"? The Lord's words have LIFE in them; and if man will but
hear them with his natural ear, as you now hear me speak, and then be
not a forgetful hearer, but be a doer of the Word; this man shall be
blessed in his deed; and soon be filled with the new life of God.

The text opens in these words: "Enter ye in at the narrow gate." This
is impossible for any one to do without his knowing what the narrow
gate is, and where it is. Whilst we have no direct and positive
information upon this point in connection with the text, we still may
learn something by noticing into what it opens. The narrow gate opens
into the narrow way, and this leads to LIFE. The narrow gate and the
narrow way are one. I mean by this that entering the narrow gate means
making a start in the direction of a good life, and walking in the
narrow way is progress in a good life. But where is the gate, and
where is the way? I answer:

  "The Gate is before you, and so is the Way;
  The Gate is wide open, and no toll to pay."

and this gate is our Lord Jesus Christ as set forth in his Word.

  "Where'er we seek Him, He is found;
  And every place is holy ground!"

But, my dear hearers, do not for a moment imagine that it is a small
thing to make the change here implied. First, it means a change of the
heart or will. Of course no one ever leaves a road that leads in one
direction, to turn right around and enter upon another that leads in
the very opposite direction, without a great change of mind. Second,
it implies that there has been new light imparted, new truth received
into the mind. This new truth teaches the understanding that it is
neither wise nor _safe_ to keep the broad road, because it leads to
destruction. Fear of destruction, then, on the one hand, and the love
of life on the other are involved in this change.

I am just now reminded of what we are told in history that a great
man, many years ago, left his home in Europe and came across the
Atlantic ocean in his own ship to hunt for the fountain of youth that
was confidently believed to exist somewhere in the wilds of America.
This fountain, it was said, possessed the virtue of imparting youth to
the aged, and life and health to the sick and dying. To the dying it
was, _Drink and live_; to the aged it was, _Bathe in its waters_ and
return to the _vigor_ and _beauty_ of _youth_. As this great man was
far advanced in age he thought it would be WISE to make an effort to
find this fountain, which never has existed but in the imaginations of
silly men; and never will exist in any other way in this world. Of
course he failed to find it; and, worst of all, he died in the vain
effort.

But not so with any that have ever entered into the narrow way through
the narrow gate. It surely leads to life, as thousands now living in
this world can testify. It does appear to me that this change is quite
as rational, quite as harmonious with man's common sense, as anything
that he does in the daily course of his life's experiences and
operations. The intelligent, rational man acts from reason in all the
affairs of life. What he loves he calls good, and what he fears or
hates he calls evil. This he shuns and that he covets, and puts forth
every effort of mind and body to gain it.

In this fact we find the truth of our Lord's words verified: "The
children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children
of light." The word GENERATION in this place means _state_ or
_condition_ from which proceeds a given manner of life, and daily
attention to business. The men of the world are active as to their
works, and watchful as to their interests. This watchfulness and
activity is what our Lord calls their _wisdom_, and in its degree it
exceeds that of the children of light. Our minds and wills act as
freely in choosing the things of religion, and doing the duties
connected therewith, as they do in the things that belong to this life
only.

But we must not forget that every one who enters in by the narrow gate
is but a child in experience when he first enters. He is but a lamb.
But the Good Shepherd and Father go with him, leading him and feeding
him. Like Enoch, he walks with God.

The text does not say that the narrow way _is_ life; but that it
_leads_ unto life. To my mind it is clear that whenever the "sinner
forsakes his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts," he then and
there enters in by the narrow gate. This is repentance. He returns to
the Lord by the narrow way: and the Lord is life.

It may well be asked why the gate and the way are narrow. The narrow
gate is the TRUTH of God's Word as it is first found and loved: and
the narrow way is the same TRUTH as it is followed and obeyed. Truth
is always a straight or narrow track, because any departure therefrom,
either to the right or left, is error and falsity.

Jesus says: "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved." This door is just as narrow as the gate. He also says: "I am
the way." As such, he is so narrow that, as the prophet represents, it
is as if a fire of destruction were on the one hand and a flood of
wrath on the other. Ah, Brethren, the truth can never be made to bend.
It is as the builder's line to the foundation; and as the plumb line
to the column.

To such as walk in the narrow way our Lord says: "I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish." Is not this encouraging?
It is to be in the Lord, and the Lord in us. It is to be a live and
fruitful branch of the true Vine. It is to be a son of God, an heir of
God, and a joint heir with Christ. It is, when the coil of mortality
is laid aside, to shine as the sun in the kingdom of our Father in
heaven.

It would afford me much joy to find some here to-day ready to enter in
by the narrow gate. Do I hear some one say: "I feel that I ought to
leave the broad road that ends in destruction, but I cannot"? It is
true, you can of yourself do nothing. If left to yourself you would
never draw another breath; you would never again move your hand or
foot. But for the life-supporting power of the good Lord you would
instantly be a dead man or woman in every sense. Do not forget that in
God you live, and move, and have your being. This is as certainly and
as literally true of every man's natural life as of his spiritual
life. God is constantly present with you; for without him you can do
nothing.

Now, since he is ever present with you, sustaining a life which you
acknowledge is not being spent in his service and to his glory, will
he not much more give you at the same time power and love and faith to
do his will? O, try him. Try my Lord in one sincere, humble, honest,
fervent prayer. Say, Lord, open my eyes. Take away my heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh. "Create in me a clean heart; and renew a
right spirit within me." My friend, the moment you sincerely wish to
do his will by loving and obeying him he will enable you to do so, as
surely as he now enables you to rise to your feet and walk home, or go
wherever you will and do what you choose.

It is not a small thing the Lord means when he says: "Consider the
lilies of the field, ... they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet
I say unto you, That Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these. If God so clothe the grass of the field, ... shall he not
much more clothe you?"

My friend, let me here impress your mind with the sublime truth that
it is quite as much in accordance with the Lord's way, and quite as
harmonious with his love, to clothe you with power to do his will as
to clothe the grass of the field with beauty. He gives life and beauty
to every sparrow. Are you not more in his eye than many sparrows? Even
the very hairs of your head are all numbered. O friend, think of it.
He even hears the young ravens when they cry. And will he let your
soul perish? Will he suffer your naked soul to sink into hell when you
cry to him for help? Perish the thought! For it "is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners"; not to condemn them.

WHAT IS IT TO BE SAVED? Let the Lord answer: "_He that heareth my
word, and believeth him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation; but is passed out of death unto life_."
This is salvation.


THE FOREST.

This is a section of country in the southwestern part of Shenandoah
County, Virginia. In early days it was very densely timbered, and its
few scattered inhabitants were said to live in the forest or woods. In
this way they were locally distinguished from those living in the
eastern part of the county, along the North Fork of the Shenandoah
river. At present it is one of the wealthiest and most highly
cultivated sections of the county. The population is largely composed
of German Baptist Brethren. Many of these are now distinguished for
piety and usefulness. In this number we find the names of Peter Myers,
Benjamin Wine, Daniel Wine, Christian Haller, Samuel Garber, Martain
Garber and others, with their descendants, many of whom are church
members. Brother Daniel Hays married in this section, and formerly
resided there; but he now lives near Broadway, in Rockingham County,
Virginia.

Among the deceased from this section, posterity will long remember
the name of Jacob Wine, who was, for many years, so noted for his
liberality and activity in the ministry. His uncle, Michael Wine, was,
perhaps, no less distinguished for his outspoken opposition against
everything he did not like, as well as for his earnest defense of what
he believed to be good and true. Such men, by force of character in
the direction of right, secretly carve their names upon the rock of
memory, where they defy the surges of time.

Here may be seen the old Flat Rock meetinghouse, a substantial brick
structure, so-called from the rock on which it stands. This is
limestone, and presents a comparatively smooth and level surface,
probably two hundred and fifty feet in length, by two hundred feet in
breadth. The formation is wonderful, and affords a striking emblem of
the Rock of Truth on which are founded the doctrines and practices of
the Brethren.

May 10, 11 and 12 were spent by Brother Kline in visiting, mostly with
a view to religious conversations and instructions. In these three
days he visited Martain Good's, Abraham Glick's, Christian Garber's,
David Wampler's, Peter Nead's, George Kline's and Daniel Glick's.

THURSDAY, May 13, there was council meeting at Christian Garber's.
John Wine, John Harshberger and Joseph Miller were elected for
speakers. Martain Miller and Solomon Garber were elected for deacons.

SUNDAY, June 6. Meeting at the Flat Rock. I baptized Emanuel Grabil
and Christian Funkhouser. John 3 was read.

SUNDAY, June 13. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Matthew 3 was read. I
baptized James Mauck and Susanna Shull.

SUNDAY, July 18. Meeting at Jesse Whetzel's on Lost River. Acts 3 was
read. Brother Daniel Miller is with me. In the afternoon we had
meeting again, and Brother Jacob Motz was baptized.


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_Preached at William Fitzwater's,
August 8._

    TEXT.--We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to
    God.--2 Cor. 5:20.

Every chapter and every verse of Gospel Truth discloses the love of
God in one way or another. Our Lord came into the world, not to
condemn the world, but to save the world; and all the words that make
that salvation known to men are words of love. I am sure we think too
little upon


THE LOVE OF GOD.

In my talks with sinners I very often discover in them a sort of
impression that God is their enemy. I would not, on any account,
intentionally misrepresent a single individual; either as to the
opinions he may hold or the secret sentiments he may entertain; but I
am impressed with the belief that if the hearts of many, if not all,
unconverted persons could be laid open to view, they would in their
inmost recesses disclose the belief or impression that God is not
their friend; that he does not wish them well; that he is only bearing
with them until it suits his time to cut them off and send them to
hell. This sentiment springs from a consciousness of sins indulged and
duties neglected. Hence, when such fall into deep affliction, when
danger threatens or destruction impends, they call on God to have
mercy upon them; and beg him to turn away his wrath.

A wrong interpretation of many passages in the Bible tends to foster
this impression. I will here quote a few passages of this kind, and
then interpret them according to what I believe to be the truth. When
the children of Israel were about ready to cross the Jordan over into
the land of Canaan, Moses said to them: "Remember, and forget not, how
thou provokedst the Lord thy God TO WRATH in the wilderness.... Also
in Horeb ye provoked the Lord TO WRATH, so that the Lord WAS ANGRY
with you, to have destroyed you." Deut. 9:7, 8.

The Old Testament abounds with passages of similar import, and many
are found in the New Testament. But let us examine carefully the
_kind_ of _wrath_ and _anger_ to which the Lord may be provoked. It
cannot be such wrath as men and devils feel. In Rev. 12:12 we read
these words: "The devil is come down unto you, having great WRATH,
because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

We can not, we dare not, think for a moment that the word _wrath_,
when spoken of God, means the same as when spoken of the devil. The
devil's wrath implies a feeling in him to do all the evil and mischief
he can. But the wrath of God cannot mean anything like this; because,
when his wrath burns the fiercest, he is still ever ready to forgive
all who repent and turn from evil. Nay, he even _entreats_ and
beseeches men to be reconciled to him, that his anger may be turned
away. I might quote many passages in proof of this. I have time to
give but one from the Old Testament. When the Lord made an end of
laying before the children of Israel the blessings and the curses, he
wound up all by saying: "And there shall cleave naught of the cursed
thing to thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his
anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and
multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; when thou shalt
hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God."

An appeal to the light of reason must convince any unprejudiced mind
that our heavenly Father is angry and wrathful toward no one, in the
sense of willing evil to him, or of seeking an opportunity to do him
mischief. _Men_ may, and no doubt often do, have this feeling; but it
is a wicked feeling. Perish the thought of such wrath ever having a
place in the heart of our heavenly Father. The Apostle Peter says:
"The Lord is long-suffering toward us, NOT WILLING that ANY SHOULD
PERISH, but that all should come to repentance."

But let us crown all this argument with the Lord's sunrise upon the
night of Nicodemus. Here it is: "God so loved the world,"--the very
worst, and wickedest, and most depraved and abandoned part of it; he
made no exceptions--"that he gave his only begotten Son, that
WHOSOEVER believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved."

Do not imagine that God, our Creator, took a spell of love and good
will when he sent his Son into the world. God does not take spells,
either of love or wrath. He is the same yesterday, to-day and
forevermore. The same God who brought destruction upon the
disobedient, wayward, unthankful tribes of Israel, is the God who so
loved the world. He loved it then, just as he loves it now. He loves
it now, just as he did when he sent his Son to die for its sins. But
let us inquire a little further into the nature of the


DIVINE WRATH.

When I am crossing deep water I always find it best to be calm, go
slowly and steadily, and look well to the point where I expect to
land. The wrath of God is such only in _appearance_. The _real_ wrath
is in man, and upon man. Let me explain this. Our blessed Savior says:
"Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect:" "for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

There lies a man who gave himself up to intemperance. Alcohol had
permeated his body, carrying its deadly poison into every nerve, and
fibre, and tissue of his entire organism. He exposed himself to the
sun's rays on a very hot day, and he fell dead from _sunstroke_. The
WRATH of the sun destroyed his life. God made the sun to rise on the
morning of that day; and God filled the sun with its heat; but it was
wrathful to the man who was not prepared for it, and to no one else.
Nature everywhere rejoiced in its light and heat; the corn grew; the
hay was cured; and devout hearts thanked the Lord for that lovely day.

Right there, on that sand, is where a man once built his house. He was
told by many that it was not a safe place to build a dwelling house,
that it would certainly be in danger of being swept away by high
water. He would not hear, but went on building; and finally he moved
in. But great WRATH came upon him; for in one night his house, with
all in it, including himself, was washed away. Wise people all over
the land rejoiced to see the rain. It had been a dry time, and
everybody said: "What a fine rain! It has replenished our wells and
flushed up our springs. The mills can now start up again. When the
ground dries off a little people can go to plowing again." But this
very same rain was destruction and WRATH to the foolish man who had
built his house in the way of its flood.

You may now better understand what I mean by saying that the wrath of
God is not wrath as we usually understand the word to mean; but wrath
only in _appearance_. The Lord did not send the flood to destroy that
man's house; the flood was just as necessary as the rain, and its end
quite as benevolent. The destruction of the man's house was purely the
result of his own folly.

All just laws are founded upon love, because their highest end and aim
is to protect the good. But the law, "which is holy, just, and good,"
is full of WRATH to the evil doer when it overtakes and punishes him
for his crimes. But does the good law, which essentially is nothing
but love, change? Is it to-day in a good humor, and to-morrow angry?
Such is our heavenly Father. To the wise and good he is love, both in
appearance and essence; but to the foolish and evil, the very same
unchangeable love assumes the _appearance_ of anger and wrath. You are
now prepared for


THE TEXT.

"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." The
life of Jesus on earth was a life of love. A part of the angelic
chorus as it floated down from the skies, announcing the birth of the
Son of God, was: "GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN." Good will toward men was
everywhere manifested by our Lord in the life he lived and in the
death he died. In his life "he went about doing good;" and no part of
that good gave him deeper joy than to see sinners repent of their
sins.

The burden of John's ministry, by which the way of the Lord was
prepared, had for its keynote: "Repent, and bring forth fruits meet
for [corresponding to] repentance." When our Lord sent out the twelve
to preach, he charged them to say: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand." Right here I wish to impress your minds deeply with this
thought that repentance and reconciliation mean one and the same
thing; at least, there can be no reconciliation without repentance.
Reconciliation is repentance made perfect.

What keeps men in a state of enmity toward each other? It is pride,
self-will, and self-love.

Pride says: "I will not bow to _him_. He has got to come to _me_."

Self-Will says: "If he will not accede to my terms, there will be no
reconciliation."

Self-Love says: "What would others think of _me_, were _I_ to humble
myself to him?"

It is self-evident that just so long as this state of feeling exists
with the parties, the enmity will remain. Where deep enmity exists,
both parties may be in fault, as is often the case; but this is not
necessarily so. There are cases where the fault and enmity are all on
one side, and nothing but love and a desire for reconciliation on the
other. I just now call to mind a case of this kind. An avowed infidel
had been at considerable expense to have his daughter educated in the
refinements of learning and art. She excelled in these, and became her
father's pride.

But a day came when her heart was stirred within her. Accidentally
meeting with these words of Paul, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead
while she liveth," her mind was led to think and wonder what they
could mean. Her father had taught her to look upon religion as a thing
of mere superstition, and to treat the Bible as a book of fables and
delusions. But these words clung to her thoughts, and with them some
others which fell from the lips of the minister who preached where she
sometimes went to church.

Finally she opened her heart to a minister who took great care to
instruct her in the way of salvation, and gave her a Bible. This she
read to the illumination of her mind and heart, made an open
profession of her faith, was baptized, and would have gone on her way
rejoicing every day but for one thing. That one thing was her father's
displeasure. His daughter's conduct in the things of religion had
wounded his pride. He became wrathful, and for a time lost his
self-control. In this outburst of passion he ejected her from her
home, and threatened her minister with violence. In this case you
readily see that the fault and enmity are all on one side, and if a
reconciliation is ever effected it must be based upon the repentance
of the guilty party.

I see you are interested to know how all this turned out. I will tell
you very briefly. About two years after the above occurrence the
lady's father met with a very serious accident, in which his leg was
broken and his body otherwise injured. His recovery was slow. When he
could begin to sit up a little he thought what a comfort it would be
to have his daughter's company, if she still were as she once had
been.

Waiving all this, he resolved to ask her to come back home. She had
been with her uncle all this while. Having returned home in compliance
with her father's request, she showed him all the kindness and
attention in her power. One day, when the two were alone together in
the room, he asked her what had induced her to treat him as she had
done. Her tearful eyes and gentle words, as she told him of the love
of Christ which had constrained her to do as she had done, of the joy
and consolation she felt in his service, of her bright hope of bliss
with angels and glorified saints in heaven so impressed him that he
listened with rapt attention. He had never been so talked to before.
From this time on, up to his complete recovery, conversations on the
subject of religion were of daily occurrence; and I am happy to say
that they resulted in deep and godly repentance on his part, which
effected a reconciliation to his daughter and her minister forever.

My dear, unconverted friends, the enmity between you and your God,
like the enmity of this father towards his daughter, is all on one
side, and that is _your_ side. No steps are needed to reconcile God to
man. No such steps ever have been needed, because God holds no enmity
in his heart towards men. His words of invitation, "Come unto me, and
I will give you rest," mean love, love to the guilty. "If any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink," means love. His bleeding
heart on the cross, and his bleeding hands, and his bleeding feet and
his side, all, all mean love. He ever loves you, and asks you to be
reconciled to him. He is not visibly here now, but he has committed to
his faithful ministers this word of reconciliation; and as a very
humble one of their number I take up the refrain, and in the words of
my text I say to you and to all: "Now then, I am an ambassador for
Christ, as though God did beseech you by me: I pray you in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God."


ELDER JOHN KLINE AND ISAAC LONG VISIT PENNSYLVANIA.

THURSDAY, August 12, the two brethren started on their journey. They
attended council meeting at the Flat Rock. Here they took leave of the
Brethren, and started on a journey that was to occupy about five
weeks. Brother Kline, as was his custom when his spirit stirred him to
go on a journey of this kind, had sent many appointments ahead; and
many were eagerly expecting and hopefully awaiting his arrival.

The imagination can find much pleasure in accompanying these two
brethren on this protracted visit to the churches. Both on horseback,
they had every opportunity to view the country as they passed along;
and many must have been the remarks and observations suggested by
things along the way. Brother Kline's mind was peculiarly active, and
his temper and social disposition genial in an eminent degree. It was
never my privilege to be with him on one of these protracted
excursions, but from the short ones I occasionally took with him in
later years, I feel sure that each day, all else favorable, was a sort
of heavenly delight.

Seeing a fine looking tree in the forest, whose leaves and branches
and general appearance showed that it was solid to the core, straight
grained, and deeply and firmly rooted in the soil, he would say: "That
tree is a fair representation of a good church member. He stands
upright. You see he does not lean to one side or the other. He holds
his head high in the perpendicular line of justice and truth. The
squirrels that run up and down on his trunk and over his Branches do
not annoy him: these are his little charities. They feed on his fruit,
to be sure; but a pleasant smile is all the account he takes of them.
You tap him with a mallet, and his trunk gives out a dull but certain
sound of solidity to the core. There is no wind-shake about him. His
thrifty appearance proves this. The storms, in the church and out of
the church, have never disturbed the solid texture of his faith and
Christian integrity. He is not twisty. The fibers that compose his
huge trunk are just like his principles; they all run straight up and
down. You always know how to take him, and what to depend on when you
have him.

"But there stands another tree of a very different character. Tap that
tree, and the drum-like sound tells you at once that it is hollow. You
can see, too, by the furrows in the bark not running up and down in
perpendicular lines, that it is twisty. It can hardly be said to be
wind-shaken, for there is not enough solid timber in it to be affected
in that way. The few nuts or acorns which it bears are worthless; for
there is not sufficient vitality about it to mature its fruit. It
would have been to the ground long ago but for the support given it by
that other tree on which it leans. I leave you to form your own
opinion of the church member represented by this tree. I hope there
are not many such, for if there were I fear we would not be able to
find enough solid material to build a house that would stand."

Brother Kline was gifted with that fortunate cast of mind which
enabled him to draw from nature themes for thought and conversation,
which added much to his happiness when alone, and to his geniality in
company; and not only so, but even in his preaching he drew largely
from the magazines of God's creation. I have not a doubt that if all
the items of interest that passed between himself and Brother Long, in
the way of conversations on this journey, could be collected and
presented in proper form they would make a most instructive and
entertaining volume. I sometimes fear that the world's best thought
escapes its hands. It may, however, so turn out that after awhile
stenography will set her delicate nets and catch these wild birds
which now flit by us on such active wing that we catch but a glimpse
of their forms and beauty.

FRIDAY, August 13, the two brethren got to Jonas Goughnour's, below
Woodstock, in Shenandoah County, Virginia. They had meeting in a
schoolhouse near by. Brother Isaac Long, at this early day, gave clear
indications of the ability and usefulness which have characterized his
ministry to the present time. Trained to correct business habits from
early youth, he carried them over into his church work; and judging by
his success, to plan and to perform, to design and to execute, with
him mean one and the same thing.

Between the fourteenth and twentieth of August the two brethren
visited John Rowland's, Emanuel Long's, Joseph Long's, Daniel
Reichert's, Daniel Long's, David Kinsey's and John Brandt's.

FRIDAY, August 20. The two brethren, in company with David Kinsey and
John Brandt, go to Brother Nussbaum's. They went through London, Path
Valley and Fennelsburg. They must have had a long ride this day; but
who could think the road long with such company? The next day they
went towards Huntingdon. Brother Kline says they crossed a tolerably
high mountain this day, and dined at Brother Jacob Berket's.

I wonder how they kept him from wandering off and hunting for
medicinal roots and herbs while crossing that mountain. You may be
sure that no patch of Lady's Slipper, Golden-Seal or Golden-Rod
escaped his eye. The absence of a hoe is all that saved them from a
deal of trouble with him. They went on through Shirleysburg, and got
to Brother Andrew Spanogle's about sunset.

Following Brother Kline on this and similar journeys, by means of the
Diary, enthuses my soul with an undefinable longing to have been with
him. The excitement, and danger, and hurry and bustle constantly
incident to travel at the present day were all unfelt and unfeared by
this company.

Brother Kline's habit was ever to rise early; and, especially on
excursions like the present, would he often rise before the family and
walk out to take the air, as he said, and see the sun rise. This he
did even when the days were at their longest. To get up with him and
take a walk before breakfast to some elevation not distant from his
lodging place, and hear him discourse upon the rising sun, the
balminess of the air, the clearness of the water, the songs of the
birds, the delicate tints and wonderful mechanism of the flowers of
fields and woods, was a treat of rare enjoyment.

SUNDAY, August 15. They all attended a meeting and love feast. John 15
was read. Five persons were baptized. The four brethren stayed all
night at Brother Umbenhaver's. On the twenty-third they dined at
Brother Seacrist's; then crossed the Juniata to Waynesboro and stayed
all night at Brother Kensel's. On the twenty-fourth they attended a
love feast near Brother Samuel Myers's. Hebrews 2 was read. One person
baptized. On the twenty-fifth they went to Brother Dolyman's. On the
twenty-sixth they went through Lewistown; then down the canal to
Mifflinburg, and on to Michael Basehore's, where they had meeting.
Acts 10 was read. From this place they went to David Myers's, where
they had night meeting. Mark 11 was read.

From some unknown cause, here is the first sermon outlined by Brother
Kline in all this journey. He may have been too busy, at times, to
give the outlines; and at other times may not have felt like doing it.
There is so much originality of thought in the outlines that I here
reproduce his discourse as nearly as possible.


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_Preached at David Myers's, in Pennsylvania,
August 26._

    TEXT.--"By what authority doest thou these things?"

It was an exceedingly bold act on the part of our Lord to cleanse the
temple at Jerusalem in the way he did it. In justification of his
right to do this he appealed to what was written: "My house shall be
called of all nations the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den
of thieves." But reference to this authority involved other questions
of grave import in the minds of the scribes and Pharisees. They wished
to doubt his right to appeal to this Scripture, because they were
unwilling to concede his claim to the divine sonship. To raise as
strong a breast of opposition against him as possible, there "come to
him in the temple the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,
and say to him, By what authority doest thou these things?"

Most unexpectedly to them, they were confronted by another question
quite as direct, from whose point and power they quailed: "The baptism
of John, was it from heaven, or of men?" Whilst many of the scribes
and Pharisees and elders had never condescended to show John enough
respect even to be present at any time when he was baptizing in the
Jordan, still they knew, and felt most keenly, the power of his
teachings and work upon the common people; for "all held John to be a
prophet;" "but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God
against themselves, being not baptized of him," John.

To all human appearance, the influence of the baptism and teachings of
John, upon the common people, saved our Lord's life upon this and
probably other occasions, for the scribes and chief priests sought
opportunity to destroy him; but they feared the _common people_. In
this we discover traces of the good accomplished by John's mission,
which was "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord;" and this
people was the _common people_.

Our Lord, however, had a much higher thought and loftier end in the
question he put to these men than that of merely saving his life by
the facts involved in the question.

When a minister, either diplomatic or religious, on foreign soil, is
asked for his authority, it is absolutely necessary for him to produce
satisfactory credentials of his investment with the office and the
honor he may claim. Our Lord's credentials must be clear and
satisfactory, beyond those of any other minister, because no others
ever have been or can be subjected to such a rigid scrutiny and to
such scathing tests as those were which he bore. They must present a
more imposing front than that of the power to work miracles. Others
had wrought miracles before. Moses had made the bottom of the Red Sea
dry ground; and with a single stroke of his rod had cleft a mighty
rock to the gushing forth of a flood of water from it. Elijah had
raised the widow's dead son, and had kept her cruse of oil and her
barrel of meal replenished; so that the famine came not nigh her door.
The walls of Jericho had fallen under the sound of Joshua's band of
rams'-horn trumpeters; and, in fact, miracles had, in one way or
another, been connected with almost all the events recorded in the
Jewish Scriptures. On the evidence of these facts the scribes and
Pharisees said to him in scorn: "Art thou greater than our fathers,
which are dead? and Moses, and the prophets, which are dead?"

You may now perceive how necessary it was for our Lord to have some
higher claim to authority, in the eyes of these unbelieving Jews, than
they were willing to see in his power to work miracles. This higher
testimony to his authority was given by his Father, signed and sealed
by the Holy Spirit, in the presence of witnesses, as Jesus came up out
of the water when he was baptized. It was on the bank of the Jordan
that "the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending as a dove, and coming upon him; and lo, a voice out of the
heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
To this fact all four of the evangelists bear testimony, in nearly the
same words.

Peter, in an address recorded in the first chapter of the Acts,
indirectly affirms that many witnessed our Lord's baptism and the
attendant manifestations from heaven. To his mind it was an essential
part of the qualifications of a candidate for the apostleship, that
he had been a witness of our Lord's baptism, as well as of his
resurrection. And why not? The proofs of his Sonship, of his
Messiahship, of his union or oneness with the Father, of the Father's
love for him, and of the acceptableness of the Son's work and
obedience, were as clear and undeniable in the first as in the last.

After a brief consultation among themselves over the question
propounded unto them by our Lord, these deceitful Jews decided that
the most expedient answer they could frame would be to confess that
they "could not tell." No wonder, now, that he told them that "the
publicans and harlots would enter the kingdom of heaven before they
would." We may here see a verification of the fact that LOVE must
precede FAITH. The truth may be _forced_ upon one, and he be
_compelled_ to acknowledge it; yet, unless he falls in love with that
truth, he will not believe it as a thing of FAITH, and will not think
and act correspondingly thereto.

  "Convince a man against his will--
  He's of the same opinion still."

We may here, very properly, inquire why the heavenly testimony was
given at our Lord's baptism. Why were the Father's acknowledgment and
approval of his beloved Son not given in the temple of Jerusalem, in
the presence of his enemies, that they might be _convinced_; or in
one of its populous streets on a public day, that the world, in a
representative sense, might know of him? It is impossible for men or
angels to know the mind of the Lord where he has not revealed it. He
has withheld from us any direct information on this point; but we may
draw some inferential conclusions, which may serve to satisfy the mind
and rest the heart.

It is a matter of fact that the Father never put his Son on exhibition;
neither did the Son ever seek any place of honor or distinction before
men. "He was meek and lowly in heart." The Word made flesh, the Way
and the Truth and the Life did not appear on earth to be gazed at as a
thing of mere curiosity, nor examined and handled as an article of
merchandise.

Men have their opinions; and especially at this day is there a decided
tendency with many to make a show of their denominational strength and
numerical importance; but, really, it appears to me that the Son of
God shunned observation, and apparently shrank from the echo of his
fame. More than once did he kindly request those with him to say
nothing about some sublime manifestation of divine power and love
which he had just given.

Whatever else baptism may signify, to my mind it is plain that it is
the visible door to the visible kingdom of heaven on earth. Christ the
Lord is King of that kingdom; and as such it behooved him to enter it
by the same door through which he has commanded that all his future
subjects shall enter; and that door is water baptism. "He that
entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the
porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice." The fold is the
kingdom; the shepherd is the Lord; and the porter is John the Baptist.

How fitting that the divine recognition be given at the _door_ of the
kingdom in which the Lord is to be crowned "King of kings." A few
honest-hearted witnesses were all the Father wished, before whom to
make known this glorious disclosure of love for his Son.

Baptism is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh. This is not
its legitimate result. Its effect is the answer of a good conscience
toward God. When one submits to this ordinance in the right spirit,
and it is properly administered, it never fails of being followed by
this happy experience. It gives the heart peace and rest in Christ.
"The eunuch went on his way rejoicing." "The jailer rejoiced,
believing in God with all his house." These rejoicings followed
baptism in each case. The Psalmist says: "The testimony of the Lord
is sure, enlightening the eyes: the statutes of the Lord are pure,
rejoicing the heart. More are they to be desired than gold; yea, than
much fine gold; for in the keeping of them there is great reward."

Baptism is both a testimony and a statute. It is a testimony because
it bears witness to the truth by the joy it imparts; and it is a
statute because it is a written command of God which it is the duty of
every believer to obey; and in the keeping of it there is great
reward.

FRIDAY, August 27. They had meeting at Henry Hart's. Acts 3 was read.
Two brethren were advanced from the deaconship to the ministry of the
Word, and two were elected to the deaconship. The twenty-eighth they
spent mostly with Brother John Royer. The twenty-ninth they attended
two meetings: one at Brother Joel Royer's, and the other near the same
place. At Joel Royer's, Brother Isaac Long took the lead in speaking;
and from the outlines of his discourse, given in the Diary, I am
assured it is worthy of being expanded into a sermon, and of holding a
prominent place in this work.


_Sermon by Elder Isaac Long, of Virginia._

_Preached at Joel Royer's, in Pennsylvania,
August 29._

    TEXT.--"A sower went out to sow his seed."

There is one feature about my text for to-day that is likely to draw
at least momentary attention. That feature is its simplicity. I am
glad to hope that this may give rise to a query in the mind of each
hearer in substance something like this: "What can he have to say on
such a simple text as that? I am going to listen and see what he will
make of it." I see your eyes have turned to me now; but, beloved
brethren and sisters, whilst the eyes of your bodies are turned to me
from feelings of curiosity, I beg that the eyes of your understandings
and hearts may be turned to the Lord, for grace, on my part to speak,
and on your part to hear.

The text, in its simplicity of phraseology and external sense, looks
like a nut without a kernel. It comes to the ear like the uncertain
sound of a trumpet: "_A sower went out to sow his seed_." No part of
the farmer's work, however, is more common in its seasons than this;
and I may add with emphasis, that no part of the farmer's work in its
seasons is more _important_ than this. The life of the world depends
upon two great facts--_seeding_ and _harvesting_; and when the Lord
established his covenant with Noah after the flood, two of the
essential provisions of that covenant were couched in these words:
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest shall not cease." I
never read that covenant but with delight, because I love farming, and
when at home farming is my business. Here is my covenant with the
Lord, and my assurance that my seedings will be blessed.

There is one thing in the provisions of that covenant to which I wish
to call special attention. It is all found in one compound word, and
that word is


SEED-TIME.

It does not read _seeding_ and harvest. _Seeding_ means the act of
sowing seed. The Lord in his covenant does not say that this shall not
cease; because the act of sowing seed or _seeding_ depends upon man:
he only assures man that seedtime, or the time for sowing seed, shall
not cease. But notice the other part. He does not say harvest-time;
but he says that _harvest_ shall not cease, because _he makes the
harvest_. He speaks positively here of results, as being able and
forever willing to fulfill what he covenants to do. In this covenant,
man's work is implied as well as God's work. Man's part of the work is
to sow the seed when the time is given. God's part is to bless the
seed sown, by giving the harvest. In all of man's labor pertaining to
providing for the support and comfort of his body, "we are coworkers
with God."

Our heavenly Father deals with us as children. By natural things he
instructs us in spiritual things. Paul says; "First that which is
natural; afterward that which is spiritual." This is God's order.


REASON AND FAITH.

Some think that reason must yield to faith. Others think that faith
must yield to reason. The opinions on both sides are wrong, because
both imply a conflict between reason and faith, when in TRUTH no such
conflict ever has existed, nor can it exist. Reason is neither more
nor less than the intelligent operations of the mind in seeking
to know the truth; and faith is but a willing acceptance and
acknowledgment of that truth when it is known. In one way of looking
at it, faith and knowledge are one; only faith is a loving acceptance,
by the WILL, of what the UNDERSTANDING is assured of being true. What
the understanding doubts can never be received by the will as a thing
of faith.

WISDOM is the union of faith and knowledge in man, and becomes more
and more his guiding light in all intelligent action. If man's wisdom
be merely that of earth, it is not genuine; but if it be heavenly,
it is true wisdom, and leads more and more to God, and eternal life
in him. Wisdom says that there must be a sort of reciprocal
correspondence between the seed and the ground on which it is sown.
This fact involves several principles based upon experience. The sower
must know what kind of seed he is sowing. "_It may be of wheat or some
other grain._" He should know what preparation the ground requires to
make the hoped-for harvest. He should know what fertilizers and
stimulants are likely to do most good. He should also know the right
_time_ for sowing his seed.

A mere knowledge of these principles, however, is not sufficient.
There must be a practical application of them, in the way of complying
with the necessary conditions, or the sowing will prove a failure. The
seed that fell by the wayside was picked up by the birds. That which
fell on the rock perished. That which fell among the thorns was soon
overcome by their superior rankness of growth, and it made nothing.
Only that which fell into good ground made a remunerative return.


MAN'S WILL IS THE FIELD.

I may say to you now that man's _will_ is the field which our Lord
meant in the parable here recorded; "and the seed is the Word of God."

Notwithstanding the practical explanation given of this parable by our
Lord, a degree of obscurity still broods over it in the minds of many
Bible interpreters. What made the bad ground bad; and what made the
good ground good, and how the bad ground is to be made good and
productive, are questions that puzzle the minds of many. Some may not
agree with me; but I do believe that the diversities in human nature,
set forth and described by our Lord in this parable, all relate to the
WILL. What makes the difference between a good man, and a bad man?
Brethren, it is the WILL. A good man does good from a good will, and a
bad man does bad from a bad will.

Let us take the wayside hearer. There is no defect about his
_understanding_. His head is as clear in matters of business as any
man's. He understands what the preacher says when he is sowing the
seeds of gospel truth as readily as any one in the congregation. Why
then does the devil take away the Word out of his heart? I answer,
because the devil is very fond of doing that sort of work; and the man
does not object. In other words, the wayside hearer has no WILL to
keep the Word in his heart. If he had a _will_ to keep the Word in his
heart, and live conformably to it, the gates of hell could not prevail
against it. He would then be _good ground_ according to the measure of
his capacity, and the life of love and obedience growing out of it.

Take the rock-hearer next. He has a very thin skin of soil over the
surface of the rock that lies underneath. From the way he goes to
meeting and talks about religion, you might readily conclude that
all he needs to become a bright light in the church is a little
encouragement. He says: "That was a splendid sermon we heard to-day.
It did me good to hear that man talk. I could listen to him for a
week;" and he tells the truth; for if the man stays a week, and works
up something of an _excitement_, this rock-hearer will go every night
and praise every sermon. I am sorry to say, however, that the devil
does not try very hard to get the Word out of that man's heart,
because he knows that if he leaves it alone just a little while it
will _die_ out of itself. The real trouble with this man is a want of
WILL to reduce to practice the _truth_ received into the
_understanding_. The rock, underneath the skin of soil that hides it,
is a WILL which is wholly averse to the life of self-denial and godly
obedience set forth in the Word which he hears. He loves the world and
himself more than God; and the delight or joy with which he hears the
Word is all in the _understanding_. The words of life and salvation
fade from his memory, because there is no desire in his heart or WILL
to retain them, as the things that belong to his everlasting peace.

Next in order comes the thorny-ground hearer. He may be a man of
talent, perhaps a genius. Naturally thoughtful and ambitious, he
covets both wealth and honors. He is not entirely forgetful of the
claims of religion upon him. He goes to church with his family;
behaves genteelly; invites the ministers to his house, and entertains
them very hospitably. He thinks religion a very good thing in society,
and one that ought to be encouraged. You often hear people say of him:
"What a pity he is not a member of the church: how much good he could
do!" In all matters of public interest he takes an active part. During
an electoral canvass he is all astir, and wonders how any one can be
indifferent at such a time, or even show a moderate degree of
coolness. He is a useful man in society, and his loss would be keenly
felt by the community. The real trouble with this man is akin to that
of all the rest. It has its seat right in the WILL. He loves the
world, and the world loves him; and to hold his place in society he
must comply with its demands. He must not be scrupulous about small
matters. He must take a drink with a friend. If invited to take part
in some pastime or popular amusement, even if it be of doubtful moral
character, he dare not decline the invitation. If memory should even
blow the ashes from some live coals of truth, and conscience
remonstrate, he must ignore all weakness of that kind. Such and
such-like are the thorns that choke the Word, and it brings no fruit
to perfection.

Last, but not least, comes the good-ground hearer. I have reason to
believe that most of you know him from your own experience; therefore
I will not describe him here. But before I conclude I desire to direct
your attention to a few points more in the line of my thought.

Who is to blame or to incur the responsibility for the failures of
fruit in the three classes of hearers given in the parable? Some say
the devil is to blame, because he throws every obstacle and impediment
that lies in his power in the way of the growth of the seed. Others
say the Lord is to blame for not having made the ground better by
nature. Others again say--and these say what is true--that the hearers
are to blame. The Word came with just as much power to these
unfruitful classes as it did to the good-ground hearer. "But it was
not mixed with faith in them that heard." Whose fault was it that they
did not believe? Manifestly their own.

I fully believe that man's will is free. And I do also believe in my
very soul that it would be the pleasure of the Lord _to save_ every
human being born into existence. "As I live, saith the Lord God, I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn
from his way and live. Make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why
will ye die, O house of Israel?" Ezekiel 33:11 and 18:31.

But man's will cannot be forced. The Lord cannot compel any one to
love him, any more than one of us can force a man to be our friend who
inwardly hates us. The Lord is every day seeking to turn the hearts of
men to himself through the life-giving, holy, healing power of the
Word of gospel grace. He does this through the faithful ministers who
preach it. In this way he causes the sun of truth and love to rise and
shine upon even the very worst of sinners, and sends the rain of his
grace to fall upon them. Without the sun and the rain the seed would
forever lie dead in the ground; but what is very wonderful in the
gospel seed is the fact that it carries along with itself, as it falls
upon the ground, all the light, and heat, and moisture it needs. Our
blessed Lord says: "My words are spirit, and they are life."

In illustration of this let us notice the power of his words in
several instances recorded in the New Testament Scriptures. Let me
refer to Jairus's daughter. _She was dead._ Every one could know this
that saw her. Jesus said to this dead girl: "Maiden, arise." Her
spirit came back into her. The heart, that before was pulseless and
still, began to beat; and the breast, over which the pall of death had
fallen, began to heave. In obedience to his word she rose up and
lived. Were not his words _spirit_ and _life_ to this girl? The very
same thing took place with the dead boy, the only son of the widow of
Nain. Things no less wonderful were of daily occurrence in the life of
Jesus. The cleansing of the lepers, the healing of the sick, the
casting out of devils, all, all proved the spirit and life that are in
his words.

His words, however, have not only natural life and breath in them; but
they have spiritual life and breath; and this means eternal life. My
brother, my sister, if the Word of Christ is in your heart you have a
holy, heavenly beating there of love to God and love to all his dear
people; and you have a holy, heavenly breathing after more knowledge
of his words, and for larger and clearer views of the revelations of
his grace. These are proofs of the inward, heavenly life in the soul.


DO NOT FORGET THE TEXT.

Every intelligent human being is a sower of some kind of seed. Every
one is either sowing the Word of God or the word and spirit of some
one else; but let the seed be of whatever kind it may, this thing is
sure: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that
soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
Sowing to the flesh is living after the flesh with its affections and
lusts; but sowing to the Spirit is crucifying and mortifying the
flesh, and living the new life of faith, and hope, and love.

Brethren and sisters, there is a mighty, _mighty_ difference between
the two. What has the mere fleshly, carnal mind to hope for in the
world to come? It can feel no delight, no enjoyment in heavenly
things, such as love to God and love to man. It knows nothing of that
love which is the bond of perfectness.

You can always tell what a man's love is by the company he keeps. If
his love is of worldly things only, you will see him in worldly
company, and hear him talk only of worldly things. Notice the books
and papers he reads. They are of the same character. He enjoys no
other readings. He delights in no other company and conversations.
This man is sowing to the flesh, and he will be sure to reap
corruption. His treasure is all on the earth; his harvest is here; and
he is sowing no seed for a harvest of glory and bliss in the world to
come.

The good ground hearer is a very different man, and he sows far
different seed. HIS SEED IS DIVINE TRUTH, AND HIS FIELD IS HIS OWN
SPIRIT. He digs up the thorns and the thistles by the roots; destroys
the serpents, and drives out the wolves and the foxes. In this way he
mortifies the body of sin and crucifies the flesh with its affections
and lusts. In a well prepared soil he plants the fig and the olive,
the vine and the pomegranate. In the place where the lion lay, the
calf shall lie down in peace; and instead of the wolf and the fox, the
sheep and her lamb shall feed in safety. Where the serpent hissed and
the basilisk was waiting to sting, the myrtle and the rose shall
bloom. Thus is the desert made to rejoice and the wilderness to bloom.
The man who thus subdues and cultivates his own spirit that is within
him, all by the help of God, is sure to be everlastingly blessed in
his deed. He will reap a rich harvest of righteousness, peace and joy
in the Holy Ghost, here and eternally in the heavens.

FRIDAY, September 17. The two brethren reached home. Of this Brother
Kline says: "Brother Isaac Long and I have been together nearly all
the time on this journey, which has occupied just five weeks. It makes
me feel somewhat lonely to part hands with such an agreeable companion
in labor; so cheerful; so full of the Spirit; so wise in counsel; so
clear in judgment. I feel that we have been together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Ah, well! not long till we shall no more take
the parting hand! The Brethren everywhere showed us much love. May the
Lord continue to bless them, both temporally and spiritually."

Between the twenty-ninth of August and the above date they attended
quite a number of love feasts and other meetings. The Diary reports
many families visited in Huntingdon and Bedford Counties. Probably
many of the older brethren and sisters, then belonging to the families
named, may still remember this visit. Among the names reported are to
be found the Spanogles, Altebergers, Becks or Bocks, Allebaughs,
Browns, Bicheys, Sniders, and others.

Want of space absolutely forbids any further notice of the Diary for
this year.

SUNDAY, January 23. Peter Nead is with us to-day at our meetinghouse.
He spoke at some length from Acts 13. To those who could follow him
his discourse was very instructive. He traced Paul in his journeys
with Barnabas and John, from the first place named in the chapter to
the last.

SUNDAY, April 3. Meeting at Samuel Wine's in the Brush. Luke 14 was
read.

TUESDAY, May 10. Brother Kline, in company with Abraham Stoner and
David Kline, started to the Annual Meeting. On the evening of the
twelfth they got to William Deahl's, near the place of meeting.

FRIDAY, May 13. Council meeting opened. Many Brethren present. He
says: "The acquaintance, brethren and sisters form with each other at
these meetings, is not the least good accomplished by them. We stay
to-night at Solon Garber's."

SUNDAY, May 15. Public meeting to-day. Matthew 11 was read. Love feast
to-night. We stay all night at William Deahl's.

MONDAY, May 16. Started homeward, and got as far as to Brother B.
Bear's.

FRIDAY, May 20. Got home this evening. Often will my thoughts return
to the churches attended and the homes visited. I could not help
cautioning the Brethren in some of the congregations against the
inroads of pride and fashion. The younger members, particularly, need
to be instructed in regard to these things, that they may avoid
conformity to the world in dress and other things; not because the
church, as such, opposes them in it; but because the Word and Spirit
of the Lord opposes them in it. The love of Christ, that is, our love
for him and his people, and the way of holiness, lead to a life of
self-denial for his sake. The new nature in Christ does not crave the
vain and often hurtful fashions of the world. It is best, for both
body and soul, to dress plainly, but comfortably; and to live, in
every respect, according to the same rule. The godliness that is
profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and
also of that which is to come, is not conformed to this world.

THURSDAY, June 2. Council meeting at the old Garber meetinghouse. The
subject of marrying was under consideration. It was laid to continue
as the church has heretofore held it. The enemy of souls was ready to
interfere with the holiness and innocence of our first parents in the
garden of Eden. Time has not changed his nature. Nothing but the
flaming sword of God's Word and Spirit can keep him out of the church.
The flaming sword! It gives light and heat to the children of God; but
threatens destruction to their enemies. All should bear this sword;
not sheathed in a scabbard, but forever held high in the right hand,
ready to be used whenever the enemy approaches.

SATURDAY, August 13. Daniel Miller and I go to Brother Nasselrodt's in
Brock's Gap and take dinner with him. In the afternoon we go on to
Lost River, and stay all night at Jacob Motz's.

SUNDAY, August 14. Meeting at Brother Motz's. John 15 was read. After
meeting we went to the Yellow Spring, where we stayed all night.

SUNDAY, August 21. Meeting at Neff's schoolhouse. Matthew 25 was read.
Also meeting at Samuel Wine's in the Brush. Matthew 25 was read there.
Also meeting at Pleasant Valley. Brother Koontz was baptized.

WEDNESDAY, August 24. Went to Benjamin Bowman's and back home. We have
had a wonderful rain to-day. Waters higher than they have been for
twenty-eight years.

SUNDAY, September 4. Meeting in our meetinghouse. Romans 6 was read.
John Miller and Abraham Deitrich's wife were baptized by Benjamin
Bowman.

THURSDAY, September 8. Anna [Brother Kline's wife] and I go to Lost
River to attend a love feast. We stay all night at Celestine
Whitmore's.

SUNDAY, September 11. Meeting and love feast at Mathias's. Hebrews 8
is read. We have a delightful day and night, and many people are
assembled. I speak on the chapter read, and also upon the general
scope and design of the epistle to the Hebrews. Hebrews, and Jews, and
Israelites are all one; each being only a different name for the same
race of people. The name Hebrew and Hebrews appears to have been
derived from Eber or Heber, the grandson of Shem. The name Jew and
Jews is supposed to have been derived from Judah, one of the sons of
Jacob. The name Israelite and Israelites was derived from Jacob, whom
the angel of the Lord called Israel.

This epistle was written to the Hebrews, or Jewish Christians, to
remove from their minds some difficulties and obscurities in their way
of rightly understanding the way of salvation provided by our Lord
Jesus Christ. On account of their former connection with the
ceremonial law and the Mosaic ritual, it was hard for them to see and
appreciate the simplicity that is in Christ. Like Naaman the Syrian,
they thought the ceremonial part should possess more parade and show,
to have in it the required virtue. He thought that bathing his body
seven times in the river Jordan was a ceremony too simple to remove
his leprosy: so these Hebrew Christians thought the simple ordinances
of the house of God were too insignificant to take away their sins.
They had been instructed in the ordinances of a worldly sanctuary and
a worldly priesthood. As Christ had abolished all these, by giving to
the church the spiritual substance of which these were the shadow, it
was necessary that they be very particularly and plainly taught how
this was done. The writer of this epistle has shown this in very clear
light.

The chapter read speaks of the True Tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, and not man. It presents Jesus as the Mediator of a better
covenant, which has been established upon better promises. This is the
covenant: "I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also
will I write them: I will be to them a God; and they shall be to me a
people. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." These are cheering
words: "Their sins will I remember no more." Beloved brethren and
sisters, this is precisely the way God deals with every one of his
truly penitent and obedient children. He remembers their sins no more.
No matter how great sinners they have been, no matter how they have
abused and dishonored him, he holds nothing against them. In this we
may see the spirit we should all possess. We are all commanded to be
followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love.

I have sometimes heard a brother or a sister say: "I can forgive, but
I cannot forget." Brethren, we would not feel very well if the Lord
were to say this to us and of us. How would we be made to feel if our
blessed Lord were to say to each of us: "I am willing to forgive your
trespasses against me; I am willing to save you, because I have
promised to save all who repent and believe my Gospel; but I can never
forget the way you have treated me, and will never be willing to trust
you as I could have trusted you; and can never again have the same
confidence in you that I would have had, had you treated me in a
different way"? Such forgiveness as this on the part of our Lord
toward us would rob salvation of all its joy. It would turn the sun
into darkness and the moon into blood. It would change the harmony of
heaven into notes of discord in our ears. But this would be the very
sort of forgiveness that is implied in the saying: "I can forgive, but
I cannot forget."

Notice, however, the care and the order apparent in the insertion of
that loving clause, "and your sins will I remember no more." Notice
the introduction: "I will be to you a God; and ye shall be to me a
people." In what follows the Divine Love is strongly marked: "For I
will be merciful to your iniquities, and your sins will I remember no
more." This last crowns it all. The same thing is meant by the prophet
in another place where the Lord says: "As far as the east is from the
west, so far have I removed your sins from you;" and again: "He hath
cast our sins into the bottom of the sea;" so deep down are they that
they will never rise up against us any more.

Such must our forgiveness of one another be, brethren and sisters, if
we would imitate the Lord. We should never forget that genuine
forgiveness implies a complete forgetfulness of all trespasses in the
past. Our Lord says: "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither
will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." To forgive from
the heart is to forgive in love; and love thinketh no ill of one's
brother or sister.

Let each one examine himself. If you feel in your heart that you love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and your brother and your
sister in the Lord as you love yourself, I feel authorized in behalf
of Christ and the church to say to you that Jesus will remember your
sins no more. You have a right to sing the song:

  "Savior, more than life to me,
  I am clinging close to thee;
  Let thy blood, by faith applied,
  Keep me ever near thy side.
  Every day and every hour,
  Let me feel thy cleansing power,
  Till my soul is lost in love,
  In a brighter world above."

TUESDAY, September 20. Love feast at our meetinghouse. John 3 was
read. David Correll and Abraham Miller and his wife were baptized.

WEDNESDAY, September 21. Benjamin Bowman and I start very early to
Hampshire County, Virginia. We get dinner at Rorabaugh's, and reach
Moorefield by night, after a ride on horseback of forty-seven miles.

THURSDAY, September 22. Go to David Vanmeter's for breakfast; reach
Abbey Arnold's for dinner, and get to the love feast at David Arnold's
just after the first meeting. We have delightful weather, good order
in the house, and a pleasant meeting.

FRIDAY, September 23. Meeting again. Revelation 3 is read. Stay at
David Arnold's all night.

SATURDAY, September 24. Go to Joseph Arnold's, and in the afternoon to
Joseph Leatherman's, where we have night meeting. I speak on Luke
24:48.

SUNDAY, September 25. Attend a love feast at Solomon Michael's.
Revelation 3 is read.

MONDAY, September 26. Homeward through Petersburg; dine at Isaac
Shobe's; then to night meeting at Sister Chlora Judy's. We speak on
Matthew 11. Stay all night.

TUESDAY, September 27. Cross the South Fork mountain over to Jacob
Warnstaff's, where we have an afternoon meeting. Speak on Luke 28. We
also have night meeting at the same place. Brother Benjamin speaks on
Luke 16. His talks are not lengthy, but they are very pointed, and
prove that they come from a thoughtful and studious mind.

WEDNESDAY, September 28. We both get home.

SUNDAY, October 2. Meeting at Henry Huffman's in Page County, Virginia.
Mark 1 is read. Isaac Spitler is baptized.

SATURDAY, December 3. Samuel Wampler and I go to Lost River. We stay
all night at Silas Randall's.

SUNDAY, December 4. Meeting at Brother Celestine Whitmore's. Matthew 7
is read. Silas Randall and his wife are baptized. We stay all night at
Celestine Whitmore's.

SUNDAY, January 1, 1843. I and Frederic Kline go to George Fulk's
schoolhouse in the Gap. We have meeting, and I speak on John 15. We
dine at George Fulk's, and in the evening return home.

SUNDAY, February 19. Meeting at our meetinghouse. John 3 is read. In
afternoon Peter Nead and I go up to Benjamin Bowman's, at the head of
Linville's Creek, where we have night meeting. Brother Nead speaks
very beautifully on John 15:14, "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever
I command you."

THURSDAY, March 30. Visit Dr. Newham, and take him through "_a course
of medicine_." This last expression frequently appears in Brother
Kline's Diary. The phrase, "_course of medicine_," was first
introduced by Dr. Samuel Thompson, the founder and propagator of what
afterwards assumed the name of "The Thompsonian System of Medical
Practice." To the minds of many very worthy and sensible people in
Virginia and other States, Dr. Thompson's definitions of disease, and
his corresponding views of their treatment, appeared quite reasonable.
They met with great favor in some communities, and by many were
enthusiastically received. Among the latter Brother John Kline stood
in the foremost rank. He espoused the "Theory and Practice of Dr.
Samuel Thompson" with unreserved confidence. In his zeal to do good
with it he furnished the medicines and administered them to hundreds
of the afflicted; and to many free of charge.

The phrase, "_course of medicine_," was meant to comprehend in its
signification the whole routine of treatment demanded by nature to rid
itself of disease. This usually consisted of a Lobelia emetic or
vomit, more or less thorough as the symptoms of the impending disease
appeared to require. Preparatory to this vomit, and in connection with
it, warm and stimulating infusions or teas were administered to induce
very active sweating, or "free perspiration," as it was called. As an
aid to this, steaming the patient was sometimes resorted to. The
"_course_" usually took up several hours. After all was gone through
with, the patient was allowed to rest, excepting, however, the
administration of a few mild sedatives or soothing nervines, to induce
sleep. The reader may conclude that the patient very likely needed
rest after all this treatment.

Prejudice against the system has grown old, and nearly died out; and,
at this point of distance in time, it may be calmly said that "_the
course of medicine_" very often seemed to do much good. Many were
ready, at any time, to bear testimony in behalf of its efficacy in
their own individual cases, and in those in their families; and it is
hard to conclude that mere confidence in the treatment, and in the
hands by which it was administered, could effect so much good.

Brother Kline went into it with a sort of zest and zeal that looked
a little as if he might have hitched it to his train of religious
duties. Be this as it may, one truth is sure, a truth which Wordsworth
has beautifully woven into the poetic lines which follow:

  "The sick he soothed; the hungry fed;
    Bade pain and anguish flee:
  He loved to raise the downcast head
    Of friendless poverty."

SUNDAY, May 28. To-day we held our first regular meeting in our new
house. It has been decided to name it "The Brush Meetinghouse." This
is a frame building, constructed by Christian and John Wine, sons of
Samuel Wine.

"The Brush" is a small section of country in Rockingham County,
Virginia. It lies between the North mountain on the west side and
Linville's Creek on the east; and between the North Fork of the
Shenandoah river on the north and the head waters of Muddy Creek on
the south. It comprises, probably, sixteen square miles.

Samuel Wine, one of the pioneers of the German Baptist Brethren,
raised a very useful and respectable family in the very heart of the
Brush. Of his sons, Christian, and John, and Samuel, and George were
set to the ministry of the Word in the church of their father's
choice. Michael, the only other son, is a deacon.

Jacob Mitchell, who spent his last years in the same Brotherhood,
raised a very respectable and intelligent family in the Brush, at the
place now occupied by his son Joseph A. Mitchell, and officially known
as Cherry Grove; that name having been given to the post office kept
at the place, from the great abundance of sweet cherries which for
many years have grown there and in the vicinity to great perfection.

Anthony Showalter, father of John A. Showalter, and grandfather of
Anthony J. Showalter, both favorably known as composers and teachers
of music,--raised a numerous family of noble boys and girls in the
same section, nearly, if not quite all of them, members of the
Brethren church.

All of the above-named brethren were personal friends of Brother
Kline, who often visited them at their homes.

David Haller, whose name is often seen in the Diary, was another
intimate friend of Brother Kline. He held membership in the church
many years, and assisted in building the Brush meetinghouse. From what
has been said of the Brush, it appears to have been favorable to the
reproduction of the race, both numerically and substantially. Brother
David Haller had born unto him from a first and second marriage
twenty-two children, nearly all of whom grew up to manhood or
womanhood. The question was once asked: "Can any good thing come out
of Nazareth?" History forever answers, yes! Truth echoes the same
answer to the same question, applied to the Brush.

SUNDAY, June 4. Meeting at the Flat Rock. Mary Pope is baptized.

SUNDAY, June 25. Meeting at the Powder Spring. Peter Beacher is
baptized. We dine at Abraham Funkhouser's and stay all night at
Abraham Swartz's.

THURSDAY, June 29. Attend a very sad funeral to-day. Brother John
Zigler's child was drowned, and quite dead when discovered. It was one
year, seven months and twenty-eight days old. The death of a child is
always distressing; but when death comes by accident, it is much more
so. Brother John Zigler lives in Timberville, Rockingham County,
Virginia.

MONDAY, July 10. Dine at Sister Judy Deitrick's. Call on Dr. Biggs,
whose headquarters are at John Higgins's. He is a straight up and down
Thompsonian doctor. He seems to fear no opposition. He says that such
plain, common-sense principles as underlie Thompson's System of
medical practice must stand the test of time, and eventually win the
day. He says that Dr. Thompson was the first to formulate the Axiom:
"Remove the cause, and the effect will cease." Disease is removed from
the body by expelling the cause. Nature, when the cause of disease is
removed, will of herself, restore health to the body. Reduce the
strength of the patient, and you reduce the patient's power to get
well. Do bleeding, blistering, starving and drastic purges strengthen
the vital forces, or add power to the recuperative system? No! All
these tend to reduce the restorative forces by weakening the
alimentary, respiratory, circulatory and nervous systems of the body;
the only powers upon which the physician may rely, and to which he
dare look for the restoration of the sick to health. Such are the
convictions which the doctor expressed to me in the brief interview I
had with him to-day. Stay all night at Joseph Miller's.

SATURDAY, July 15. Brother Daniel Miller and I go to Brock's Gap, dine
at George Moyers's, and stay all night at Celestine Whitmore's.

SUNDAY, July 16. I baptize Magdalena Moyers and Barbara Tusing. We
stay all night at Charles Snider's.

FRIDAY, August 11. Attend harvest meeting at the Flat Rock. It
behooves us, at these meetings, to be on our guard, lest we fall into
a feeling of self-satisfaction. I mean by this that it is possible for
us to become so well satisfied with ourselves now that we have
returned thanks to the Lord for the rich gifts of his love, in the
bountiful harvest we have just gathered, that we have no need of being
watchful as to the use we make of it. Brethren, if our thankfulness be
from the heart, this very feeling will lead us into a desire to make a
right use of what the Lord has given. Perhaps it would be better for
us to take up more time at our harvest meeting in talking about the
ways and means of using the gifts of God, and how best to apply them
to the end that will do most good to one another and the poor, and
thus most honor and glorify him. I made remarks similar to these, and
think that I will speak more on the same line of thought to-morrow.

SATURDAY, August 12. Harvest meeting at our meetinghouse. After
meeting, go up to Isaac Ritchey's in Brock's Gap, and stay all night.

SUNDAY, August 13. Jacob Stirewalt, a Lutheran minister, preaches and
administers the sacrament at Sowders's church to-day. I happen to be
present, and am reminded of my boyhood experience in Pennsylvania,
when I used to be in the Lutheran church on such occasions, and when
it often fell to my lot to pump wind for the organ. In the afternoon
we have meeting at Jacob Whetzel's. I stay all night at James
Fitzwaters's.

SUNDAY, August 27. Meeting at Daniel Garber's. Matthew 13 is read.
Brother Daniel Miller baptized three persons to-day. This day also
Samuel and Joseph Good and their wives are baptized.

FRIDAY, September 15. Creek and river very high. A great freshet. A
very wonderful washout occurred in the side of the North mountain,
above Turleytown, back of Elijah Baker's. It is supposed to have been
caused by a waterspout or cloud-burst, as it is sometimes called. A
great flood of water seemed to fall on the side of the mountain on a
small patch of ground, uprooting trees, overturning rocks, and
carrying all in one huge mass into the hollow below, where they
lodged. The flood, rolling on, carried off Moses Pumphrey's
milk-house, and did some other damage.

WEDNESDAY, October 4. Meeting and love feast at Beaver Creek. Hebrews
12 is read. The brethren and sisters were exhorted to "follow after
peace, and the holiness without which no one shall see the Lord; to
take heed lest any fall short of the grace of God by living unholy
lives." Whilst it is the duty of the housekeepers to look after the
purity and order of the church at all times, still it does appear that
a special eye should be had on the body at the times of our love
feasts. "All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we
have to do." There should be no spots in our feasts of love. All
should be unspotted love and purity in Christ Jesus. Otherwise our
services may not be acceptable to him. If there be anyone amongst us
to-day who feels and knows in his own heart that he is a fornicator or
profane person as Esau was, any one that is conscious of having in
himself any feeling of bitterness towards the body or any member of
it; I hereby, according to authority from the Lord, admonish such not
to approach the table of the Lord. Such sins should be publicly
confessed before the church; and according to the words of the Lord,
the church has authority to loose the brother or sister from such
sins, when deeply and duly repented of. "Whatsoever ye shall loose on
earth, shall be loosed in heaven."

But I here entreat all to think soberly. Let none stay away from the
table of the Lord on account of a feeling of unworthiness before God.
"For the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." When we are meek and
lowly in heart under a deep sense of unworthiness and shortcomings,
then it is that the spirit is bearing witness with our spirits. Though
free from sin, still our Lord confessed that he himself was "meek and
lowly in heart." Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand
of God, that he may exalt you in due time. He that humbleth himself
shall be exalted.

After such exhortations and instructions the brethren and sisters
joined in singing that heart-cheering old hymn:

  "Arise, my soul, arise;
    Shake off thy guilty fears:
  The Bleeding Sacrifice
    In my behalf appears.
  Before the Throne my surety stands;
  My name is written on his hands."

We have had good weather all this day and night, and a fine meeting.

MONDAY, October 16. Between this date and the twenty-third Brother
Kline, in company with Anna, his wife, visited the following named
families: Daniel Glick's, David Wampler's, Widow George Kline's,
Samuel Miller's, Jonas Wampler's, Daniel Wampler's, Jacob Hoover's
above Staunton, Joel Garber's, Jacob Zigler's, Christian Kline's,
Jacob Wine's, Martain Good's, Joseph Miller's, Daniel Garber's,
Frederic Kline's, Jacob Earley's and Flory's. He attended a number of
meetings in connection with the foregoing visits, and reports the
Brethren and relatives generally well.

WEDNESDAY, October 25. Brother Kline started to Hampshire County, West
Virginia. He went by way of the South Fork and Moorefield in Hardy
County, West Virginia; and got to Brother Nicolas Leatherman's by
Thursday night, after two very hard days' ride on horseback. On this
journey he visited John Leatherman's, Daniel Arnold's, Joseph
Arnold's, David Good's, Solomon Michael's and others. He attended a
love feast and one other meeting at Arnold's meetinghouse, and had
night meeting at Solomon Michael's. Here his subject was the baptism
of John. From Solomon Michael's he went to Brother Stingley's in the
west part of Hardy County, West Virginia, where he met and filled an
appointment for preaching. From this place he went to Parks's; and on

WEDNESDAY, November 1, he took dinner at Saul Hyre's, above Petersburg,
and stayed all night at Isaac Shobe's.

THURSDAY, November 2. He had meeting at the widow Chlora Judy's on
Mill Creek, where he spoke from John 1:29. "Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world." The next day he had meeting
at Rorabaugh's on the South Fork; and in the afternoon went across the
Shenandoah mountain to Brother Nesselrodt's. He says: "I crossed two
very high mountains to-day. It is cloudy and cold, threatening snow."

SATURDAY, November 4. Snowing fast this morning. Go on to Mathias's on
Lost River, where I meet a small gathering of people at night. Snows
fast all day, and meeting small; but I nevertheless speak as best I
can on the last two verses of the ninth chapter of John. These are the
words, and what follows is an outline in substance of what I said:
"And many came unto him; and they said, John indeed did no sign: but
all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true. And many
believed on him there." Our Lord's work on earth in the flesh, was now
fast drawing to a close. Honest hearts were accepting him as the
Savior of the world. His enemies, on the other hand, were becoming
more violent in their opposition to him, on the ground that if they
would let him go all men would believe on him. One striking feature of
our Lord's spirit and doctrine was that of "_nonresistance_" of
personal or bodily enemies. "My kingdom," said he, "is not of this
world; else would my servants fight." Ignorant of the power of love,
these Jewish enemies of our Lord could foresee nothing in the
tendencies of his doctrines but the destruction of their city
Jerusalem, and the same also of their nationality as a people.

Although John did no sign or miracle, still he told the truth about
Jesus; and inasmuch as he did this in the beginning of our Lord's
ministry, and was beheaded soon after, it was in itself strong
evidence in favor of our Lord's Messiahship. The people could plainly
see the agreement between the life and teachings of Christ and what
John had said they would be. The agreement was too exact and uniform
to be accidental. This led many to believe on him. They alleged that
all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true; and they came
unto him. In this they showed their wisdom. How they hung upon his
words! How their hearts did burn as he opened unto them the
Scriptures! Like Mary, many sat at his feet and heard his words.

At the present day, when any begin to inquire the way of salvation,
instead of going to the Word wherein the way is plainly revealed, and
the Lord may be found, they go to their preacher, or to others whom
they regard as safe guides, or to books that purport to lead inquirers
into the right way; and very often they are wrongly taught and misled.
If there be one here to-night who is anxiously inquiring the way to
Jesus, I say to him: "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world!" "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I
confess before my Father and the holy angels." "Whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved: for with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation." A good many tongues are found in the mouth with which
men make "confession unto salvation." But they all speak the same
thing, and the thing which they all speak is humble obedience to the
Word of the Lord. Baptism is one tongue. Feet-washing is another
tongue. The Lord's Supper is another tongue. The Communion is another
tongue. A quiet, honest and peaceable life is another tongue, and one
that speaks very loud for Christ. Temperance in eating and drinking,
and abstemiousness in the way of rejecting the use of all unnecessary
or injurious things is another tongue of power on the Lord's side.
Come to Jesus. Confess him in these ways, and thou shall live.

SUNDAY, December 31. Meeting on Lost River. Matthew 2 is read. Stay
all night at Christian Halterman's.

It is said that the centipede has a hundred feet. It may have; and it
does seem that superstition, or the belief in supernatural things of a
trivial nature has quite as many; and, like the fabled animal of
ancient times, has also a hundred heads.

This evening I overheard a conversation among some young people where
I stayed, in which one said that every New Year's night, that is, the
night in which the New Year comes in, the cattle and sheep all get on
their knees, as if they might be in a devotional posture of body. They
talked as if they really believed that this might be so. I do not know
how this impression has come about; but I have heard this before, and
guess that some mischievous or sportive person tried to make some one
else believe that cattle and sheep kneel _only_ on New Year's night,
when the truth is that they kneel whenever they lie down to rest. I
have often thought it a pity that people are so ready to believe in
marvelous and supernatural things which can do them no good, and so
backward to believe the most marvelous truth the world has ever known;
the truth that God has provided eternal life and salvation for all who
are willing to accept it on the easy terms upon which it is offered.

In this year I have traveled, mostly on horseback, three thousand, two
hundred and sixty miles.

MONDAY, January 1, 1844. I feel sure that the work of the year cannot
be entered upon more suitably than by making arrangements for building
a house of worship unto the Lord. The need of a house of this kind has
long been felt among the Brethren on Lost River. We have here, as
elsewhere, "not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God" publicly,
as Paul says he did among the Ephesian brethren, "and that from house
to house." But it is best to have a stated place of worship, and with
this in view we have this day made arrangements to build a
meetinghouse, to be known as the Lost River meetinghouse. Celestine
Whitmore, Jacob Mathias and Silas Randall have been elected trustees;
and Celestine Whitmore, one of the number, has been elected master
builder.

SATURDAY, February 24. Raise the new meetinghouse on Lost River. Stay
all night at Silas Randall's.

TUESDAY, March 26. My dear old father dies this night, at forty
minutes past three o'clock in the morning. He has lived to a great
age, has seen all of his children settled in life and doing well, has
served his day and generation to good purpose by a faithful discharge
of duty as a husband and father in his own family; as a kind and
ever-obliging neighbor in his community; and far, very far outweighing
all these, he has honored his God by embracing the faith set forth in
the Gospel of the Son of God, the faith that works by love, that
purifies the heart, and that overcomes the world. All great endings
are but great beginnings. The end of our Savior's life on earth was
but the beginning of his life of ineffable glory and exaltation in
heaven. As the Head is, so shall the members be. In his own measure,
as it hath pleased the Lord to give my father grace, so shall his
reward in glory be. Death is the door through which we enter life.

  "Farewell! we meet no more
    On this side heaven:
  The parting scene is o'er,
    The last sad look is given,

  "Farewell! O may we meet
    In heaven above:
  And there, in union sweet,
    Sing of a Savior's love."

THURSDAY, March 28. Daniel Miller and Benjamin Bowman preach father's
funeral. The earth that covers the body and hides it from sight does
not bury our hopes. The anchor of the soul is sure and steadfast. It
has its hold upon the things within the veil, which are eternal and
immovable. I will not sorrow as those who have no hope. Father's age
was eighty years, eight months and twenty-two days.


_Sermon by Elder John Kline._

_Preached at Old Father Kagey's,
Sunday, March 31._

    TEXT.--For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man
    perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.--2 Cor. 4:16.

Our heavenly Father makes known to his children the things necessary
for their instruction in the way of a holy life, that they may do his
will in all things and live well-pleasing to him at all times. To this
end many precious promises are held up to our spiritual vision, and
many encouragements set forth to animate us to love and duty. Hence
Paul says: "For this cause we faint not. Even though our outward man
perish," that is, show signs of decay and approaching death, "yet the
inward man is renewed day by day." This natural body in which we live
and move, in which we serve and suffer, is what Paul calls "the
outward man." Elsewhere it is called "a natural body." It is the
offspring of the natural act of generation between the father and
mother, and is in its nature bone of their bone and flesh of their
flesh. This is why it is called a natural body. In the text it is
called "the outward man," because it is the external part of the man;
is visible; has weight; may be handled and felt; and is the medium of
direct sensation. It is also the seat of suffering and sin, and is
subject to death and decomposition as its end. Of this body it is
written: "Dust thou art; and unto dust shalt thou return." Paul says:
"In me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing." He is
very particular to tell us in which part of him it is where no good
thing dwelleth. He says: "In my flesh."

But there is "an inward man" about which none of these things can be
said. This is elsewhere called "a spiritual body." It is so called
because it is born "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God." It is also called "a new creature in
Christ Jesus." Generation, in a natural sense, implies the begetting
and bringing forth of the "natural body" the "outward man," "the old
man;" but regeneration implies the begetting and bringing forth of
"the spiritual body," "the inward man," "the new man," which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. Peter says: "Born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of
God, which liveth and abideth forever."

But it matters not how good a thing may be, if it is out of our reach
or beyond our power to get, it can do us no good. But the new life in
the soul, the eternal life of the spirit, is not out of the reach of
any, is in reach of all. Even the dead shall hear his voice, and they
that hear shall live. "He that heareth my word, and believeth him that
sent me, hath everlasting life." "Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in
no wise cast out." "He that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit
reap life everlasting." "This is life eternal that they might know
thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." "If
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed
away; behold, all things have become new."

Obedience to the ordinances of God's house has its place here in
connection with faith. By works is faith made perfect. The first
command that Paul received in connection with his conversion was:
"Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name
of the Lord." The instruction of Peter to the convicts on the day of
Pentecost was: "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost." In preaching Jesus to the eunuch Philip
evidently preached our Lord's baptism, else what would the eunuch have
known about baptism? How else can we account for his remark to Philip
and implied request: "See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be
baptized?" "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest," was
Philip's answer. Sinner, you are invited to come and take of the water
of life freely. Come, believe, obey, and live forever.

FRIDAY, April 12. Plant corn in the lower field.

SATURDAY, April 13. Finish planting the lower field. I never plant
corn or commit any seed to the earth, but I am filled with wonder in
the contemplation of God's power. In my thoughts over things of this
kind my mind and heart find pleasant relief, by recalling in memory
the beautiful similitude which Mark, alone of all the evangelists, has
left on record for us. These are his words: "And he [the Lord] said,
So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth,
and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up
and grow, he knoweth not how. The earth beareth fruit of herself;
first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." These
words greatly encourage me to labor more faithfully in the ministry of
the Word: for as we know the Lord has power to make the dry seed in
the dry ground grow unto a rich harvest, we know not how, so has he
power to make the seeds of his truth spring up and grow in the hearts
of men unto a harvest of eternal blessedness in heaven. But as the
corn must be tended, the field kept clean, and the ground kept in
order during the growing season, so must the Word in the heart be
guarded from the inroads of evils, such as are clearly described in
the Lord's own words.

SATURDAY, April 20. Council meeting to-day on Lost River. Celestine
Whitmore elected speaker, and Silas Randall elected deacon. Stay all
night at John Miller's.

SUNDAY, April 21. Meeting at Whitmore's. Luke 14 is read. _Humility_
was my subject to-day, founded on the words of the eleventh verse.
Pride is the opposite of humility. The proud man exalts himself and
refuses to follow in the footsteps of the meek and lowly Jesus.

"God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." So says the
Apostle James. And why is this so? Because the proud man, in his sense
of self-sufficiency, feels no want at the present which he thinks he
is not able to supply, and dreads no want in the future, either
because he does not think of any future life, or because he has
persuaded himself to believe there is no future state of existence.
God can never give grace to such a man, in such a state, because he
will not receive it. A thing may be offered, but it can never be said
to be given unless it is received. Wherefore the Apostle Peter says:
"Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he
may exalt you in due time." When God exalts a man, when God lifts a
man up, he then is lifted up, he then is exalted, sure enough. This is
the exaltation to which we may truthfully apply Paul's exultation:
"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the
heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love
him."

SUNDAY, May 12. Meeting in our meetinghouse. Ephesians 4 is read.
Samuel Myers and his wife are baptized.

TUESDAY, May 14. Council meeting to-day at our meetinghouse. John
Bowman, of Franklin County, Virginia, and Brother Barnhardt, of
Roanoke County, Virginia, were with us to-day; and they are with me
this evening to stay all night.

THURSDAY, May 16. Raise the mill, and in the afternoon go to the Gap
and marry George Fawley and Catharine Fulk.

SATURDAY, June 1. Love feast to-day at our meetinghouse. Brother
Daniel Barnhardt, of Roanoke County, Virginia, and Brother John
Bowman, of Franklin County, Virginia, and Brother Peter Nead were with
us. We had much good speaking by the visiting brethren on the 10th
chapter of John and other passages of Scripture.

SUNDAY, June 2. Go to Daniel Miller's to meeting. Luke 14 is read. I
then go to Joseph Miller's where I stay all night.

MONDAY, June 10. This morning the intelligence comes of the sudden
death of Reuben Yount. He was found lying dead in the road. It is
supposed that he was killed by being thrown from his horse on his way
home last evening.

TUESDAY, June 11. Reuben Yount was buried to-day. Age, twenty-five
years and thirteen days. Verily the sons of men sink into the grave
like raindrops into the sea, and are seen no more. As unexpectedly as
the pitcher is broken at the fountain, even before it is filled with
water, so unexpectedly does death come to many.

MONDAY, June 24. Finish making hay. We have about twenty-two tons in
all.

SUNDAY, June 30. Meeting at Frederic Kline's, near Dayton, Virginia.
Six persons baptized.

SUNDAY, July 7. Meeting at our meetinghouse. John Kave and wife, Katy
Keysayer, Betsy Holsinger, Polly Knopp, Katy Fry and Betsy Andes were
baptized to-day. Daniel Miller baptized them.

SATURDAY, July 27. Harvest meeting at Copp's schoolhouse in Shenandoah
County, Virginia.

WEDNESDAY, July 31. Harvest meeting at the Brush meetinghouse.

THURSDAY, August 1. Go to harvest meeting at Daniel Garber's
meetinghouse. Stay all night at John Myers's in Augusta County,
Virginia.

FRIDAY, August 2. Love feast at the Brick meetinghouse. Luke 14 was
read. One brother spoke impressively on the last three words in the
first verse: "THEY WATCHED HIM." Said he, "The enemies of the Lord
most likely did this. They were ever eager to find some ground of
accusation against him. But the Lord was not alone in this. 'A servant
is not greater than his lord.' We, Brethren, are liable to be watched.
And I think I may say truthfully that we are watched not only by our
enemies, but by our friends too. But there is a great difference
between the eye of an enemy and the eye of a friend. The eye of an
enemy seeks for faults with which to accuse and persecute; and when no
real fault can be found the evil eye seeks to make faults by looking
at our actions and motives in a false light, and if possible getting
others to regard them in the same false light. But not so the eye of a
friend. A wise father watches his children, not to find faults with
which to accuse, but in love to correct by pointing out their evil
tendencies and the end to which they lead.

"So, dear brethren and sisters, should we watch one another in the
house of God. We should never be quick to take offense when some
brother or sister out of pure love for us kindly warns us of some
fault that we may not be fully conscious of."

In words as nearly like the above as I can give them, and in many
others, did the brother exhort the church.

SUNDAY, August 25. Attend meeting at the Flat Rock. First Corinthians
1 is read. Louis Nasselrodt and wife and Henry Strawdeman and wife
were baptized. I baptized them.

SUNDAY, September 1. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Colossians 2 was
read. Philip Bible and wife, Adam Hevner and wife, William Andes,
Samuel Zigler, Christian Krider and old Mother Minick were baptized
to-day.

SUNDAY, September 8. Meeting at Stoner's to-day. Romans 6 was read. I
baptized Christian Krider's wife to-day.

[With Elder John Kline to plan was to do; to propose in mind was to
perform in act; ever though, let it be remembered, by the help of the
Lord. "His will, and not mine, be done," was Brother Kline's motto.
The following notes are word for word from the fly leaves of his Diary
for the present year. They are inserted here for two reasons. First,
to show that he formed a purpose and laid down a plan before acting.
In the following pages it will be seen how faithfully the plan laid
out in the Diary was executed. Second, to show something of the
confidence reposed in his genuine honesty, and his business capacity
as a man.--EDITOR.]

I have in contemplation to take the following route to Ohio: Start on
the seventeenth of September, and on the eighteenth have an afternoon
meeting at Parks's, in Hardy County, Virginia [now West Virginia]; on
the twenty-first to stop at Jacob Thomas's in Preston County, Virginia;
on the twenty-second to be at George's Creek; on the twenty-sixth to
be at Bull Creek, Columbiana County, Ohio; on the eighth and ninth of
October to be at Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio; on the twelfth to be
at Sugar Creek, in Allen County, Ohio; on the sixteenth, seventeenth,
eighteenth and nineteenth in Henry County, Indiana; on the evening of
the twenty-third to be at Bear Creek, Montgomery County, Ohio. Things
which I have to attend to on my trip to Ohio and Indiana:

To inquire of George Weaver about a legacy of William Toppin, orphan
of Thomas Toppin.

Received of Jacob Hoover $73.42 to be paid over as follows:

    To George Hoover,      $17.57
    To Peter Fesler,        17.57
    To Elizabeth Fesler,    38.28
                           ------
                           $73.42

To get some rents of Joseph Garber for Susanna Garber.

    To pay over to Betsy Fesler,      $200.00
    To pay over to George Hoover,       50.00

This money I received of Aunt Katy Hoover.

To collect some money of Mahoney and of John Kline for Ziglers. I hold
papers for the same.

To collect money of Jacob Leedy in Columbiana County, Ohio, for Peter
Nead.

To collect money of John Garber, of Montgomery County, Ohio, for
Solomon Garber, of Rockingham County, Virginia. I am to let John
Garber have the note if he pays $150.00.

TUESDAY, September 17. Brother George R. Hedrick and I start from my
home this morning, on horseback, for Ohio. We dine at William
Fitzwater's, in Brock's Gap, and arrive in the evening at Isaac
Dasher's on the South Fork, Hardy County, Virginia, where we stay over
night.

WEDNESDAY, September 18. Come to Isaac Shobe's for breakfast, and on
to Parks's for dinner. Meeting in the afternoon at Parks's. John 3
is read. On the way to-day Brother Hedrick and I talked over the
interpretation we are to give the Lord's words in the thirteenth verse
of the chapter read this afternoon. These are the words: "And no man
hath ascended up to heaven." I asked Brother Hedrick if Elijah had not
ascended to heaven? I quoted to him the very words recorded in the
eleventh verse of the second chapter of Second Kings: "And Elijah went
up by a whirlwind into heaven." Brother Hedrick confessed that a first
thought on our Lord's words might lead the mind to conclude that there
is a want of harmony between what he says to Nicodemus and what is
plainly said of Elijah. But he removed the difficulty from my mind at
once by explaining the Lord's words to mean that no one in his own
strength or by virtue of his own power had ascended to heaven. "Elijah
went up to heaven, it is true," said he, "but the horses of fire and
the chariot of fire by which he went up, beautifully and impressively
symbolize the Lord's hand by which he was taken up. And besides this,
we read in 2 Kings 2:1, 'And it came to pass when the Lord would take
up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha
from Gilgal.' Here it is plainly implied that the Lord took up Elijah
into heaven. And this falls in as a part of the great lesson the Lord
was seeking to impress upon the mind of Nicodemus, the great truth
that the Lord alone has power to lift men, through the regeneration,
up to heaven." Stay all night at Parks's.

THURSDAY, September 19. We go to Stingley's for breakfast; to Eliza
Hays's for dinner (still in Hardy County, Virginia), and stay all
night at Gilpin's. We are now within sixteen miles of the Maryland
line.

FRIDAY, September 20. To-day we passed through what is called the
Glades and Wilderness, to the Briery mountain. A very lonely road; but
the companionship of a man and a brother like George Hedrick makes
solitude enjoyable. Only those who have experienced the agreeableness
of a bright, serene, calm and contented mind and heart, such as I find
in Brother Hedrick, can ever realize the pleasure of such company.
It does seem to me that we can almost adopt toward each other the
beautiful sentiment of love which Ruth expressed for Naomi: "Whither
thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy people
shall be my people. Where thou diest I will die, and there will I be
buried." We fed our horses and took breakfast at Smith's tavern, in
Preston County, Virginia; took dinner at Bransonville, and find
ourselves here at Brother Jacob Thomas's, where we are spending the
night.

SATURDAY, September 21. Meeting in the schoolhouse near Brother
Thomas's. Deuteronomy, eighteenth chapter is read. I spoke on the
latter portion of the chapter read, from the fifteenth verse to the
end. I spoke particularly on the following words: "The Lord thy God
will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." This was spoken to
the children of Israel. What follows was spoken directly to Moses: "I
will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto
thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto
them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my
name, I will require it of him." I tried to show these people the
great danger there is in a life of sin. The great Prophet spoken of
and promised in the words of my text is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the fullness of time he appeared. The prophecy just read
was recorded by Moses very nearly fifteen hundred years before it was
fulfilled by the appearing of our Savior. This single consideration
may serve to remind us of the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his
Word. And our blessed Lord while in the flesh more than once turned
the eyes of his disciples to the prophecies that foretold his coming.
In one place he said to the people: "Think not that I am come to
destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfill." After his resurrection, on his way to Emmaus, in company
with two of his sorrowing disciples who had not yet fully learned the
truth of his having risen, he said in reference to his sufferings and
death: "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet
with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the
law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."

I am now prepared to tell you, and I trust you are prepared to hear
some of the particulars in which Christ Jesus was like unto Moses. You
know the text says: "A Prophet like unto me." This is the language of
Moses. The Lord God had just before told him this. We will now turn
to some of the points in the comparison of Moses with Christ. Moses
told the people to believe what he told them and obey the commands he
gave them. He taught them that if they would obey the commands and
ordinances which God gave and established through him they would
receive the favor of the Lord, and that as a reward for their
obedience he would bless them exceedingly. But if they would turn away
from him, he would turn away from them, and multiply their troubles
greatly. Christ Jesus does the same. Just at the close of the most
wonderful sermon the world has ever heard preached, a sermon in which
all the moral and spiritual relations of men to each other and to God,
together with the duties growing out of these relations, are set forth
the Lord says: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them
not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon
the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of
it."

Friends, let me say to you that each and every one of you is building
a house for himself on one or the other of these foundations. Your
life, your every-day life, from beginning to end, is the house you are
building. If your life, from love to the Lord, is based upon the solid
rock of his Revealed Truth, it will stand the temptations and trials
symbolized by the floods and winds; but if not, it will never be able
to stand, and great will be its fall. Some may think that because God
is long-suffering, and does not punish sin in this world so manifestly
as he sometimes did in former times, he is becoming more merciful and
takes less account of sin than formerly. But this is a very great
mistake. God has always been quite as merciful as he could be
consistently with his justice and holiness; and the warning given
in Hebrews 2:2 should be heeded. This is the warning: "If every
transgression and disobedience" under Moses, "received a just
recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation?" Notice this also from the same book: "He that despised
Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how
much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who
hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of
the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath
done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"

Again: The children of Israel were baptized unto Moses, that is, into
a visible covenant with him, in the cloud and in the Red Sea, as they
passed through. In this act of baptism, by which they declared their
willingness to follow him as their leader, but the one action was
required, and that action was their passing between the walls of water
on the right hand and on the left hand, with the cloud overhead
completely shutting them in from the world. But the Christian, to be
a true follower of the great Prophet of whom we are particularly
speaking, is required to submit to a threefold baptism, which is an
immersion of the body in water in the name of the Father who loved us
and gave his Son; another immersion in the name of the Son who redeems
and saves us; and lastly an immersion in the name of the Holy Ghost
who convinces of sin, who comforts us, enlightens us as to our duties,
sanctifies and makes us meet for heaven.

Again: Moses gave the people water from the Rock. Christ Jesus gives
his people the water of life. He says: "If any man thirst, let him
come unto me, and drink."

Again: Moses fed the people with manna, which they gathered every
morning from the ground. Christ feeds his people with the heavenly
manna, which I take to be the great and eternal love of the Father
contained in the blessed words of truth which his Son has declared to
the world.

In such and many other words did I speak unto these people, seeking
to instruct them in the things of salvation, and induce some of them,
at least, to turn to the Lord. After meeting we dined at Brother
Thomas's, and started for George's Creek; crossed Laurel mountain to
Hagtonsville, then to Brother Joseph Leatherman's, in Fayette County,
Pennsylvania, where we stay all night.

SUNDAY, September 22. Go to George's Creek meetinghouse. We have
forenoon and afternoon meeting. Second Corinthians 6 is read in the
forenoon meeting. In the 3 o'clock meeting Luke 14 is read. I speak on
the great supper, from the sixteenth to the twenty-fourth verse.

Whilst I am a stranger to most of you, I nevertheless feel assured by
the signs I witness that I can confidingly and affectionately address
some of you, and I trust a goodly number too, as beloved brethren and
sisters. This is, so far, as it should be. But what would be the joy
of my heart, and what would be the joy of heart with each one of you,
could it be said that this entire congregation is of one mind and all
speak the same thing! But the words of my text, harmonizing with the
closing words of another parable, recorded by Matthew, which declare
that "many are called, but few chosen," may continue to be true, for
a long time yet to come. Whilst the advocates of election and
predestination claim this as one of their proof texts, to my mind it
proves the exact reverse. "Many are called." Here, if I mistake not,
the German has it: "The many are called." I take this to mean that all
are called. Now compare this with what is said here in my text: "Then
the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out
quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither
the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant
said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and
hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." This
surely proves that all are called or invited to the great supper.
First, the Jews were invited. When Jesus sent forth the twelve he
commanded them saying; "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into
any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel." Here it is plain that the Jews were
the first to be invited. "But they all with one mind began to make
excuse." Next then the poor of the city were invited. Still there was
room. Next the off-casts and beggars were invited. These included the
very lowest of the Gentile nations, and comprehend all that live,
every creature.

Now I ask, in the name of all that is reasonable, can we, dare we,
accuse the Lord of dealing deceitfully? Perish the thought forever.
No! He invites all because it is his blessed will to see all come
and sit at his table spread with the great love feast which he has
prepared for all who are willing and desire to come. This very thought
is the joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue. And it is a joy
which no man taketh from me, because it rests on the rock of Divine
Truth. But a preparation is necessary. We can hardly separate the
parable under consideration from the one recorded in Matthew
twenty-second chapter. There we read of a wedding dinner made by a
king, to celebrate the marriage of his son. And when the king came in
he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And the king
said: "Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?
And he was speechless." And why was he speechless? If he would have
had any reasonable excuse to offer for the unprepared appearance which
he made, would he have been speechless? Reason says at once. He would
have urged his inability to procure a suitable dress for the occasion,
as the cause for his appearing in the way he did, if any such cause
had existed. And the king knew this full well; otherwise he would not
have required all to have on the wedding garment.

I now call your attention to the closing words of the parable: "I say
unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my
supper." The reason for this is found in the fact that they would not
come. They were the first to be invited. Had they come, they would
have received the right hand of welcome. But notice the unreasonable
excuses they made. One had bought a piece of ground, and he must go
and see it, as if night were the time to look at land. Another must
try the five yoke of oxen he had that day bought, as if night were the
best time to do this. Another had married a wife and could not come,
as if night were not a suitable time to enjoy a rich supper with his
bride. We wonder at these vain and almost unnatural excuses; but do we
find the excuses of men any more reasonable to-day? Men hazard their
souls in a life of sin, not for want of invitations, entreaties and
warnings from the Lord to come unto him, but because they will not.
The Lord pleads with men to-day, just as he pleaded with Israel
centuries ago. Hear what he says to Israel by the mouth of the Prophet
Ezekiel: "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions;
so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your
transgressions, ... and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why
will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of
him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves and live
ye."

And now, Brethren and friends, to make a brief application of some of
the great principles laid down, I will say that the Lord's Supper is
the great love feast which he has prepared for you, for me, for all.
This great love feast, of which our own ordinance by his appointment,
and bearing the same name, is a beautiful and fitting emblem, is
neither more nor less than the bountiful provisions Christ has made
for the salvation of all. These provisions are the great truths of his
Word, filled with his love. The Lord Jesus says: "I am the bread of
life." To the Jews he said: "Your fathers did eat the manna in the
wilderness, and they died." "If any man eat of the bread which I shall
give him, he shall live forever." When we are faithfully obeying the
Lord from love in our hearts, we are eating this life-giving bread.
Every truth which the Lord has revealed, and by which the spiritual
man is fed as to his soul, may be regarded as a component part of this
great feast.

Jesus said to the tempter: "Man doth not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The tempter here
meant material bread for the body, and the Lord answered him according
to that meaning. This is the kind of bread, material bread, with which
the devil seeks to satisfy every demand of our being. It embraces
everything the natural appetite of man craves. The devil is ever
seeking to lead men to feed on the husks which the swine do eat, and
to be satisfied with that kind of food. But the blessed Lord Jesus
resists the tempter, and continually seeks to lead men into a higher,
nobler and heavenly life. He says to every sinner: "Arise, and go to
thy Father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned before heaven, and
in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." This is
repentance. This is the first move man makes in the way of approach
to the feast the Lord has prepared. "Man liveth by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This embraces all of Revealed
Truth. Every law, every precept, every prophecy, every parable has
some outflowing, healing virtue, some life-imparting power. We touch
the hem of its garment when we read or hear in sincerity of heart. O
sinner, come and partake of this feast, and thy soul shall live.

We stay all night with David Longenacre.

MONDAY, September 23. On towards Ohio. Dine and feed our horses at
Brother David Wise's. This evening we are at Hays's tavern in
Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania, where we[1] stay all
night.

TUESDAY, September 24. Go to Hickorytown where we feed our horses and
get breakfast. Then on through Burgitsville and Florencetown to
Frankford, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where we feed and dine at
Duncan's tavern. Then on to Georgetown, where we cross the Ohio river
in a horse-boat, and stay all night at Smith's tavern. A lonesome ride
to-day, because we have seen no Brethren.

    [1] Brother Kline in the Diary almost invariably puts it "_Stay
    all night_." I am not willing to depart from his usage in
    this.--ED.

WEDNESDAY, September 25. Breakfast and feed in Darlington at Dunlap's
tavern. Then on to New Middletown to Daniel Summers's; and this evening
 reach Brother Henry Kurtz's in Columbiana County, where we stay all
night.

THURSDAY, September 26. Meeting at Brother Haas's. Hebrews 8 is read.
Love feast this evening. Come back to Brother Kurtz's and stay all
night. Paul has told us more than once of the joy he felt, and how his
heart was refreshed on meeting dear brethren and sisters whom he had
not seen for a time. In meeting the brethren and sisters here and
elsewhere we experience much of the same feeling. They everywhere make
us feel at home, and show us more love and give us more attention than
we deserve. What a blessed thing it is to be filled with the love of
Christ! This implants love in the heart for the Brethren. John says:
"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love
the brethren." This is the first-fruits of the tree of life in our
hearts.

FRIDAY, September 27. Go westward through Greene, Salem, Damascus,
Westville, and on to Brother Joseph Bollinger's, where we stay all
night.

SATURDAY, September 28. Meeting. John 3 is read. Evening meeting at
Brother Metse's, where we stay all night. Hebrews 12 is read. Begins
to snow this evening, and continues all night.

SUNDAY, September 29. Meeting in the Franklin Lutheran church. Matthew
7 is read. After meeting we come to Brother David Sommers's. Evening
meeting. John 10 is read. Stay all night with Brother Sommers. The
weather has cleared up.

MONDAY, September 30. Visit Michael Dickey who is very sick. We then
attend a meeting at Eli Dickey's, in Starke County. Galatians 3 is
read. Stay all night with Brother Dickey.

TUESDAY, October 1. On westward, through Canton, Massilon, Brooklin,
Dover, Wayne County, to Brother Jacob Kurtz's, where we have night
meeting. Matthew 9 is read. Fine weather.

WEDNESDAY, October 2. Pass through Jefferson, Pittsburg, and on to
Brother Lucas's, where we have meeting. Second Corinthians 2 is read.
I spoke awhile on the last verse, particularly on these words:
"Corrupting the word of God." In the margin the translation of this
part of the verse is somewhat different, and, if I mistake not, is
sustained by the German of Luther. It is this: "Making merchandise of
the word of God." I regard this as the more literal of the two
renderings. But they both mean very nearly the same, with this slight
difference, that the one strikes more at the cause, while the other
regards particularly the effect of "handling the word of God
deceitfully." Men who make merchandise of the Word of God are exactly
in line with the Pharisees as the Lord described them: "Verily, they
have their reward." Jesus says: "Provide yourselves purses which wax
not old; a treasure in the heavens which faileth not." But those who
make merchandise of the Word of God provide purses for themselves, for
this life, which do wax old; and they lay up their treasures here. Sad
to say, such corrupt the Word by handling it deceitfully, that they
may make the things of religion pleasing to the natural man, and
thereby draw numbers to their side. But, brethren and sisters, I
hardly need tell you that this world is no friend to grace--no friend
to God--no friend to your souls. "Except a man deny himself, and take
up his cross daily, he cannot be my disciple." How different these
words of Jesus are from some remarks I heard one of those gospel
merchants make from his stand not long since. I give them as nearly as
I can. Said he: "Religion is natural to man. And that religion is the
best which enables a man or a woman, in the easiest and most
respectable way, to lead a good moral and civil life in this world.
Christ is your righteousness, and he gives you your necessary fitness
for heaven without any effort on your part, any more than to just
believe on him; so all you have to do is to sustain a respectable
standing in the church, by attending to its ordinances, and you are
and forever will be all right."

Now I would ask if such talk as this is not corrupting the Word? How
any man, in the face of the sermon on the Mount, in which the deepest
humility of heart--in the way of self-denial, forgiveness of enemies,
love of the truth, obedience to every commandment, from supreme love
to God--and the lowest self-abasement is laid down and set forth in
the clearest light and plainest injunctions--how, I say, in the face
of all this, can a man speak in this way? And more. Hear the awful,
terrific denunciation at the close of this sermon: "He that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house, and it fell: and great was the fall of it." Ah! Brethren,
something more than a desire to appear respectable in the eyes of the
world, and hold an honorable place in the church, so called, is
necessary to withstand the floods and storms of temptations that are
sure to try us in this world. This is why so many make shipwreck. They
do not count the cost; and this is why they desire to make peace, when
they see and feel the army of twenty thousand temptations coming
against them, and they have only ten thousand, very poorly equipped,
to resist their attack.

The temptations to conform to the vain fashions of the world, especially
with the young, may be called legion. The temptations to commit
adultery are a host. I speak plainly, Brethren, but I must not corrupt
the Word. The temptation to acquire property from the avaricious love
of wealth, more than we can use ourselves or handle to good ends,
comes as the prince of darkness with clouds that shut out the light of
heaven from our sight. Brethren and sisters, as I love you all dearly,
let me say to you at the close of my remarks that the Lord says: "The
scriptures cannot be broken." No man can intentionally break the
Scriptures and be saved. We dare not corrupt the Word of God.

After meeting we go to Brother John Shoemaker's, where we have night
meeting, and stay all night. Ephesians 6 is read.

THURSDAY, October 3. Take the Ashland road to Brother Joseph Rupp's,
near Ashland, Ashland County, where we have meeting. Luke 14 is read.
Stay this afternoon and night with Brother Rupp.

FRIDAY, October 4. Go to Brother Jacob Whisler's, six miles north of
Mansfield. Meeting at 3 o'clock. John 14 is read. To-day we crossed
the Black Fork of the Mohican. Stay all night with Brother Whisler.

SATURDAY, October 5. On westward through Shelby, to Brother Samuel
Cover's in Crawford County, where we have night meeting. Last part of
Acts 3 is read. Stay all night with Brother Cover.

SUNDAY, October 6. Meeting. Matthew 7 is read. Stay all night with
Brother Martain Hestand.

MONDAY, October 7. Visit William Lupton, but not finding him at home,
make settlement with his son of business connected with Hoover's
estate. Look over Hoover's land, and stay all night at Bender's. Fine
day.

TUESDAY, October 9. Meeting at Brother Hestand's in afternoon. Matthew
10 is read. Night meeting at Brother Clark's. Part of John 3 is read.
Stay all night at Brother Clark's. Fine day.

WEDNESDAY, October 9. Start for Allen County. Dine and feed at Upper
Sandusky; then on to Huston's, in Hardin County. Bad road from the
Bellefontaine road for twelve miles. Stay all night at Huston's.

THURSDAY, October 10. By Williamsburg, breakfast and feed at Michael
Baserman's, and on to Abraham Miller's in Allen County, where we stay
all night. Brother Hedrick and I have slept together in the same bed
every night since we left home.

FRIDAY, October 11. Stay at Brother Miller's till after dinner, then
go to Brother Samuel Miller's, where we stay all night.

SATURDAY, October 12. Pass through Lima, dine and feed in Wapokaneta,
and stay all night at Shannon's tavern.

SUNDAY, October 13. Go to Brother Joseph Risser's, dine and feed, then
to Brother Jacob Basehore's, where we leave our horses and walk two
and one-half miles to meeting and back to Brother Basehore's. Night
meeting at Brother Cabell's. First John 3 is read. Stay all night at
Brother Basehore's, in Miami County. Fine day.

MONDAY, October 14. Westward through Greenville to Brother Emanuel
Flory's in Darke County, where we dine and feed; then on to Winchester
in Indiana, and stay all night at Acker's tavern. We are now in
Randolph County, Indiana. If we were among false brethren in this new
country, as Paul says he once was in the land in which he traveled,
situated as we are in respect to bad roads, a long way from our homes,
with no means of conveyance except the backs of our horses to carry us
to Virginia, the prospect of our stay here, and our hopes of safe
return, might be gloomy indeed. But, thanks to the good Lord, we are
not among false brethren. Our Brethren are true Brethren wherever we
find them. There may be some hypocrites, God knows; but I know of
none. Brother Hedrick and I have repeatedly discoursed on this subject
in our travels together, and neither he nor I have in a single
instance met with a brother or sister that has not, in our presence at
least, shown something of the gentleness and meekness of Christ. We
are made to feel at home wherever we go among them, and these
considerations strengthen our faith and encourage the assurance that
the Gospel which we as a band of Christians preach and practice, and
which works mightily in the hearts of the dear Brethren everywhere, is
of God. "By their fruits ye shall know them."

FRIDAY, October 11. Still westward through Cameron, to Brother
Fullhearts, where we feed our horses and get dinner. We then cross the
White river to Muncie in Delaware County, and stay all night with
David Bowers. Rough, windy and rainy day.

WEDNESDAY, October 16. Visit the following named families, in nearly
all of which we find members of our Brotherhood. We first visit
Sowerwine's, then Joseph Coffman's, Sheets's, Jacob Good's, Absalom
Painter's and George Hoover's. At the last-named place we have night
meeting and stay all night. We are now in Henry County, Indiana.

THURSDAY, October 17. Meeting at Jacob Brunk's. Mark 1 is read. Then
to Peter Fesler's, where we have night meeting. Acts 3 is read. Stay
all night with Brother Fesler.

FRIDAY, October 18. Come to Middletown and get a letter from home.
Glad to hear that all are well, but sorry to learn of some deaths.
Leaving Middletown, we go eastward to Brother David Hartman's, in
Wayne County, where we stay all night. Raining all day, and in
afternoon it falls in torrents.

SATURDAY, October 19. Love feast at Brother Abraham Hoover's. John 1
is read. Stay all night at Brother David Hartman's. Clear and cold.

SUNDAY, October 20. Forenoon meeting. Acts 3 was read. I spoke on
verse twenty-second: Subject, "The Great Prophet." Meeting again at
one o'clock. I speak on Mark 1:27. Text: "And they were all amazed,
insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is
this? What new doctrine is this?"

The Jews could well ask the question set forth in the text: "What new
doctrine is this?" To them the teachings of Christ were all new.
Whilst he came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill,
nevertheless his fulfillment of them was so spiritual, so essentially
holy, so pure in motive, so beneficent in act, that the Jews were
entire strangers to it: or probably better, it was strange and new to
them. Even Nicodemus, a ruler among the Jews, failed to perceive what
Jesus meant when he told him about the nature and necessity of the new
birth. Our Lord manifests something of surprise at the ignorance and
stupidity of Nicodemus. Such ignorance as Nicodemus exposes in the
presence of Christ appears to us as wholly inexcusable, when we look
at what had already been taught on the subject of a change of heart,
or regeneration, in the law of Moses and the prophets.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, walked with God three hundred years, and
never saw death, for God took him. Did he walk with God in a fleshly
mind, or in a spiritual mind? Hear what Jesus and Paul say: "That
which is born of the flesh, is flesh," and Paul says: "Therein
dwelleth no good thing." "But that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit," and therein serve we the Lord acceptably. Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, Moses and Elijah are to-day in the heavens. Are they there in
the flesh? Nay, verily, but in the spirit; in the new nature which God
had implanted in them. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
heaven."

"And what shall I say more? for the time would fail me to tell of
Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephtha; of David also,
and Samuel," who prayed: "Create in me a clean heart, and renew a
right spirit within me." But the Jews had become carnal, fleshly
minded, and, like Nicodemus, were unable to see the spirituality of
their own Word. How, then, could they apprehend the grace or see the
truth which came by Jesus Christ! Let us, Brethren, search the
Scriptures and acquaint ourselves much with the Gospel of our
salvation, so that when we read or hear, it may not be to us as it
was to the Jews, a new doctrine, but the

  "Old, old story,
  Of Jesus and his love."

This is nearly the substance of what I said.

Night meeting at Samuel Cave's. I speak from John 1:29. Fine day. We
stay all night with Brother Cave. We are now in Wayne County.

MONDAY, October 21. Start eastward to William Minnick's, and on
through Richmond, by Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, to Samuel Showalter's,
where we stay all night.

TUESDAY, October 22. Get dinner at Jacob Trout's: visit John Brower's,
and stay all night at Solomon Stoner's. Fine day.

WEDNESDAY, October 23. Visit Joseph Kline's, Samuel Kline's, David
Dristle's, and have night meeting at David Bowman's. Matthew 25 is
read. Stay all night at Brother Dristle's. Our gatherings for worship
and attendance upon the Word, as a rule, have not been large; but
people generally appear to pay heed to what is spoken, and we trust
the good seed may find a lodgment in many an honest and sincere heart.

THURSDAY, October 24. Meeting at Bowman's meetinghouse. Luke 14 is
read. Stay all night at Brother Abraham Aerbaugh's.

FRIDAY, October 25. Visit George Miller's, Sally Aerbaugh's, Daniel
Garber's, John Garber's, David Miller's, and Joseph Garber's, where we
stay all night. Fine weather.

SATURDAY, October 26. Visit Felix Landes's, and go to night meeting at
Philip Wampler's. Matthew 11 is read. Stay all night at Philip
Wampler's.

SUNDAY, October 27. Meeting at the Bowman meetinghouse. Acts 3 is
read. I then visit Brother Brumbaugh, who is very low in sickness; and
also visit Henry Harshbarger, and stay all night at John Kline's.

MONDAY, October 28. Go to Dayton, and after spending some time in
visiting the factories and other points of interest in the city, we
start towards Cincinnati, and stay all night in Miamisburg, at
Zimmers's tavern.

TUESDAY, October 29. Pass through Butler County into Hamilton, and
stay all night in Cincinnati, at the Franklin House, kept by Ross.

WEDNESDAY, October 30. Visit Dr. Curtis and settle with him. [Dr.
Curtis was at this time a very noted Thompsonian doctor located in
Cincinnati. He was editor of the _Botanic Medical Recorder_, a journal
which was very popular with the advocates of the Thompsonian practice
of medicine in its day; and also author of a series of lectures in the
same line.--ED.] Dr. Curtis appears to me as a very kind, open-hearted,
well-informed man. He seems to be very confident as to the future
success and final triumph of his favorite system of medical theory and
practice. "Why should we not," said he, "feel as sure that the might
of truth will prevail in this as in other things? It may be that
further experience will shear off some things that we now hold; and
add on to our system some others which we as yet lack; but the great
principles of truth which underlie our medical creed must remain
unshaken, while the laws of health and the inroads of disease remain
as they are to-day." We then visited the city markets, and about 10
o'clock started for Clermont County, and got to John Dickey's tavern,
where we stay all night.

THURSDAY, October 31. On to Hillsborough in Highland County; dine and
feed at Jacob Runyon's, and stay all night at Elijah Thurman's.

FRIDAY, November 1. On into Ross County, and stay all night at David
Kline's.

SATURDAY, November 2. Cross Deer Creek and push on across the Scioto
river at Boggs's Mills, and get to Sampson Zimmerman's, in Hocking
County, where we stay all night.

SUNDAY, November 3. On through Logan on the Hocking river; then down
the same river to Warren's tavern, near Athens, in Athens County,
where we stay all night. The Hocking Valley is a fine, rich country,
and I feel to encourage some of our younger people to come here and
get good cheap homes. In this way they might establish the church
here, and thus prepare the way of the Lord as John did in the
wilderness of Judea. What an opening there is here for good,
industrious people!

MONDAY, November 4. Down the Hocking river to where the road takes off
towards Parkersburg in Virginia, near which place we cross the Ohio
river in a horse boat, and stay all night at Henry Dill's
entertainment, in Wood County, Virginia.

TUESDAY, November 5. To-day we travel thirty-nine and one-half miles
on the Parkersburg turnpike, and stay all night at Isaac Martain's, in
Ritchie County, Virginia.

WEDNESDAY, November 6. Keep the turnpike all day. Dine and feed our
horses at Neeley's tavern, and stay all night at Clinch's, three miles
west of Clarksburg, in Harrison County.

THURSDAY, November 7. Through Clarksburg, Prunty Town, Evansville and
on to J. Stone's tavern, in Preston County, where we stay all night.

FRIDAY, November 8. Cross Laurel mountain, Cheat river, and on to top
of Cheat mountain, where we dine and feed at Stemple's tavern near
West Union; then to North Branch to Hays's where we stay all night.
Fine day.

SATURDAY, November 9. Go to Stingley's, dine and feed; stop awhile
with old Sister Parks; then on to Enoch Hyre's, on the South Branch,
near Petersburg, Hardy County, Virginia, where we stay all night. Fine
weather.

SUNDAY, November 10. I do not like to travel far on this day, but
there being no meeting in reach of us, and both eager to get as near
home as possible, we leave Sister Hyre's, stop a little with Isaac
Shobe's on Mill Creek, dine and feed at Isaac Dasher's, on the South
Fork, and stay all night at Jacob Whetzel's, in Brock's Gap, Rockingham
County, Virginia. Fine weather continues.

MONDAY, November 11. Home to-day. Find all well, but some sickness in
the neighborhood around. On the journey from which I have just
returned, I traveled 1,271 miles on horse-back, one beast carrying me
safely all of that distance. The roads we traveled were in many places
just as nature formed them, the hand of man having done but little
more than cut the timber out and remove impassable obstructions. We
crossed high and rugged mountains, and forded dangerous streams. But
in the West the people are waking up to the importance of improving
the public roads. The abundant natural wealth of that country, when
properly developed by wise industry, will respond in such lavish
abundance that there will be no lack of means to build the best of
roads, and in every respect to raise the country generally to that
state of beauty by high culture, which ministers to the comfort and
usefulness of its people.

The Baltimore & Ohio railroad will soon be completed to Wheeling, and
this road, in connection with other roads likely to be built and
connect with it, will open a very active traffic between that city and
the East. I feel like saying to the Brethren everywhere that now is
the time to sow the pure seeds of Gospel Truth in the West. If this be
not done, tares will be sure to grow and multiply where the wheat of
holy love should abound. Such fields of humanity, so full of life and
vigor, will never remain unproductive. Education and civil law may
help to control and keep in bounds the flood of moral and intellectual
power flowing from them; but if the hand of sanctified religion be not
put forth to give it proper direction, they will turn out to be a
moral wilderness of sin, filled with all the wild beasts of human
passion, "and every hateful bird."

In the time of my absence Eli Spitzer and wife, Polly Hindgardner,
and another woman were baptized. This was done September 18. On the
twenty-second there was a love feast at the Lost River meetinghouse;
and about that time Samuel Toppan and wife, and three other persons,
all on Stony Creek, were baptized. Thomas Lampkin and Polly Fridley,
and another sister were also baptized in my absence.

MONDAY, December 16. To-day I preach the funeral of old Brother John
Wine in the Forest. Text, Rev. 14:13, "Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest
from their labors; and their works do follow them."

I aimed to set forth, in the practical part of my discourse, a few
thoughts based on the last part of the verse: "Their works do follow
them." Our works are as sure to follow us from this world to the next
as they are when we remove from one place to another in this. Let any
one come among us, no matter from where, and he brings his character
with him. If that is good, good works will follow him. They follow not
only in the way of reports we may receive from those among whom he
lived before he came among us, but they follow all he does while here.
In this consists the blessedness of those who die in the Lord. In
heaven the same good works follow them in all they do, only in much
greater perfection, that accorded with the good will in their hearts
that characterized their lives while here. The lives of good men are
so conjoined with the Lord, because from the Lord, that whatever good
they do in the way of helping others he accounts it as done to him.
Indeed, this blessed following is the ground of proof that they are of
his sheep. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me." Will not that be a glorious and
happy following? Is it not something worth sacrificing our life and
our all in this world for? And that day will surely come. Just as sure
as we live it will come, for the Scripture cannot be broken. This
blessed following of good works will be sure to receive on that day
the welcome plaudit: "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord."

WEDNESDAY, December 25. Christmas day. Meeting in Keagey's schoolhouse.
Matthew 2 was read. Brother Daniel Miller spoke beautifully in the
German language on the advent of the Lord Jesus. His main subject was
the love of the Father, the good will toward men that gave the only
begotten Son to redeem and save them.

He said: "The day is unimportant. We may have Christ's birthday
correct, or we may not. I am not historian enough to speak positively
on this point. But one thing there is upon which I can speak
positively; and all the enemies of Jesus are unable to wrest the
conviction of that truth from my heart; and that thing is this, that
'God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved.' It has pleased our
heavenly Father to tell us about our Savior's birth; how lowly it was,
in a stable; and that he was laid in a manger, which means a kind of
box from which horses take their food; and that a star in the east,
sometimes called the Star of Bethlehem, guided the wise men who came
from the east to see the infant, Jesus, to the place where he lay.
Those good men hardly knew that this beautiful star was but an emblem
of the leadings of God's revealed Truth. But it is so; for all the
light of prophecy centered in that star which showed the time and
place of the birth of the Son of God. Some seem to think the star was
only a natural light, such as natural eyes could see, but I do not
think so. I rather think it was a heavenly light, and that it could be
seen only by such as loved the hope of our Lord's coming and were
ready to rejoice at his birth.

"We have the brighter light of his more clearly revealed Word, by
which we are enabled to find, not an infant Savior, but a Savior grown
up to perfect manhood made perfect through sufferings ending in his
death upon the cross. We find him as the risen and glorified Lord with
power to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him. His
heavenly truth is to us now and to all who are willing to open their
eyes and see, as the Sun of Righteousness; 'for we are not of the
night, nor of darkness, but we are all the children of light, and the
children of the day.' Paul here means such as are true Christians. I
love to preach the Gospel; but I love still more to see men and women
open their eyes to the light of its truth, and their hearts to the
warmth of its love. In this way they are led to seek the Lord; and the
promise is: 'Every one that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh,
it shall be opened.'

"One more thing I must notice. These wise men brought gifts to the
infant Jesus. I suppose these were the first Christmas gifts ever
made; and the custom of making presents at this time has probably been
kept up ever since. If presents are made on this day with an eye to
the gift of God's love, they will be acceptable in his eye; but if
made lightly, simply to comply with custom or fashion, they have no
promise."

I must yet add this from the brother's beautiful discourse. He said:
"The greatest of all the Christmas gifts that man ever has received,
or that even God himself can bestow, was made on that first Christmas
day. Some of you may not think as I do about it, but on that day God
gave to the world his own and only beloved Son, and to my eyes, and I
hope to the eyes of many of you, he is the fairest of all the fair,
and the one altogether lovely. I lay all the gold, and the
frankincense, and the myrrh of my heart's best affections as thank
offerings at his feet on this Christmas day. Brethren, God has made
his most costly gift to us in the person of his Son; should we not be
willing to reciprocate this gift with the most precious gift we are
able to offer? And what is the most precious thing in his sight that
we can give? It is our love in return for his love to us. If we do
make this return in fullness, we place ourselves in a state of highest
blessedness, described by John in few words: 'We love him, because he
first loved us.' This is a heavenly state, and it must be the basis of
all the bliss of saints and angels."

I wish I had time to give more than this mere outline of the brother's
excellent discourse in the German language, but I must leave off. We
have night meeting at Koontz's, where Brother Daniel Miller and I stay
all night.

TUESDAY, December 31. I have traveled since last New Year's day,
nearly all on horseback, 3,827 miles. The year's work is done. The
record on high is made. Does it stand favorably in my behalf for the
life to come, or have I received my reward here? I can only pray my
Father in heaven to forgive the wrong and bless the right. This is my
evening prayer at all times, but especially do I offer it now at the
closing hour of the year.

SATURDAY, January 4. Go to Isaac Myer's on Stony Creek, and stay at
Louis Naselrodt's all night.

SUNDAY, January 5. Meeting in the Sulphur Spring schoolhouse. Acts 3
is read. Stay at Brother William Andes's all night.

MONDAY, January 6. Return home. Snows all day.

THURSDAY, January 23. Solemnize the marriage of David Hoover, near
Plain's Mill, and Mary Zigler, of Timberville.

SUNDAY, January 26. Attend the funeral of Mrs. Kootz, mother of our
State Senator, Samuel Kootz. Her age was seventy-three years, five
months and twenty-eight days.

WEDNESDAY, February 12. Attend the funeral of old mother Shultz. Her
age was seventy-five years. I speak from Isaiah 3:10, 11. Text: "Say
ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with them: for they shall
eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill
with them: for the reward of their hands shall be given them."

I regard these words of the prophet as being true, not only as
applying to the world to come, but as applying with equal power to
the life of man in this world. A life of honesty, integrity,
righteousness, in all we do, is not only policy or wisdom in respect
to the world to come, but it is the best policy or highest wisdom in
all the affairs of this life. It secures the best results because it
makes use of the best means to promote our own happiness here, and
the happiness of all within the sphere of our influence. Says the
Psalmist: "The leaf of the righteous shall not wither, and whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper. He shall flourish like the palm tree." We are
told that the palm tree, to which the righteous are here compared, is
not only a very beautiful tree, but a very useful tree. It casts a
very delightful shade in the hot climates where it grows; from the
abundance of its sap it affords water to the thirsty; and its
excellent fruit supplies food to the hungry.

Whilst godliness, as Paul says, "is profitable unto all things, having
promise of the life that now is, and also of that which is to come;"
still, the life to come is what should chiefly concern us here. Our
time in this world is so short, so brief, that it makes but little
difference whether we are poor or rich, whether we weep or rejoice,
whether we be sick or well, provided we have a clear title to a
heavenly home, a clear title to an "inheritance that is incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away." We may just as certainly get a
true title to this heavenly possession by a proper course of life here
as we can to a farm or any other property we may buy and pay for. The
difference, however, between the title to earthly possessions and that
to a heavenly estate is that the first is visible to our natural eyes,
and the last is not. How justly the old adage, that "a bird in the
hand is worth two in the bush," applies to the views and decisions of
great numbers of people! They talk of not risking a certainty for an
uncertainty,--the very thing they are doing. Such make no preparation
for death and eternity which are certainties; but all for life in this
world, which is an uncertainty.

But to be faithful to my calling, friends, I must repeat the last part
of my text, if nothing more. Hear it, take the warning of its terrific
words, for it is God's warning and not mine. Here it is: "Woe unto the
wicked! it shall be ill with them, for the reward of their hands shall
be given them." These words should strike terror into the hearts of
the ungodly. The word reward means recompense, and recompense means
payment for work done or services performed. But, according to all
just laws, the one in whose service we labor is the one to whom we
have a just right to look for our pay. Now I ask you to tell me whom
you serve. Can you say in your heart, "I am serving the Lord"? If not
the Lord, whom do you serve? Satan, the Devil, the old Serpent, the
world and the flesh. These are what you serve, and these are the
one--for all together make but one--to whom you are to look for your
reward. And let me tell you from love in my heart for your soul, that
your life in the service of the devil is a life of sin, and the reward
or wages of sin is death; not extinction, but a state of deadness to
all blessedness and happiness forever. But you say, "I cannot bear
such a thought." Neither can I. Come then with us, as the prophet
says, and we will do you good. Turn from sin and seek the Lord. Serve
him, and your reward will be glory, honor, immortality and eternal
life.

FRIDAY, February 28. Father Wampler died at eleven o'clock to-day.

SUNDAY, March 2. Father Wampler was buried to-day. His age was
seventy-six years, five months and seventeen days. He was the father
of Anna Kline, my beloved wife, and of Samuel Wampler, one of our
ministers. He was the grandfather of a very numerous line of
grandchildren, among whom are many excellent members of the Brethren
church.

SATURDAY, March 8. Samuel Wampler and I go to Page County. We have
night meeting at Isaac Spitler's. I speak from John 1:16. Text: "And
of his fulness have all we received."

The Apostle John made his record of the Gospel sometime after the
other evangelists had written theirs. This fact accounts for the many
things given by John which are omitted by the others. He wrote it
long after the day of Pentecost, and after he had seen the church
established in Judea, and in the regions of Asia under the ministries
of Paul, and Silas, and Barnabas, and Peter, and others. He saw a
tendency in the churches even in his day to depart from God's
ordinances; and led by the Divine Spirit he felt it his duty to set
these forth in their simplicity and plainness, as he had seen them
instituted and exemplified in his own personal presence by the Lord
himself.

I think it is clear that the corruption in the Corinthian church had
broken out before John wrote. Paul tried to check this disorder by a
letter, and instruct them in that way as far as he could at the time;
but at the close he adds: "The rest will I set in order when I come."
I am free to express the belief here, that Paul wanted to see John and
learn from him all about feet-washing and the Lord's Supper. Up to
this time Paul had not taught the Corinthian brethren anything about
these ordinances. He had only taught them baptism and the Communion,
as he had received them from the Lord by reading the accounts given of
them in the records made by the other evangelists. Hence John finds
it necessary to give a particular account of the institution of
feet-washing and the Lord's Supper, from beginning to end, with the
same exact care that characterizes everything else which he has
written. John can well record the words of my text: "And of his
fulness have all we received." Jesus has left nothing incomplete.
There is fullness and completeness in his life and examples, in his
doctrines and practices, and in his objects and their accomplishment.

Near the close of Paul's life he wrote a kind of love letter to his
son Timothy, as he calls him, in which he says: "All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the
man of God," meaning the church, "may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
unto all good works." There is no place for a doubt in my mind that
Paul wrote this letter to Timothy after John had made his gospel
record. He therefore includes the Gospel recorded by John in his
comprehensive expression that "all scripture is given by divine
inspiration." In this view of the case, Paul could well insert the
words, "and is profitable for CORRECTION, for INSTRUCTION in
righteousness," because he himself had been corrected and instructed
by it.

And now, brethren and sisters, and as many as hear me to-day, let us
go to the fullness of his love as it is tied up in his Word. Let us
open these bundles of grace with penitent hearts and tearful eyes, and
the peace of pardon, like the odor of the ointment from Mary's broken
box, will flow over our souls. Then with joyful heart each one may
say: "Of his fulness have all we received." But we constantly need
fresh supplies. We naturally run dry. The anaconda, it is said, can
live three months on one meal. But he can do this only in a state of
absolute inactivity. God does not expect us to live in a state of
constant inactivity as this serpent does; he expects us to work for
him, and the workingman has need of daily food and drink. Let us so
live that we may all joyfully approach some one of the pearly portals
of the Golden City, and receive the angel keeper's welcome there: "Of
his fulness hast thou received: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

SUNDAY, March 9. Meeting at Lionberger's schoolhouse. Romans 10 is
read. Dine at Lionberger's, and come to Abraham Rothgeb's (Rodecap's)
on Mill Run, where we have night meeting, and stay all night. I speak
from the latter part of Acts 3. Subject, "The Great Prophet."

SATURDAY, March 15. This day I mail a letter to Henry Kurtz; one to
Daniel Arnold; one to Jacob Basehore, and one to Philip Wampler.

TUESDAY, April 1. Council meeting in the Garber's meetinghouse. Two of
Brother Daniel Miller's sons, viz, Joseph and Jacob, are elected to
the deaconship.

SATURDAY, April 5. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Brother
Abraham Knopp is elected speaker, and two sons of Brother Samuel Wine
in the Brush, viz, Christian and Samuel, are elected to the
deaconship.

TUESDAY, April 8. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Isaac Myers is
elected speaker; and John Neff, Jacob Wine, and John Hindgartner are
elected to the deaconship. Daniel Miller and I go to the widow
Wilkins's and stay all night.

WEDNESDAY, April 9. We attend council meeting in Shaffer's meetinghouse
to-day. John Copp and Thomas Baker are elected to the deaconship. We
stay all night with Brother George Shaffer in Shenandoah County,
Virginia.

TUESDAY, April 29. Prepare for love feast at our meetinghouse. Brother
Henry Kurtz and Brother Shively come to my house to-day and are with
us to-night. To say the least, it is exceedingly pleasant to have such
company. We heard some good speaking done by them at our love feast
this evening and night.

SATURDAY, May 3. Start, in company with brethren Kurtz and Shively,
for Botetourt County, Virginia. Get as far as Brother Jacob Humbert's
in Augusta County, where we stay all night.

SUNDAY, May 4. Love feast at the Brick meetinghouse to-day.

MONDAY, May 5. Dine at Brother Coffman's and stay all night at Brother
Jacob Forrer's.

TUESDAY, May 6. Through Greenville, and on to Layman's tavern, in
Fairfield, for dinner. Stop a little in Lexington, then on to Siler's
tavern, where we stay all night.

WEDNESDAY, May 7. Get breakfast and feed our horses at Luster's tavern
at the Natural Bridge. This is one of nature's wonderful curiosities.
But it does not strike me with that degree of astonishment which many
seem to feel on a first sight of it. I am so familiar with God's
sublime works among the mountains of Virginia and those of other
states that the view does not impress me with that sense of sublimity
and awful grandeur that one might expect from reading the descriptions
given of it. The Natural Bridge appears to me to be nothing more than
the remains of a cave, nearly all of the roof of which has long since
fallen in and been washed away. There are many natural bridges in
Virginia and Kentucky, but they are mostly underground. From the
Bridge we go on to Brother Peter Ninsinger's, where we stay all night.

THURSDAY, May 8. Get to Brother Benjamin Moomaw's for dinner. Brother
Moomaw gives promise of great usefulness. We then go to Brother
Barnhardt's, where we stay all night.

FRIDAY, May 9. The Yearly Meeting opens to-day. Many Brethren are
present. We stay all night at Brother Haut's.

SATURDAY, May 10. Back to meeting at Brother Barnhardt's. Council
continues till noon to-day, then public meeting begins. We have a love
feast out in the orchard this evening and night. I stay all night at
Brother Eller's.

SUNDAY, May 11. Meeting to-day. John 7 is read. Brother Henry Kurtz
spoke from the eighteenth verse. Text: "He that speaketh of himself
seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him,
the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him." The brother spoke
in substance what I here give in small space. He said:

"These are the words of Jesus Christ, who knew what was in man. It
becomes every minister who preaches the Word, to examine himself
prayerfully, in the light of Holy Truth, to know certainly what impels
him to the work. If, by such examination, he becomes assured that the
love of Christ and for Christ lures him on, and that the salvation of
souls and the consequent glory of the Lord is the beginning and the
end of his motives, he can go on with heart and tongue, under the
Lord's banner, defying the very gates of hell. But if the love of self
and the love of the world enter as the chief elements of his power and
will in the work, it would be better for him, better for the cause,
and less dishonorable to the Lord if he would stop off short. I will
here repeat the text. You may now be better prepared to perceive the
warmth of its power and the light of its truth. 'He that speaketh of
himself'--or as the Greek more nearly and fully puts it, FROM himself,
from love to himself the meaning is--'seeketh his own glory.' This is
self-evidently true, for such a one can have the glory of no one else
to seek. Self, the love of self, fills his eye and heart. And, like
the Pharisee, verily, he has his reward.

"But, my beloved Brethren, especially you who have been set to the
work of the ministry, I can say from my heart that I have but little
apprehension that you are led on in your work by any other than a
right motive. I do believe, from all that I know of you personally, as
well as by reputation, that each one of you, with perhaps a somewhat
varied perception of their exalted meaning and power, can adopt Paul's
words: 'The love of Christ constrains me.' 'Woe unto me if I preach
not the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation.'

"There is one feature particularly in the order of our ministry that I
have always advocated, and expect by the grace of God to advocate to
the last, and that is an _unsalaried_ ministry. The world will say to
me right here: 'You are working against your own interest. You are
destroying the race that would bring water to your mill. You are
breaking the wagon that would carry grain to your storehouse.' In
answer to this I have to say that God never meant for the Gospel to be
used as a means for getting water to the preacher's mill, or grain
into his garner. When the Gospel is converted into merchandise, the
preacher becomes a merchant, and like all other merchants it becomes
his interest to handle his goods in a way that will please his
customers, and put them in such shape and procure for them such kinds,
whether good, bad, or indifferent, as will suit their fancies and
please their tastes. 'The love of money is a root of all evil,' no
less in the ministry than anywhere else.

"'But he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, the same is
true, and no unrighteousness is in him.' How wonderfully did our Lord
fulfill his mission! Even on the banks of the Jordan, when John had
already expressed his unworthiness to untie the latchet of his shoe,
still more so to baptize him, he said: 'Thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness.' And the Father answered, and the Holy Spirit bare
witness. 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' Brethren,
 our Lord's maxim, expressed in these words, 'I came not to do mine
 own will, but the will of him that sent me,' should be the watchword
 with every one of us. And if the truth leads us through the waters of
 the Jordan, or into the fire of persecution, let us still deny
 ourselves, bear the cross, and say: 'Thus it becometh us to fulfill
 all righteousness;' and we, in heart, in a conscience void of offense
 toward God, will be sure to receive the heavenly recognition: 'This
 is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'

"But it is not to be inferred from anything I may have said that a
minister should not have a decent regard for the manner and the style
of language in which he proclaims the Gospel of Christ. The most
faithful and skilled workmen in any craft are, as a rule, the most
careful in regard to the quality and fitness of the tools they employ,
as well as about the manner in which they handle them. Paul instructs
Timothy to 'study to show himself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.' When a
man seeks the honor, the wealth and general interest and success of
his employer he gives proof of his honesty in the service, and also of
love in his heart for him. These two principles underlie all right
work for the Lord,--honesty and love; childlike simplicity and
sincerity. Brethren, let us not aspire to the high things of the
world, but to the meekness and gentleness of Christ."

I wish many more could have heard the brother's edifying discourse.

After the forenoon meeting was dismissed, brethren Henry Kurtz,
Shively, Christian Kline and myself start homeward, and come to
Brother Daniel Kinsey's, where we stay all night.

MONDAY, May 12. We all get to Siler's tavern, where we stay all night.

TUESDAY, May 13. We pass through Lexington, Fairfield, Greenville, and
on to Jacob Forrer's, where we all stay over night. We have fine
weather.

WEDNESDAY, May 14. We all come to Brother Abraham Garber's, and after
dinner go to meeting at the meetinghouse. Hebrews 12 is read. Stay all
night at Brother John Myers's.

THURSDAY, May 15. All go to Brother Frederic Kline's, near Dayton,
Virginia, for dinner. Call at Brother Daniel Garber's, and in evening
get back to my house.

FRIDAY, May 16. In afternoon we have meeting in Brother Samuel Kline's
dwelling house. Brother Shively speaks from John 4:14, 15. Text: "But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him,
Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to
draw."

I here give, as nearly as I can, a brief outline of Brother Shively's
interesting discourse. He spoke of water: its purity, its beauty, its
utility, its abundance.

"Water," said he, "when it is free from all extraneous substances, is
the purest thing in the world. The curse that fell upon the ground,
whereby it would no longer yield its spontaneous increase to support
and comfort man, doomed it to bring forth thorns and thistles instead.
'In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.' 'Dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return.' These fearful words are still true
of the ground to-day. Wherever man inhabits the earth, labor, sweat
and constant attention are the price which has to be paid for
comfortable subsistence in this world. But water is not included in
all this. It really is not a constituent of the ground. It may be in
the ground, but it is not of it; and its tendency is to leave the
ground as quickly as possible, under favoring conditions, as though it
felt that ground is not its place. The ground gives rise to poisonous
vapors which produce disease; but pure water never does. The only
impurities that ever enter water come from the ground as their
original source.

"It is probable that on this account our Lord used water to represent
the divine truth of his Word. Let us turn to the testimony we may
gather on this subject. First to my text, 'He that drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst.' I believe that this
means the truth of his Word. What else could it mean? Now again:
'Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for
they shall be filled.' Filled with what? I believe that such will be
filled with the love of God and man, through a knowledge of the truth,
to such a degree that they will seek to live righteous lives. 'He that
DOETH truth is righteous.' 1 John 3:7.

"Again: Our Lord says: 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and
drink.' And what is the drink the Lord will give? Not elementary
water, I am sure; but if you will allow the expression, I will call it
spiritual water. Let us return to the text again. If you will trace
the chapter throughout, you will see how gently and tenderly the Lord
approached the dark mind of this woman. He told her of things in her
life that no stranger would be likely to know. In this way he gained
her confidence. She said: 'I perceive thou art a prophet.' This was
one point gained. Next he told her that 'ye' (including the class of
Samaritans to whom she belonged) 'worship ye know not what. We know
what we worship.' This was another step with the cup of living water
in his hand to apply to her lips. His next step was to tell her that
God is a Spirit, and that all true worship must be from the heart, 'in
spirit and in truth,' and that the Father seeketh such to worship him.
I do suppose this is the first time she ever heard God called Father.
It was new to her, so new that she confessed her belief in a coming
Messias, who would be able to tell her all things; but that he would
come in the spirit and love of a kind Father exceeded all her hopes.

"And say, Brethren, did not this poor woman take the cup from the
Lord's hand and drink of the Water of Life? I think she did, for she
turned missionary right away, and if you will read the thirty-ninth
verse you will see something of her success, for 'many of the
Samaritans ... believed on him for the saying of the woman, which
testified, He told me all that ever I did.'

"I will now quote one more text to show that this living water, or
life-giving water, also represents the Holy Ghost in his enlightening
power and love. 'He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said,
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he
of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.' Here,
it does seem to me, the believer in Christ is compared to a spring of
pure water. What makes a spring flow, and keep on flowing even in dry
weather? It must be that deep down in the veins of the rocks, away out
of sight, it is being constantly fed by an influx of pure water. What
a lesson we have here! Brethren, the Spirit, or what is the same thing
again, the truth of God's holy Word, must not lie dormant in us. We
must, as the passage quoted puts it, we must give out rivers of living
water. These rivers flow out of our hearts into everything of our
lives in a way to make others know that we are full of the water of
life.

"I very lately read about the Dead Sea. And how did it get its name? I
will tell you. It got the name 'Dead Sea' from its resemblance to a
human being who is constantly taking in God's gifts, and giving
nothing out in any visible way. If you will look at a map of Palestine
you will there see that the river Jordan is constantly pouring its
flood of fresh water into this sea; but with all this influx of fresh
water this sea is so full of all manner of impurities that even fish
cannot live in it, and no waterfowls, I am told, are ever seen on its
shores. Truly it deserves to be called 'Dead Sea.' It has no outlet;
no refreshing stream ever flows from its bosom.

"But, Brethren, if we are truly alive in the Lord we will be like the
garden of Eden that sent out a river to water the garden, whence it
was parted and became four heads, and each head was a river. Does not
all this throw some light on what our Lord meant in what he said to
the woman, 'It shalt be in him a well of water, springing up into
everlasting life;' and this: 'Out of his belly shall flow rivers of
living water?' There is nothing like a dead sea here. All, all is life
from the Lord. But water is beautiful. Who does not admire a clear,
flowing spring or river! In this respect water is an emblem of the
Lord's Word. Can any one read the Scriptures, and not be struck with
their beauty? Take, for an example, the story of creation. Even
children see its beauty and love it. Take the last two chapters of
Revelation. Who can read them without perceiving in them a beauty that
is all divine? The Bible opens in beauty and closes in beauty.

"And now, dear Brethren, whilst my subject has only been touched a
little, I will close by briefly directing your minds and hearts to the
river that John saw in vision, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the
throne of God and of the Lamb. I believe this river to be a symbol of
God's love and truth. It proceeded from the throne of God. Now,
'heaven is his throne, and the earth is his footstool.'

"You know the Lord said to the Pharisees: 'The baptism of John, was it
from heaven, or of men?' They would not answer. But we can answer. It
was from heaven. It was performed in the beauty and clearness of the
truth that the Lord Jesus brought from heaven. It proceeded from the
throne of God. What a high origin our baptism has! It is from heaven.
And the immersion of our bodies three times in water symbolizes, in a
way more impressive than anything else ever could, that we have
implicit faith in the love, wisdom and power of the divine Trinity of
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. There is a trinity in every good thing we
do. There must be the love to prompt or make the start, the wisdom to
direct this love intelligently, and the power to execute what is in
the will and understanding to be done. Our trine immersion of the body
in water, the beautiful emblem of truth, shows our acceptance of it
internally and externally, in life, in death, in heaven.

"One more thought, and I will close. Once within the city, we shall
thirst no more: 'For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall lead us to fountains of living water.' All darkness will be
removed. What is obscure here will be light there. For now we know in
part. There we shall know even as we are known. Amen!"

SATURDAY, May 17. Brethren Kurtz and Shively go to Lost River. Dine at
James Fitzwater's, and stay all night at Celestine Whitmore's.

SUNDAY, May 18. Meeting at the Lost River meetinghouse. Matthew 7 is
read. The brethren both take part in the speaking to-day. Dine at
Jacob Motz's, then take leave of the dear brethren, Kurtz and Shively,
and come home. Those two brethren and I were together three weeks,
lacking only two days. The pleasant conversations we had, the unity of
our faith, and the oneness of our aims in life have wrought in us an
attachment for each other that made separation painful. But we parted
not without hope of meeting again.

FRIDAY, July 25. Harvest meeting at our meetinghouse to-day. Luke 16
was read. The singing of devotional hymns, the offering of
thanksgiving prayers, with instructions as to the way in which the
worldly gifts of our heavenly Father to us may be most wisely used,
occupied the time we spent together.

How best to help the poor has been a matter of much thought with me.
If we give to such as are able to work and support themselves, but do
not, we rather encourage them in their habits of idleness. If we do
not give to them, they complain that we care but little for them, and
do not feel toward them as we should. I think the best way to help
such is to encourage them to honest labor by aiding them to procure
situations in which they can support themselves. If they then fail to
provide for their families, I think they should be visited by a
committee and instructed in regard to what Paul says: "He that
provideth not for his own, especially those of his own house, hath
denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever." Paul never aimed
this stroke of condemnation at any who are not able to provide for
themselves. I am glad to think that we have but very few poor members
who are not able to help themselves. These are the ones of whom the
Lord said: "The poor ye have always with you, and whenever ye will ye
may do them good." In respect to such he also said: "It is more
blessed to give than to receive."

SUNDAY, August 3. Meeting in our meetinghouse. First Peter 3 is read.
Daniel Glick, Hildebrandt, Sister Trump, Mary and Susanna Miller were
baptized to-day.

SUNDAY, September 7. Meeting at Motz's. John 3 is read. Nimrod Judy
and wife, Susan Randall, Mrs. Shireman, the widow Toppan and Mrs.
Ridenour were baptized by me to-day. We have a love feast this
evening.

MONDAY, September 8. Return home. In my absence, on the thirtieth day
of August, the following named persons were baptized in the Linville's
Creek near my house: John Wine and wife, Elizabeth Glick, Mrs. Funk,
Mrs. Rodecap, Mrs. Miller, and a young Sister Niswander.

FRIDAY, September 12. Attend our two days' council meeting above
Harrisonburg. Stop on my way there, and assist in anointing Brother
Daniel Garber with oil in the name of the Lord.

FRIDAY, September 26. Start to Albemarle County, Virginia. Benjamin
Bowman is with me. Stay all night at John Leedy's.

SATURDAY, September 27. Cross the Shenandoah river in a horse boat;
dine and feed at Sipe's; cross the Blue Ridge mountain and on to
Nesterville. Stay all night at Henry Coverston's.

SUNDAY, September 28. We have meeting in the Methodist church. The
latter part of Luke 24 is read. Henry Coverston and wife were baptized
by Benjamin Bowman. I think this is the first administration of the
ordinance of baptism ever performed by the Brethren on the east side
of the Blue Ridge in Virginia.

MONDAY, September 29. Get home after a ride on horseback to-day of
forty-three miles. We got dinner and fed our horses at Donovan's.

SATURDAY, October 11. Meeting and love feast at the Flat Rock. Luke 13
is read. Benjamin Bowman baptized John Rorabaugh and wife.

THURSDAY, October 16. Daniel Miller and Daniel Yount, in company with
myself, start to Hampshire County, Virginia. We get to Jacob
Warnstaff's, in Pendleton County, Virginia, where we stay all night.

FRIDAY, October 17. We have meeting at Bethel church. Matthew 11 is
read. Cross the South Fork mountain and stay all night at Chlora
Judy's. I am not surprised that these people are fond of hunting.
Several deer crossed our path in front of us to-day.

SATURDAY, October 18. Meeting at Chlora Judy's. Romans 6 is read.
Magdalena Rorabaugh is baptized. Brother Daniel Miller spoke in the
German on the twelfth verse of the chapter read; and I interpreted to
such as could not well understand German, following him. Text: "Let
not sin therefore reign in your mortal body."

He said: "Man, as he first came from the hand of his Creator, was not
a sinner. He was included in the creation which God had just finished,
and upon which he looked down and said that it was 'good, yea, very
good.' With this agree the words of Solomon, greatly gifted in wisdom.
After going over and investigating the whole human family, as far as
his knowledge and wisdom enabled him to go, he returned to his own
reflections and expressed the sad conclusion of his mind in these
words: 'Lo, this only have I found, that God made man upright: but
they have sought out many inventions.' The Word of God from beginning
to end shows us that man is no longer upright. The inventions which
Solomon speaks of are inventions of evil. They are not good
inventions. In the opening chapters of the Bible we learn how man fell
from the high and holy state in which he was created. It is there
declared that 'God made man in his own image, in the image of God made
he him.'

"The Apostle John says that 'God is light.' By this I understand him
to mean that God is infinitely wise, knowing all truth. The same
apostle says that 'God is love.' By this I understand that the Lord
God has a will for good to every creature that he has made. That he
has no other feeling than that of love for the human race and for
every individual of the human family. Now, it was in the image and
likeness of God that man was made at his first creation. Is it not
plain from this, then, that he must have been wise in regard to the
things of his understanding, and filled with love in his heart for all
that is truly good? In this state he could love the Lord his God with
all his heart, and with all his strength, and love his neighbor as he
loved himself. But what does the Bible, and what does the history of
the world tell us about man ever since he fell from this heavenly
state in which he was first created? The Bible declares that the
'heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.'
The Lord said to the Pharisees, a class of people who even claimed to
be religious: 'Ye are of your father the devil; and the works of your
father ye do.' From the Bible we turn to the history of man's career
through all the ages down to the present time, and we find its lines
all written in characters of blood. Revenge, murder, cruelty, deceit,
malice and ill-will of one toward another are manifest on almost every
page of history.

"But in the very face of all this evil God still loved the world; and
he so loved it that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And I
declare him to you to-day as my Savior and your Savior; able to save
to the uttermost all who come unto God through him. And what does he
save us from? He saves us from hell. And what is hell? I say to you
that it is the place where the devil, and all his angels and evil
spirits of men live after they leave this world. It is the fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. It is the everlasting fire into
which the accursed depart. It is the place from which the rich man
lifted up his eyes, tormented, as he himself confessed, sorely
tormented in this flame. But, dear friends, God does not will that any
of us should go to hell; for he says: 'As I live, I have no pleasure
in the death of a sinner, but would that all should turn and live.'

"And he tells us how we are to turn and live. He says to all: 'Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Repent, that your sins may be
blotted out. And what is it to repent? It is to turn away the heart
from the love of sin. It is to die unto sin and live unto God. The
meaning of my text is not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to
fulfill the lusts thereof. And what does true repentance lead to? It
leads to a life of obedience to all the commands of our Lord Jesus
Christ. 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name,' that
means in obedience to the command 'of Jesus Christ, ... and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and
to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the
Lord our God shall call.' This takes in all. It may be that some who
hear me to-day are very far off. Still, friend, the promise is to you.
And more: I am sure you are hearing the Gospel to-day, so God is
calling you now, and the promise is to as many as the Lord our God
shall call, and this means every one who hears the Gospel sound.

"When I was young I was afraid I had sinned against the Holy Ghost.
But I found some precious words from the lips of our blessed Lord
himself that took away all my fear and gave me a hope which has never,
up to this time, left my heart. You begin to wonder what precious
words these were. I will tell you where they are and you can find them
yourself. John's Gospel, sixth chapter, and the thirty-seventh verse
is where they are, and these are the words: 'And whosoever cometh unto
me I will in no wise cast out.' The word whosoever takes in every one,
without exception. I tell you joyfully, it took me in, and it has kept
me in, and by the grace of God it will keep me in forever.

"As I have told you some things the Bible says about death and hell, I
must tell you a few things it says about life and heaven. Jesus says:
'I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though
he were dead' (as to his body), 'yet shall he live: and whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die.' O, can this be true? Yes,
it is true, because Jesus never said what is not true. He is life and
truth, and when we have him in our hearts we have the witness in
ourselves that what he says is true. We then 'know of the doctrine
that it is of God.' Our bodies will all die, but the real man is more
than the natural body. Paul tells us about a spiritual body that will
never see death. This is what Jesus says 'shall never die.' This is
the body that will rise and live forever.

"Our Lord said to his disciples: 'I go to prepare a place for you.'
The place which the Lord prepares is heaven. In his prayer he said:
'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am; that they may behold my glory.' Where is the Lord's glory,
and where is he in his glory? We read that he ascended to heaven. He
is in heaven, the heaven of glory and bliss to which he ascended. He
is there preparing a place for you and for me, if we live faithful to
him by our obedience to his commands. Let us be faithful to him, that
we may be accounted worthy to enter in through the gates into the
city."

After dinner we all go to Isaac Shobe's, where we have night meeting
and stay all night.

SUNDAY, October 19. We have meeting at Brother Jacob High's. Acts 3 is
read. Also night meeting at Parks's where we stay.

MONDAY, October 20. Meeting at Solomon Michael's, where we stay all
night.

TUESDAY, October 21. Meeting at Joseph Arnold's, on Patterson's Creek,
in Hampshire County, Virginia. I spoke to-day on 2 Timothy 1:13. Text:
"Hold fast the form of sound words."

This passage of Scripture is a part of the fatherly instruction Paul
gave his spiritual son Timothy. God's works and man's works in the
conversion and regeneration of man are so blended, so connected and
identified one with the other that Paul sometimes speaks of doing what
none but God himself can do. Thus to the Corinthians he said: "For I
have begotten you through the gospel." And to Philemon he said: "I
beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds."
These passages show how clearly the true child of God stands connected
with the Holy Spirit, in his blessed work of regenerating man and
qualifying him for heaven. The conjunction of effort may be compared
with what we see and know to exist in husband and wife. When the twain
are really one flesh, one heart, one mind, what is done by the one is
regarded as done by the other. It must be in a sense somewhat like
this that Paul calls Timothy his son. The aged John also says: "I have
no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." He here
means spiritual children. He calls them his children from the love he
has for them, and the fatherly care he has over them, and the fatherly
instruction he gives them. They are near to him, as children are to
their own parents, and when he sees or hears that they receive the
truth and walk in it, it gives him joy.

When Paul addressed the words of my text to Timothy, most of the New
Testament had been written. It is to the New Testament Scriptures that
he calls Timothy's special attention, where he says: "It is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works." Here, in these Scriptures, is to be
found the FORM of sound words which Timothy is admonished to hold
fast. This instruction harmonizes with what was said to the angel of
the church in Thyatira: "But that which ye have, hold fast till I
come." And in the last of the book of Revelation there are awful
warnings given against adding to or taking from what God has spoken.
The temptation to skip over, misquote, and misinterpret the Scriptures
must be very great, as it is to these three sources that nearly or
quite all the denominational differences among professing Christians
can be traced.

Brethren, it becomes us to be very careful here, "lest Satan should
get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices." I
believe a departure from the form of sound words mainly accounts for
the many errors in doctrine and practice which exist among professing
Christians to-day. A departure from the form of our Lord's great
commission has not only perverted the ordinance of baptism by applying
it to infants; but it has destroyed the ordinance itself by setting
aside trine immersion, which it so plainly teaches.

And what shall we say of the ordinance of feet-washing! When a parent
or teacher wishes to impart to his child or pupil a clear
understanding of some duty or obligation, he usually feels relieved of
all further responsibility when he has given the necessary instruction
to his child or pupil in words which he knows can be understood. But
in the institution of the ordinance of feet-washing our Lord did not
depend upon oral instruction to impart a clear knowledge of his will;
but he went through the performance himself, and at the close he said:
"I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to
you." Are not these sound words? What are sound words, and what is
their form? I answer that sound words are words which have no doubtful
meaning; and the form of sound words is such a use of them as clearly
expresses and conveys to the mind of the reader or hearer just what
the writer or speaker wants him to know. But do the so-called churches
hold fast these words? No, they do not. They let them go as things out
of date, or unnecessary at the present advanced stage of enlightened
thought. But "if the light that is in them be darkness, how great is
that darkness!"

I can say of the Lord's Supper, which Jude calls a feast of charity,
or love feast, which is the same, and which the Lord instituted in
connection with feet-washing, just what I have said of this ordinance.
It is let go. These, with many other omissions and errors, have crept
into the so-called Christian faith and practice, by letting go the
form of sound words. Still more. The injunctions to nonconformity to
the world in dress and other things are all let go instead of being
held fast, and loose reins are given to all manner of worldly forms
and fashions. Professing Christians even defraud one another through
covetousness, which is idolatry, going to law one with another. They
also do not hesitate to bear arms in war, which is the greatest of all
earthly evils.

Brethren and friends, I do not speak in this way from any feeling of
ill-will toward any, but from the depth of love in my heart; for there
is no joy that could be compared with the joy that I would feel could
I see the whole Christian world bowing, meekly bowing under the weight
and power of God's revealed Truth. Our way, Brethren, is to hold fast
"the form of sound words." As we expect to have a love feast here on
to-morrow evening, let each one examine himself to see whether in his
faith or in his works he may have departed from the form of sound
words of warning, of encouragement, of instruction, of exhortation, of
doctrine. And it most assuredly becomes us to inquire whether we have
done our duty in the way of searching the Scriptures, giving ourselves
to reading, to meditation, to prayer. We are too apt to seek for what
pleases the taste of the natural mind, to the neglect of what is
necessary to refresh the spiritual mind and keep that healthy and
strong.

As there was but one rock in the wilderness from which all the tribes
of Israel were supplied with natural water, so to us, God's spiritual
Israel, there is but one Rock from which flows to us the water of
life, and that Rock is Christ Jesus in his Word. On this Rock the
church is founded, and I rejoice to know that the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it.

WEDNESDAY, October 22. Love feast to-day. Matthew 23 is read.

THURSDAY, October 23. Meeting. Matthew 13 is read. Brother Daniel
Miller goes to the Greenland Gap. I stay all night at old Brother
Arnold's.

FRIDAY, October 24. I and Daniel Yount start for home. We dine at
Sister High's, and stay all night at Vanmeter's.

SATURDAY, October 25. Dine at Elijah Judy's, and stay all night at
Isaac Dasher's on the South Fork, Hardy County.

SUNDAY, October 26. Meeting at Rorabaugh's. John 10 is read. I
baptized Lydia Shireman. Stay all night at Rorabaugh's.

MONDAY, October 27. Preach funeral of Joseph Reel's daughter. Age,
seven years and nine months. Stay all night at James Fitzwater's in
the Gap.

TUESDAY, October 28. Reached home.

SATURDAY, November 8. Brother Benjamin Moomaw and family, from Roanoke
County, come to my house this evening.

SUNDAY, November 9. Brother George Kline's little Daniel died
to-night. I was with him when he died. Just three years and four days
old. How deep the grief with which this kind family is stricken! On
Tuesday, October 21, while I was in Hampshire County, Virginia, Anna,
aged seven years, two months and nineteen days, was laid in the cold
grave. On the thirty-first, only nine days later, little Mary passed
away, aged four years, seven months and eleven days. And now, only
nine days later still, another, little Daniel, passes away. All three
bright, promising, happy children. We can only lift up our voices and
weep. The only light that breaks in upon the darkness of this
providence comes from heaven. There is light beyond the cloud that now
hangs so darkly and heavily in the sky above our heads. God is our
refuge. His promise is: "When thou passest through the deep waters, I
will be with thee." Thou wilt not leave nor forsake us now. The little
lambs have been gathered into his arms. He took them into his arms and
blessed them here; how much more can he bless them there, for "of such
is the kingdom of heaven."

THURSDAY, November 27. Have night meeting in Winchester, Virginia, in
the Methodist church. I speak from Luke 13. Subject: "The Strait
Gate." Stay all night at Henry Krumm's.

FRIDAY, November 28. Breakfast at Brother Fahnestock's; dine at
Brother Mummert's, and have night meeting in the Quaker meetinghouse.
Speak on John 4:24. Text: "God is a Spirit; and they that worship him
must worship in spirit and in truth." As the house in which we have
met for worship this evening has been erected by the Friends, or
Quakers, and called after their name, I feel that it will not be out
of place for me to speak from a passage of Scripture upon which they
very much rely, as a strong support to their faith and ways of
worship. I must, at the same time, confess that I love these people
dearly, as far as my acquaintance with them goes. Their views and
convictions in regard to simplicity in manners, and plainness in
dress, and general nonconformity to the world; in regard to bearing
arms, and using human laws in the adjustment of difficulties between
brethren, are so very much like our own that I cannot avoid a strong
attachment to them in my religious sympathies. And I would not desire
to eradicate this sympathy from my heart if I could. These
considerations, in connection with my early knowledge of them in
Pennsylvania as being an honest and virtuous people, have always kept
me in friendly love with the Quakers.

The language of my text is part of the instruction given by our Lord
to the Samaritan woman at the well. She said to him: "Our fathers
worshiped in this mountain; but ye [meaning the Jews] say that
Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." She alluded to the
temple, I suppose. But our Lord at one stroke levels every support on
which these false conceptions of him rested in her mind, by assuring
her that God is a universal Spirit, and not confined to any one place;
and that the worship which he delights in is not that of form and
ceremony, but that of the heart, in the inner man, in spirit and in
truth. The meaning of my text also lays the axe at the root of all
hypocrisy and spurious professions of religion.

In addition to all this it sets up the only true sanctuary for his
worship on earth, the sanctuary which is found in the heart of every
sincere and obedient believer in him. Paul says to the Corinthian
brethren: "Know ye not that ye are the sanctuary of God? If any man
defile the sanctuary of God, him will God destroy; for the sanctuary
of God is holy, which sanctuary ye are."

Every step the sinner takes in his return to God, and every step the
Christian takes in his walk with God, must be in spirit and truth.
Repentance is heartfelt hatred of sin. Faith is a loving acceptance of
Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. This confession includes all the ordinances of God's
house, which is the church of the living God. How men can think, as
many seem to think, that they can confess Christ in spirit and truth,
and at the same time reject the chief means by which Christ intends
this confession to be made public, I can not see. Baptism, or the
immersion of the body in water by a proper administrator, in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is either laid
aside entirely, or argued out of form, or very lightly regarded. The
ordinance of feet-washing, the salutation of the kiss, and the Lord's
Supper are entirely cast away. In love I say all this, because I burn
with desire to see the Truth accepted in the love of it and obeyed
from the heart. When man does this, like little Samuel of old, he
responds to the call of the Father who seeketh such to worship him.

WEDNESDAY, December 31. In the year that is just closing, I have
traveled 3,578 miles. This I have done mostly on horseback. I have
done what I could for God and humanity. I hope that when I come to die
I may not have cause for deep regrets, or to mourn over a misspent
life. I hope to lay my body down in peace, in the bright hope of a
glorious waking up at the call of my Lord.

THURSDAY, January 8, 1846. Go to Christian Shoemaker's in the Gap and
perform the marriage ceremony of John C. Miller and Deborah Shoemaker.
Stay all night at Ely Spitzer's.

THURSDAY, January 15. Write a letter to Henry Kurtz, and one to George
Hoke.

TUESDAY, February 17. Make an amicable adjustment of complicated
business matters between the widow Judith Detrick and Abraham Detrick.
It is pleasant to straighten between members of our body business
matters which present a somewhat crooked and tangled appearance, when
all the parties are willing to have things adjusted through the
mediation of disinterested Brethren. How much better this than to go
to law! The tendency of private adjustments by arbitration is to heal
over breaches of friendship and love between members; but going to law
before the world is almost sure to widen them. I am glad to be able to
add, here, that I say this, not from any experience with law that I
have ever had in my own case, or in that of any of the Brethren; but I
speak it from what I have observed in others who have gone to law.

THURSDAY, February 26. Go to David Kline's and perform the marriage
ceremony of Abraham Neff and Elizabeth Kline.

TUESDAY, March 3. Perform the marriage ceremony of Josiah Sowder and
Elizabeth Dove.

SATURDAY, March 21. Abraham Knopp and I go to Lost River. Stay all
night at Jacob Motz's.

SUNDAY, March 22. Meeting at the Lost River meetinghouse. Luke 24 is
read. Come to Abel Dove's and perform two marriage ceremonies; one for
Isaac Whetzel and Catharine Dove; the other for Michael Myers and
Julia Ann Dove. Stay all night.

SUNDAY, April 5. Meeting at the Flat Rock. John 6 is read. Brethren
sent out on the yearly visit. I and Jacob Wine go together. We stay
all night at the widow Cherryholms's in Brock's Gap.

TUESDAY, April 7. We get through with the visit. The members generally
expressed themselves as being in sympathy and full fellowship with the
church. We hope they told the truth.

WEDNESDAY, April 8. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Jacob Wine is
elected speaker. He gives promise of becoming an able and active
worker in the vineyard of the Lord.

FRIDAY, April 10. Council meeting in the Brush meetinghouse. Joseph
Miller, son of Daniel Miller, is elected speaker. John Wine, son of
Samuel Wine in the Brush, and John Miller, are elected to the
deaconship.

SATURDAY, April 11. Council meeting in the old Garber meetinghouse.
Solomon Garber is elected speaker. He likewise gives promise of
becoming a very useful man in his calling. Surely the Lord has
established a beautiful order in his house. "Whatsoever ye shall bind
on earth, shall be bound in heaven." When the church fairly chooses a
brother to any office or service, to the ministry of the Word or to
attend to the temporal duties connected with keeping the Lord's house
according to order, he need no longer question as to whether the Lord
has called him or not. The Lord uses the church to show his will in
these things. "Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world." I was once very much impressed with the answer a beloved
brother gave in the presence of some three or four others, just
outside the meetinghouse, after an election had been held just about
an hour before. The church had voted for two, only one of whom was
needed. The vote had been so nearly a tie that the brother elected had
a majority of but one. Some one asked: "Are we to infer from this that
the Lord wanted both of these brethren elected?" The brother above
referred to answered promptly, "No, he only wanted to show that both
were fit for the place."

Michael Flory and Samuel Long are elected to the deaconship.

FRIDAY, April 17. Go on the visit in the Cove, in company of Jacob
Mathias.

SATURDAY, April 18. Finish the visit in time to have council meeting
in the Lost River meetinghouse. In all my visiting this spring but
very little complaint or dissatisfaction has been laid. Our council
meetings, too, have been harmonious. The members generally show a
heartfelt will to live in the church, to be built up in the church,
and to help to build up the church so long as the church keeps house
according to God's order.

MONDAY, April 20. Get home in the night. Go right on to John Zigler's.
Catharine is very sick. She dies at 4 o'clock in the morning.

WEDNESDAY, April 22. Catharine Zigler is buried to-day.

FRIDAY, April 24. Jacob Wine, Joseph Miller and I go to Forrer's
furnace in Page County, Virginia, and have night meeting. Jacob Wine
speaks from John 1:29. He prefers the German language. He makes a
right good stagger even in English for a beginner, but he will need
much practice before he can use this language with much freedom. But
it is not by the might nor the power of man that souls are saved, but
by the might and power of the Lord working with man.

SATURDAY, April 25. Dine at Isaac Spitler's, and stay all night at
John Huffman's, both in Page County.

FRIDAY, May 8. Go to Brother John Harshbarger's on my way to
Albemarle.

SATURDAY, May 9. He and I go to the Ferry on the Shenandoah river, but
finding the river too high to ferry in a horse boat, we go around by
the bridge, and get to Brother Coverston's in the night.

SUNDAY, May 10. Meeting at Brother Coverston's. Matthew 7 is read.
"The Strait Gate" is the subject.

MONDAY, May 11. Dine at John Conrad's, and come across the mountains
by a _desperate path_, home; thirty-eight miles. The path by which we
came to-day is almost or quite as steep in places as stairsteps, and
very rough from large stones in its bed, with others projecting into
it on either side. Brother John was in front of me slowly leading his
horse down one of the very steep places, when his saddlebags slid out
of the saddle down over the horse's neck and fell on his arm. He
pleasantly looked back at me saying in a very cheerful way, "It looks
as if my baggage wants to go ahead of the horse that carries it."

WEDNESDAY, May 13. Love feast at our meetinghouse. Five persons
baptized. Brethren John Bowman, from Franklin County, and John
Barnhardt are with us. They are this far on their way to the Annual
Meeting.

FRIDAY, May 15. Start to Pennsylvania.

SATURDAY, May 16. Through Winchester, Virginia; Opequon past fording,
go round by the bridge, and stay all night at Smithfield.

SUNDAY, May 17. Through Charlestown, by Harper's Ferry and
Fredericktown, on to Daniel Bowers's, where we stay all night.

MONDAY, May 18. Get to Uncle John Garber's, where we stay all night.

TUESDAY, May 19. Spend day in visiting Henry Beecher's, Widow Deahl's,
William Deahl's, and get back to Uncle John Garber's.

WEDNESDAY, May 20. Visit John Pfoutz's, Jacob Saylor's and Solomon
Garber's, where we stay all night.

THURSDAY, May 21. Get to Brother George Deardorf's, where we stay all
night.

FRIDAY, May 22. Get to Brother Balsbaugh's, beyond Harrisburg.

SATURDAY, May 23. Meeting and love feast at Brother Balsbaugh's. Seven
persons baptized to-day.

SUNDAY, May 24. Visit George Copp's, Joseph Long's, Christian Gipe's,
and stay all night at Abraham Gipe's. In all my visits I make it a
point not to leave a house without making an effort to speak on the
subject of religion, and say something that may leave an impression
for good.

MONDAY, May 25. Meeting. Acts 10 is read. Visit Brother Shank's, and
stay all night at David Zug's.

TUESDAY, May 26. Meeting. Romans 6 is read. Visit George Fesler's,
Michael Fesler's, and stay all night at Benjamin Landis's.

WEDNESDAY, May 27. Visit Daniel Zug's and several other families; and
at 11 o'clock meeting begins preparatory to love feast this evening.
First Peter 1 is read. Stay all night at Brother Minick's.

THURSDAY, May 28. Meeting at 11 o'clock. John 5 is read. In afternoon
visit John Royer's, and stay all night at George Keller's.

FRIDAY, May 29. Yearly Meeting begins. Many brethren and sisters
present.

SATURDAY, May 30. The Yearly Council closes at noon. Much love and
union exists in the Brotherhood. Public meeting this afternoon, and
love feast to-night. Much spiritual joy is manifested by the singing
of hymns and the offering of prayers. May our heavenly Father grant
that the same love and union may continue with us to the end of the
world. Our Yearly Meetings will continue to do much good so long as
they show to the world our love for one another. "Hereby shall all men
know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love for one another."

From this meeting Brother Kline set his face homeward, but on the way
he managed to attend six appointments for preaching, and two love
feasts besides. In tracing his course on his journeys, and noting the
amount of active service he performed in the way of preaching and
visiting, one is forcibly impressed with the proofs he gives of the
order and system that must have characterized and attended his labors.
Not unfrequently he has one or two appointments ahead for every day in
the week; and with only a very few exceptions in the whole course of
his life, and they were on account of sickness, he never failed to
meet the congregations that were looking for him. Soon after getting
home from this journey he attended to gathering the grass and grain
harvests on his own farm. He reports twenty-eight tons of hay made
this year. He likewise had a tolerably large wheat harvest. About the
eighteenth of June heavy rains set in, and they continued to fall at
intervals of only a day or two apart for the next six or seven weeks.
The Diary reports a very heavy rain on Sunday, June 28. From this time
on for the next six days it reports a flooding rain every day, and
very high waters. The grain suffered very much on account of continued
wet weather for many days following. This has ever since been known as
"the wet harvest." Much of the wheat sprouted in the head before it
could be cut; and much of what stood in shocks suffered in the same
way. The Diary for July 15 says: "We finished hauling in our grain
to-day, some of which had stood in shocks over three weeks. Such
extraordinary seasons come along once in a while; but I do imagine it
will be a good while in the future before people can generally say, 'I
never saw such a wet harvest as this,' alluding to the one they may
then be passing through."

Between this time and the first day of August, Brother Kline went on
another tour to the county of Hardy, in which he attended several
meetings; baptized Rebecca, wife of Elijah Judy, on Saturday, July 11;
and performed the marriage ceremony of George Runion and Susan Aubrey,
on the thirteenth.

SUNDAY, July 26. Meeting at Jacob Whetzel's. Matthew 24 is read. I
baptized Jacob Pope and his wife.

SUNDAY, August 2. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Samuel Kline and Samuel
Roller and his wife are baptized.

MONDAY, August 10. This day Brother Kline started on a journey to
Ohio, in company with George Hoover, Joseph Miller, Katy Hoover and
Benjamin Wampler. They went in two carriages across the western part
of the State of Virginia (now West Virginia) into Pennsylvania, and
through the western part of that State into Ohio. As this trip was
made specially memorable by a very severe spell of sickness which
Brother Kline passed through while making it, as well as by the sad
effect it had upon his beloved wife, Anna, at home, the editor will be
very particular in giving, from the Diary, all the points of interest
connected with it.

The second day they crossed the South Branch mountain by what is
called the Howard's Lick road. The view from the top of this is
perhaps unsurpassed by any point in the entire range. A very large
part of Hardy County, with its magnificent streams and rich bottoms,
is visible to the eye. The town of Moorefield from this view reminds
one of a child sleeping in its cradle.

Brother Kline, as usual, had a line of appointments for meetings by
the way, and he met them as regularly and timely as a train of cars
gets to its destined stations. He must have had the name and address
of almost every prominent member in the denomination, and they must
have had implicit confidence in his word; for the Diary nowhere
intimates that he was ever disappointed by not finding the expected
congregation when the weather permitted. Nothing of any special
interest occurred until the night of Saturday, August 15, at which
time we find the company at Colley's tavern in Fayette County,
Pennsylvania. At this place Brother Kline complains of being sick. He
takes some medicine and is able again to travel on through the next
three days, and fill one appointment. But on

WEDNESDAY, August 19, there is an appointment in waiting for him which
he cannot attend. He says: "I am sick. Cannot go." Bowling Green was
the place. He is now at John Shelly's. Notwithstanding his illness,
he, with the company, traveled thirty-one miles the next day; and the
day after attended a love feast at Brother Daniel Wise's.

His next appointment was at Brother Shively's. He requests George
Hoover and Joseph Miller to go on to that place, while he remains at
Brother Wise's with Benjamin Wampler and Katy Hoover. He says again:
"I am sick." On the evening of

SUNDAY, August 23, we find him at Brother Hershey's, near Lewistown.
He says in the entry for that evening: "I am still sick. Take more
medicine to-night." On

MONDAY, August 24, he sent for Dr. Jacob Myers, who gave him a course
of medical treatment. The doctor came again the next day, and gave him
another course of treatment. He says: "I took another emetic of
lobelia to-day, and perspired freely." If lobelia is the poisonous
drug that some seem to think it is, we can hardly account for the
improvement which Brother Kline reports to have experienced in his
feelings, following every administration of it. For on the next day,

WEDNESDAY, August 26, he says: "I feel some better to-day; so much so
that I write my will."

THURSDAY, August 27. His own words: "Start again, and pass through
Canton, Massillon, Brookfield, Greeneville, Dover, and on to Brother
Jacob Kurtz's, where we stay all night." We have to wonder how a man
laboring under a well-defined attack of typhoid fever could keep on
going for twelve consecutive days before the final breakdown came. It
makes one think of Paul, who could even be stoned until he was thought
to be dead, and next day be found preaching again. But the crisis with
Brother Kline came at last. The entry in the Diary for

FRIDAY, August 28, says: "To-day Brother Hoover and Brother Miller, at
my request, leave me; Brother Wampler and Sister Katy remain with me.
What a precious thing love is! My dear Brethren have not only staid
with me day and night, but they have constantly watched for
opportunities to minister to my comfort or necessities. The Lord
reward them abundantly in this life and the next: and bless them at
the meetings which I now feel I cannot attend. Dr. Overholtz comes at
my request and gives me medicine."

SATURDAY, August 29. Suffer extremely, but not quite so much as last
night. I now feel as if I were just on a balance between life and
death: almost gone.

SUNDAY, August 30. Dr. Overholtz comes again and gives me another
course of medicines. I am slightly relieved, but still suffer very
much. The Doctor reports fever not as high as yesterday.

MONDAY, August 31. Rest to-day, but am very weak.

TUESDAY, September 1. Doctor does not come to-day.

For some days past the Diary has been kept in a strange hand. Some
kind but intelligent friend has made the daily records in perfect
imitation of Brother Kline's unaffected style and manner.

SATURDAY, September 5. The Doctor is here, but does not give me
medicine. I write a letter home.

This letter created overwhelming distress in the mind of Anna, Brother
Kline's wife. She had heard about his illness prior to this time; but
when she read this letter her mind seemed to give way, and when
Brother Kline got back home he found her very ill, both in body and
mind. They told him at home that when she read the letter all hope
of ever seeing him again vanished, and the shock was more than her
sensitive nature could bear. It is very sad to relate, but true, that
she never again seemed fairly to realize his being in her presence.
His kindness to her was shown in unremitting attentions, to the day of
his death; and I am persuaded that few men could be found to bear such
a dire calamity with so much patience and resignation.

There were no entries made in the Diary from September 1, to the
fifth. He must have been very sick indeed, during the three days that
are omitted.

SATURDAY, September 6. He says: Brother Samuel Buck gives me a course
of medicine; it works well. Fever entirely broken. Have some appetite.
Begin to mend.

MONDAY, 7. To-day I have rest. Eat some toast bread.

TUESDAY, 8. Still continue to mend, but somewhat slowly.

WEDNESDAY, 9. Take another course of medicines.

THURSDAY, 10. Feel very much better. Can be up some.

FRIDAY, 11. Still mending.

SATURDAY, 12. Doing well. Write a letter home, and one to William
Lupton.

SUNDAY, 13. Still continue to do well.

MONDAY, 14. Still well, but sit out in the cool air too long, and take
a slight backset.

TUESDAY, 15. Do not feel so well, but appetite good.

WEDNESDAY, 16. Still not very well, but appetite good.

THURSDAY, 17. Do not feel very well. Dr. Overholtz comes again, and
gives me another course of medicines.

FRIDAY, 18. Feel a little better again.

SATURDAY, 19. Not much change from yesterday.

SUNDAY, 20. Dr. Overholtz gives me another course of medicines.

MONDAY, 21. Do not feel entirely relieved yet.

TUESDAY, 22. Take another course of medicines, and am much relieved.

WEDNESDAY, 23. Brother Benjamin Wampler takes me in the carriage to
Brother Buck's, two miles off, and back home.

THURSDAY, 24. Much rain to-day. Cannot ride out.

FRIDAY, 25. Brother Benjamin takes me to Brother Samuel Myers's
to-day, and back home. Rain in the afternoon.

SATURDAY, 26. Paint the top of carriage, and do some other work to it.

SUNDAY, 27. Visit Brother Reuben Pinkerton and return home. How very
kind all of these dear people have been to me! They will accept
nothing in return for all their kindness to me, but my gratitude and
love, and, heaven knows, my heart is full of that.

TUESDAY, 29. Go to Brother Jonathan Gaines's for dinner; then to
Wooster, and stay all night with Dr. Overholtz.

WEDNESDAY, 30. Go to the bank in Wooster and attend to some other
business. Dine with Dr. Overholtz, and in evening get back home to
Brother Jacob Kurtz's.

THURSDAY, October 1. Fix to start towards home.

FRIDAY, October 2. Take leave of my very dear Brother Jacob Kurtz and
family, who have nursed and cared for me through all of my sickness.
Such kindness as he and his family have shown me relieves affliction
of half its distress. It is almost a luxury to be sick where so much
love is shown. I can never forget Brother Benjamin Wampler. He is so
calm and gentle in the sick room that his very presence is a comfort
to the sick.

The Diary does not contain anything of special interest on their way
home. Brother Kline noted the distance traveled over each day, from
the time they left Brother Jacob Kurtz's till he arrived at his own
home. According to his report the whole distance was 264 miles. This
they made in eleven days. Their average daily rate of travel was just
twenty-four miles. They arrived at his house on the evening of the
twelfth, having left Brother Kurtz's the morning of the second day of
October. Brother Kline often notes some reference to the satisfaction
of getting back home after a long absence; and it is painful to find a
record the exact reverse in this instance. But no murmur at the Divine
Will, or word of impatience or complaint against any one is to be
found on the page of the Diary.

From this time to the close of the year Brother Kline never went far
from home. A few marriages solemnized, funerals preached, neighborhood
medical visits, and near-by meetings attended make the sum of his work
from home. His afflicted wife required his daily attentions.

THURSDAY, January 21. Perform the marriage ceremony of Josiah Wampler
and Mary Kline.

TUESDAY, February 23. Go to Michael Wine's and perform the marriage
ceremony of Isaac Harpine and Barbara Wine.

THURSDAY, March 4. Perform the marriage ceremony of William Andes and
Catharine Miller, at the widow Miller's in the Forest.

WEDNESDAY, March 31. Dr. Newham is at my house to-day. We start my new
electro-magnetic machine, and give Anna an electric shock, in the hope
of its vitalizing her enfeebled nerves. Dr. Newham regards her case as
not being out of the reach of relief by a course of protracted and
judiciously applied medical treatment.

THURSDAY, April 1. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse. Perform
the marriage ceremony of Seth Alger and Rosina Fifer.

SATURDAY, April 3. Abraham Knopp and I go to Page County. Call to see
old Sister Gibbons who has reached a very high age. We read and prayed
with her, and her heart seemed to overflow with joy. She said: "I love
all the friends of Jesus. Brethren, I will soon be gone; but I hope
the Lord may leave you here many years yet to do his blessed will, by
calling many sinners from darkness to light, and by comforting his
saints as you have comforted me this day." When we took leave of her
she said: "Farewell: and may the God of love and peace be with you."
Sister Gibbons is the mother of Samuel Gibbons, and is now living with
him on the Hawksbill Creek, not far from the town of Luray, in Page
County, Virginia.

SUNDAY, April 4. The brethren and sisters meet us very early this
morning for prayer and exhortation on the visit; after which the
regular public meeting opens. John 5 is read. Dine at Isaac Spitler's,
and stay all night at Henry Gander's.

FRIDAY, April 16. Abraham Knopp and I go to Lost River. Attend the
burial of Celestine Whitmore's child. Age, seven years, four months,
and one day. In afternoon Jacob Pope and I go on to the visit. Stay
all night at Henry Moyers's.

SATURDAY, April 17. After getting through with the visit we have
council meeting. The reports brought in by the visiting brethren are
mostly encouraging, and show a good spirit existing in the
Brotherhood.

SUNDAY, April 18. Meeting at the meetinghouse. Luke 12 is read. After
meeting perform the marriage ceremony of Washington Cook and Anna Jane
Parker at Brother Whitmore's; then come to William Fitzwar's and
perform the marriage ceremony of Frederick Nasselrodt and Catherine
Weatherholtz. Get home at nine o'clock in the night.

THURSDAY, April 29. Perform the marriage ceremony of William Halterman
and Elizabeth May, at Samuel May's, in the Gap.

SUNDAY, May 2. Meeting at Nasselrodt's in the Gap. I baptized Lotty
Koon.

TUESDAY, May 18. On this day Brother Kline starts to the Annual
Meeting. He takes Anna and Sister Betty Knopp with him. They get to
the widow Nipe's in the evening of the nineteenth. He left Anna and
Sister Betty at this place, whilst he went on to the Annual Meeting at
Brother Jacob Deardorff's, which opened Friday, May 21. The business
features of the meeting closed on Saturday, May 22; and on Sunday, May
23, he started back after the eleven o'clock service. He found Anna
somewhat more cheerful than usual. She stood the trip remarkably well.
From some cause, I know not what, he gives not a word of comment on
the state of feeling, matters considered, or anything else pertaining
to it.

FRIDAY, May 28. We have a love feast at our meetinghouse. _Union in
the evening._ A fine day and good behavior. Some of the older Brethren
will no doubt know what Brother Kline means by the word _union_, here
and elsewhere used in the Diary in a specific sense.

TUESDAY, June 8. To-day I attended two buryings in one graveyard.
Christian Eversole, age, sixty-nine years; and Samuel Bowers, age,
twenty years; both buried at the Brush meetinghouse.

SATURDAY, July 3. Cross the Blue Ridge mountain to-day, and get to
Henry Coverston's late this evening.

SUNDAY, July 4. Meeting in the Methodist meetinghouse. John 4 is read.
I spoke as best I could on the Water of Life and kindred topics, but
in this country we feel sadly the want of encouragement and sympathy
which we are used to in our own houses and congregations. Our
doctrinal views and practices as a denomination are not well
understood in Albemarle County, Virginia. The prevailing denominations
here are Baptists and Methodists. We have one consolation, however,
even here. We can preach the Gospel to the poor, and they are ready to
hear it. But there is one barrier between us and the wealthy classes
which will continue, God only knows how long; and that barrier is
African slavery. Many, seemingly good and reasonable people, in this
country justify themselves in their own eyes, even on scripture
grounds, for taking part in and encouraging the holding of slaves. I
fear, however, that the god of this world has blinded their eyes, so
that seeing they see not, and hearing they understand not.

A gentleman whom I met here and who said that he had traveled a great
deal in the slave-holding States, told me that he witnessed the sale
of some slaves in a town in North Carolina. A mother and her three
children, two boys and a girl, were put up for sale separately. It
happened that the mother was bought by one man, the two boys by
another, and the daughter by a third. The daughter was twelve years
old; and the boys respectively eight and ten. They were now to be
parted, never to see each other more. There was no hope left them of
ever hearing from each other again. The gentleman said the little boys
did not seem to mind it so very much; but, said he, the agony of the
mother, and the distress of the daughter were past description. It
is to be hoped that such heart-rending scenes are not often to be
witnessed; and I do believe that the time is not far distant when
the sun will rise and set upon our land cleansed of this foul stain,
though it may be cleansed with blood. I would rejoice to think that my
eyes might see that bright morning; but I can have no hope of that.

TUESDAY, July 6. On this day Brother Kline made arrangements to move
to Orkney Springs with Anna. Some account of this place is given
elsewhere in this work, and need not be repeated here. He and Anna
staid here about five weeks, and he reports her general health as
being much improved by the use of the different waters, as well as by
the cheerful society she enjoyed. Whilst staying at this place Brother
Kline reports some interesting acquaintances made with several noted
persons whom he had only casually seen before. Among these was the
Rev. Henry Brown, a Presbyterian minister of Harrisonburg.

SATURDAY, July 17, he says: Take a walk over some of the surrounding
eminences with preacher Henry Brown of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Mr.
Brown is a very sociable and pleasant man to be with. Whilst we differ
on a good many points of Christian doctrine, we can still walk and
talk together sociably; and I enjoy his company very much. It would be
pleasant to believe, did the Scriptures warrant the conclusion, that
all the differences which mark the divisions of Christians here will
melt away in love and be forgotten there. Of one thing I am sure: No
one will ever have a just right to boast of his own goodness, or lay
claim to preferment on the score of his own obedience. "When ye," says
our Savior, "have done all these things that were commanded you, say,
We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which it was our duty
to do." Whilst it is true that the Presbyterians are zealous advocates
of education and moral improvement, and as a people exhibit in their
daily lives many Christian virtues and graces, still I fear they are
occupying dangerous ground by rejecting some of the plain commands of
our Lord Jesus. "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the
disobedient appear?" I know of no righteousness but that of obedient
faith, or, as Paul puts it, the righteousness of faith that works or
obeys from love, and in this way purifies the heart. A hungering and
thirsting after this righteousness

  "Gives exercise to faith and love;
  Brings every blessing from above."

If this dear Christian friend is in darkness as to the nature of
obedience and its blessed fruits, himself misled and misleading
others, I pray that the scales may drop from his eyes, that he may see
clearly the whole truth which God has placed in the line of our duty
to do and teach.

SUNDAY, July 18. Friend Henry Brown preached to-day. He is a very
clear and pleasant talker. In his discourse, however, he made me think
of some beautiful birds that hop over what they do not wish to touch,
and take hold gracefully of what they are pleased to alight upon.

THURSDAY, August 12. This day Brother Kline moved back home. He says:
Anna much improved in health. The season at the Springs has been quite
pleasant, with the exception of atmospheric dampness from the
abundance of rain we had while there.

MONDAY, August 23. This day Brother Kline started on another journey
to Pennsylvania. It may be irksome to the general reader to follow his
daily steps from this date to the thirteenth of September, the day on
which he returned home, so I will only name the families he visited or
stayed with all night, in the order given in the Diary. His habit on
this was the same as on other journeys of like motive; he preached as
he went, and never failed holding family worship where he stayed all
night, when well enough to do so. Few of those that were fathers and
mothers then are living now; but their children and grandchildren may
be living, to whom these reminiscences will, doubtless, be pleasant.
Reflections like these instinctively impress us with a consciousness
of time's rapid flight; and make us, who were young then, realize,
with more or less acuteness of perception, the impressive truth that
we, too, are growing old. To such of my readers as find no pleasure or
profit in things of this kind I gently say: Pass over it as you would
an advertisement in which you feel no interest, in a newspaper you may
be perusing: Daniel Fahrney's; John Shank's, near Greencastle; William
Etter's; Allen Mohler's; John Sollenberger's; George Copp's; Dr.
Fahnestock's, in Middletown, Pennsylvania; Abraham Gipe's, near
Lebanon; Jacob Gipe's; Abraham Balsbaugh's; Peter Miller's, this side
Harrisburg; George Deardorf's; Daniel Longenacre's; Widow Bowman's,
near Middletown, Maryland; John Garber's, Jr.; John Garber's, Sr.;
Jacob Rupp's; Nathaniel Bondsack's; Jacob Saylor's; William Deahl's;
David Reinhardt's; Sherk's, near Sharpsburg; Fahnestock's, near
Winchester, Virginia; George Shaver's, in Shenandoah County, Virginia.

Some may say: This reads like a bill of goods with the prices omitted.
But think a little, my friend. Let us suppose that business would
compel you to mount the back of a horse away off in Rockingham County,
Virginia, and travel day after day, until you had completed the round
of visiting every family above named; and in addition to this attend a
meeting of some kind every day or two, and yet be compelled to do all
this in the short space of twenty-one days; would you not think it a
task worthy of mention? Now Brother Kline did all this, but not on the
score of any business interest whatever. Instead of seeking any
worldly gain by it, the direct opposite was the truth, for he came
home with less money in his pocket than he started with. It was just
what he expected and felt assured would be the case. But he went. And
what induced him to go? The love of Christ constrained him. The love
of doing good to others by pointing out the way of salvation to them.
Have I, have you, such love?

Between the last date given and the twenty-first of October Brother
Kline attended a love feast at Beaver Creek, Virginia; one on Lost
River; and one at Flat Rock. Besides these, he attended the regular
Sunday meetings, council meetings, and visited, medically, a
considerable number of patients. He reports much rain in October, and
several times his life was endangered crossing high waters.

FRIDAY, October 22. On this day he started on a journey across the
mountains of western Virginia. He followed a line of love feasts and
other meetings through the counties of Hampshire, Virginia; Garret,
Maryland; Preston and Monongalia, Virginia, to Dunkard Creek in
Pennsylvania, not far this side of Wheeling. He returned over nearly
the same route by which he went, filling appointments he left on his
way out. He reports, on this journey, 371 miles traveled on horseback,
over some rugged mountains and bad roads much of the way. He arrived
home November 4, after an absence of two weeks.

TUESDAY, November 30. Attend the burial of old Mother Horn. Age,
ninety years, two months and two days.

SUNDAY, December 5. Attend the burial of old Mother Conrad. Age,
eighty-five years and nine months.

WEDNESDAY, December 15. Louis and Samuel Kline, of Pennsylvania, visit
us. I take them around to see their and my kindred.

TUESDAY, December 21. Perform the marriage ceremony of Samuel
Hinegartner and Catharine Ralls, at Christian Crider's.

FRIDAY, December 31. Meeting of general council in our meetinghouse.
In the year that is now about to close I have traveled 3,424 miles,
nearly all on horseback. The work of another year is done; and the
record has passed into eternity. As clay, once formed by the hand of
the potter and burnt in a kiln can never be reduced to clay again and
worked over into other forms, so our deeds in life, once done, are
done forever. A vase may be broken, it is true, but the fragments are
apt to reveal the form of the vessel from which they came. So the hand
of jealousy, of envy, of persecution even, may shatter the results of
our best efforts here; but God will gather up the pieces and be able
to tell by their appearance and quality that they belonged to a vessel
of honor in his sight. Seeds sometimes lie a long time in the ground
before they grow and make a blade; so it may be with much of the good
seed that I and others of our beloved Brotherhood have sown this year.
Backward springs and other unfavorable states of weather during the
early part of the growing season are sometimes followed by rich
harvests. We do not know what the future may bring forth, but we do
know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. In
him I trust.

SUNDAY, January 1. Attend the burial of old Mother Baer, at Brother
George Kline's. Age, ninety-six years, four months and twenty days.

THURSDAY, February 3. Perform the marriage ceremony of Michael May and
Julian Custer at George Riddle's.

About this time Brother Kline became deeply interested in the
construction and erection of a bridge across a ford in the North Fork
of the Shenandoah river. His design in this, however, included more
than the avoidance of one dangerous ford; it took in two others. It
was equivalent to spanning three bad fords with one bridge. His plan,
which has since been exactly carried into effect, was to cut down the
end of the mountain in the Gap where it projects into the river, open
up a good highway through the cut, and thus shorten the distance very
materially and shun two dangerous and ever-shifting fords, one above
and the other below the cut. His patience and perseverance in this
great enterprise yielded to no discouragements, and he saw the bridge
built, and the projecting end of the mountain cut down. Like all other
men who have embarked in great enterprises above or beyond the grasp
of ordinary comprehension, he had to combat opposition from some who
should, on the score of direct personal interest in the improvement,
have been most willing to aid in the work. Brother Kline did not live
to see his design fully executed, but it has been carried into effect
within the last decade by the construction of a new bridge upon the
old abutments, and a new road on the very line he proposed. As the
improvement under consideration is a very great one, and originally
undertaken by individual contributions; and as future generations may
wish to know who the prime movers were, and when the first move was
made, the following entry in the Diary will be given here:

FRIDAY, February 25. Attend a meeting of some public-spirited men, at
Samuel Coots's store near the Gap, for the purpose of agreeing upon
the construction of a bridge across the river near the store; for
cutting down the face of the Gap Rock; for making a new road through
the Cut; and for raising funds to meet the same.

Samuel Coots, State Senator from Rockingham County, took an active
part. Abraham Funk, Benjamin Bowman, John J. Bowman, with many other
prominent citizens, nearly or quite all of whom have passed away,
deserve to have their names enrolled as patrons of the enterprise.

WEDNESDAY, March 8. Attend the burial of Brother David Hollar's wife
to-day. Age, forty-seven years and five months.

FRIDAY, March 10. Go to Michael Wine's and attend the burial of his
mother. Age, ninety-three years, three months and fourteen days.

WEDNESDAY, April 12. Attend the funeral of Mrs. Wells Hevner in the
Gap. Age, thirty-three years.

THURSDAY, April 13. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Samuel
Wampler and myself are established in the ministry, and Joseph Miller
advanced.

FRIDAY, April 14. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Jacob Wine is
advanced to the second grade in the ministry of the Word.

MONDAY, April 17. Council meeting in the Lost River meetinghouse.
Jacob Pope is chosen speaker.

FRIDAY, April 21. Council meeting in the Old Garber meetinghouse.
Solomon Garber is advanced to the second degree in the ministry of the
Word. Sarah Norman is reinstated to the fellowship of the church.

WEDNESDAY, April 26. Attend the funeral of the widow Sister
Cherryholms in the Gap. Age, fifty-nine years. Sister C. was a woman
of real force of character. Her house was a welcome shelter for the
Brethren and others who often visited her.

MONDAY, May 1. Attend the funeral of old Sister Evers, widow of John
Evers. She died at John Hawse's. Age, seventy-two years, three months
and three days.

WEDNESDAY, May 3. Brother Benjamin Bowman, with Sister Catharine his
wife, and Brother John Wine, with Anna and myself, start to Ohio. We
go in two carriages. To such as are not used to traveling in this way
a journey to Ohio and back in a two-horse carriage, over all kinds of
roads, through all the changes of weather likely to occur at this
season, and I may add, among all kinds of people, might look like an
undesirable undertaking. But for myself I can say I do not dread
making the start. I am best satisfied and most delighted when doing
something for God and humanity. But the company I have on this visit
makes the anticipation of it especially pleasant. Brother John Wine is
a live man; cheerful, but ever earnest and sincere; lively, but never
light or frivolous. His mind is always inquisitive, seeking for
knowledge in every line of truth. Hence he asks many questions. If
your answers involve any doubt as to their correctness, or fail of the
clearness he thinks should appear in the instructions of a teacher to
his pupil, he will dispute a whole day with you on a single question,
rather than appear to be satisfied with your answer when he is not.
With a mind hard and sharp as flint, he strikes fire out of everything
he hits. But he has sense enough, and goodness enough, never to strike
fire where he has reason to fear there may be danger of causing an
explosion. He is the son of Samuel, in the Brush, and brother of
Christian Wine. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Zigler, in
Timberville, Rockingham County, Virginia. He now resides on his farm
about two miles away from where he was born and raised. He is an
eminently good and useful brother.

Benjamin Bowman is the son of Benjamin Bowman, who settled in
Rockingham County, Virginia, about or very soon after the breaking up
of the war of the Revolution. This elder Benjamin Bowman had three
sons,--Samuel, Benjamin and John,--all of whom married, raised highly
respectable families, lived and died in the same county in which they
were born. These all became members of our Brotherhood; and Benjamin
is at this time a very active and acceptable preacher of the Word, and
promises to be a very agreeable companion on the journey we have now
undertaken together. He is no great talker in the way of conversation,
but what he says is generally to the point. Very considerate in
forming an opinion, and exceedingly careful in reaching a conclusion,
he is not likely to be wrong in anything he asserts to be true. By
means of these habits assiduously cultivated, he has built up a
reputation for reliability which not only aids him in business, but
stamps the seal of truth on his discourses from the ministerial stand.
He will not readily debate a matter you may present to his mind, even
if his views do not coincide with yours at the time; but after due
consideration he will let you hear from him with arguments not to be
refuted.

We stay first night at Celestine Whitmore's on Lost River.

THURSDAY, May 4. After we were on the way this morning Anna changed
her mind and preferred going back to Brother Whitmore's. So we took
her back, and they will convey her home. Travel thirty-three miles,
and stay second night at Joseph Smith's.

FRIDAY, May 5. Go through Romney, Virginia, and at the end of
thirty-five miles stay third night at McNaer's.

SATURDAY, May 6. Go through Frostburg, and come to Jacob Lighty's. We
have night meeting. I speak on Acts 17:30. TEXT.--"The times of this
ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to
repent."

Athens, the capital of Greece, was a large city. It was noted as the
chief seat of Grecian learning, refinement of taste, cultivation of
genius, and skill in the production of almost everything belonging to
the fine arts. It had its philosophers, statesmen, orators, lawyers,
priests, poets and painters. It had its high and low orders in
society. But when Paul beheld the city his spirit was moved in him,
for he saw that it was wholly given to idolatry. Some of the Epicurean
and Stoic philosophers encountered him and said: "He seemeth to be a
setterforth of strange gods." They said this among themselves, because
he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. But they did not
seem inclined to do him injury as the Jews had done in some other
places, but gave him a chance to speak in the Areopagus, a large
building in the city called the Hill of Mars, or Mars' Hill. In this
building Paul preached a wonderful sermon, the whole of which you may
read in Acts seventeenth chapter.

But to-night I wish to speak on just one thing that Paul said in that
sermon, and these are the words: "God commandeth all men everywhere to
repent." When we are commanded to do something, we like to know what
it is we are commanded to do. Now I will tell you. It is to repent.
But you may say, "I do not exactly know what that means." I will now
tell you about all I know of the meaning of the words repent and
repentance. The Lord Jesus knew exactly what these words mean, and I
will give you his definition. He said to the Jews: "The men of Nineveh
repented at the preaching of Jonah." Now let us turn to the book of
Jonah in the Old Testament and see what the men of Nineveh did at the
preaching of Jonah, and we will then understand what the Lord meant
when he said they _repented_. You must know what Jonah's sermon was.
It was so plain that all could understand it, and so short that all
could remember it, This is the sermon: "Yet forty days and Nineveh
shall be destroyed." The city had more than a hundred and twenty
thousand people in it; and it took Jonah three days to go from one end
to the other with his message of destruction; but at the end of the
first day "the people of Nineveh believed God; and when the word came
unto the king of Nineveh he arose from his throne, and laid his robe
from him, and put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes and said: Let man and
beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yea, let
them turn, every one from his evil way. And God saw their works, that
they turned from their evil way."

Now, notice, when God commands all men everywhere to repent, he means
for them to do what the Ninevites did, but in a more spiritually
enlightened way. They believed God. This is the first step in
repentance, as this same apostle says: "He that would come unto God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him." The Ninevites had no written word as we have,
that gives us intelligent knowledge of God as he is revealed in the
face of his Son Jesus Christ. All they knew of him was from tradition,
and what they could see of him in his works. But they believed God,
and gave proof of it by turning from their evil way. Now, friends,
this is just what God commands all men to do. This is what he commands
every impenitent man and woman in this house to do to-night.

But some of you may say: "I have no evil way from which to turn. I do
an honest business; I lead a sober life; I am true to my marriage
vows, and live a moral and orderly life generally. What lack I yet?"
Let me ask you: Why do you live in this orderly and consistent way? Is
it because you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and
your neighbor as yourself? If you can truly say that this love is the
hand that leads and draws you in your good life, I say, Thank God! I
have found a brother of whom I am not ashamed. But anything short of
this love is short of what God requires, and you with the rest are
called upon to repent. You still have a way that is evil in God's
sight. That way is the love of self and the love of the world. The
Pharisees were just as particular and careful in regard to their moral
or outside life as you can ever be; and still the Lord said to his
disciples: "Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, ye can in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven."
Their righteousness proceeded all from the love of self and the world.
Their ambition culminated in the honor, respectability, credit and
wealth such a life procured for them; and on this account the Lord
Jesus said of them: "Verily, they have their reward."

But our blessed Lord says again: "Except a man deny himself, and take
up his cross daily, he cannot be my disciple." This means repentance.
It is commendable in the eye of society of almost every grade to live
a decent, orderly, virtuous life; but if this sort of life be led from
any motive short of the love of God, what is said of the Pharisees
must also be said of this: "Ye make clean the OUTSIDE of the cup and
the platter, but the inside is full of hypocrisy and deceit." Now,
true repentance makes clean the INSIDE of the cup and the platter,
"that the outside may be clean also."

  "Repentance is to leave
    The things we dearly love;
  And o'er our sins to grieve,
    And seek the things above."

After meeting we go to David Beichley's, and stay fourth night.

SUNDAY, May 7. Meeting at Jacob Fige's. John 5 is read. Then come to
Jacob Miller's, near Milford, and have night meeting in a schoolhouse
near by. Stay fifth night with Brother Miller.

MONDAY, May 8. Go to council meeting at Joseph Lighty's. An election
for deacons is held. Stay sixth night at Christian Miller's. Rain this
afternoon and night.

TUESDAY, May 9. Dine at Emanuel Beichley's on Indian Creek, and stay
seventh night at Joseph Folger's, near Mt. Pleasant.

WEDNESDAY, May 10. Stay eighth night at Beidler's tavern, in East
Liberty.

THURSDAY, May 11. Breakfast and dine in Pittsburg, and stay ninth
night in Economy.

FRIDAY, May 12. Stay tenth night at Jacob Leedy's, near New Middleton.

SATURDAY, May 13. Get here to my dear Brother Henry Kurtz's, where we
stay eleventh night.

SUNDAY, May 14. Meeting at Brother Jacob Summers's near by. Ephesians
6 is read. Brother Benjamin speaks first, and John follows him. They
speak of the Christian's armor; that it is not for the flesh, but for
the spirit; that it is not for defense against persecution and trials
in our life here, but for defense against the wiles of the devil; that
it should be constantly worn, and kept bright by daily use. After
meeting the Brethren agree to have a little love feast this evening,
and a good time we have. Stay twelfth night at Brother Henry Kurtz's.

MONDAY, May 15. Pass through a number of little towns and villages and
at the end of forty-four miles to-day find ourselves pleasantly
received by my very dear Brother George Hoke, with whom we stay
thirteenth night.

TUESDAY, May 16. Meeting at Brother Solomon Kiser's. Mark 1 is read.
Three persons baptized. Stay fourteenth night at Brother Michael
Sprinkel's, near McDonelsville.

WEDNESDAY, May 17. Get to Brother Jacob Kurtz's, where I have the
pleasure of meeting again the dear family that showed me so much
kindness two years ago. Stay fifteenth and sixteenth nights here. If
the meeting with those we love, and a brief stay with them, can give
us so much joy here in our imperfect state, what will be the measure
of our joy when we meet in that world where all is perfection, and
partings are known no more! "In his presence there is fullness of joy:
and at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore."

THURSDAY, May 18. Evening meeting here at Brother Jacob Kurtz's, where
we stay sixteenth night.

FRIDAY, May 19. Meeting in River Brethren's meetinghouse, near George
Harting's. Luke 14 is read. Come to Wooster, Wayne County, and stay
seventeenth night at John Overholtz's.

SATURDAY, May 20. Meeting in the Campbellite meetinghouse. John 4 is
read. Evening meeting at Brother John Shoemaker's. John 15 is read.
Stay there eighteenth night. Heavy rain to-day and night.

SUNDAY, May 21. Meeting at Brother Eli Dickey's. Revelation 21 is
read. Brother Benjamin Bowman gave us some delightful thoughts
suggested by these words: "Behold! I make all things new." He said:
"This promise is generally thought to point for its fulfillment to the
golden day when God's people shall realize in fact what John saw in
vision,--'a new heaven and a new earth.' I believe that day is coming.
I believe the tabernacle of God will be with men; that God will dwell
with them in that Holy City, the New Jerusalem. But I ask here, first
of all, whence arises the necessity for making all things new? If the
existing order of things is faultless, why this renovation? There must
be imperfection, there must be a defect somewhere. Whatever else these
words may comprehend, I for one regard them as applying to the church
as it will then appear, as Solomon describes it, 'comely as
Jerusalem;' the New Jerusalem he means; 'and terrible' in the power of
its righteousness and truth, 'as an army with banners.'

"Notice right here the striking similarity of the text to what Paul
says. What does my text say? 'Behold, I make all things new.' What
does Paul say? 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old
things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.' What is it
to be in Christ? It is to be filled with his truth as a sponge is
filled with water when immersed in it. It is to be filled with gospel
light as a healthy eye is filled with light in the blaze of a clear
day. And when the spiritual eye is single, that is healthy, not
double-sighted, our Lord says the whole spiritual body shall be full
of light. The light is in the body, because the body is in the light.
I mean just what the Lord meant, the spiritual body, for Paul says:
'There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.' But he goes
on and says: 'However, that which is natural is first.' This we can
all see and know. We know that we were not naturally born of God.
'That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit,' and what is born of the Spirit is the spiritual
body.

"To be in Christ is to be in his love. I was once asked this question
by an individual who probably wished to puzzle me. He said: 'You
preach that a man must be in Christ to be saved, and at the same time
say that Christ must be in the man. How is this?' I answer by using a
very plain illustration. I said to him: When you get uncomfortably
cool in the shade, and move to where the sun can shine full upon your
body, do you not feel its warmth? Now, I said to him, the warmth of
the sun is in your body, because your body is in the warmth of the
sun. Just so we may say it is with us in a spiritual sense. The love
of Christ enters our hearts when we place ourselves where that love
can reach us. Now let me say, by way of digression from my main point
that the love of Christ will never enter a man in a drinking saloon or
in a gambling hall, because it is not there. Such places are as
destitute of the truth and divine love of Christ as the darkest and
coldest night is destitute of the light and heat of the sun. 'Behold,
I make all things new.' This is just what the Lord will do in every
man's mind and heart, spirit and soul, thoughts and affections,
purposes and their accomplishments, who opens the door and bids him
come in. This is the glorious work of regeneration.

"But, Brethren beloved, let us inquire a little as to whether the
church, our own church I mean, needs to be made over anew, or as we
may say, needs to be renovated. Can any brother or sister in this
house say: 'I am just as pure in heart as I desire to be. My faith
never grows weak; my love never grows cold. I am as innocent and pure
in all my affections and thoughts as a little child. I have no
jealousy or envy in my soul. I never get angry, or think of wishing
evil to any one. I have the spirit of Christ in me in all perfection,
and have purified myself even as he is pure'? I repeat the question
with emphasis, Is there a soul in this house who can truthfully say
all this? I can answer boldly that there is not, for it is not given
to man away down in his imperfect state here to have such sinless
perfection. The most heavenly-minded amongst us have often to mourn
over our shortcomings; and the holiest man or woman, looking into his
or her own heart with an eye filled with the light of gospel truth,
can but at the best say, with the poor publican: 'God be merciful to
me a sinner.'

"But there is a day coming when all things shall be made new, and we
shall be made new with the rest. I do not want to be understood here,
however, as believing that God will in any sense force his renewing
power upon any one; or that this renewing power will be enjoyed in the
world to come by any but such as earnestly desired it here. I believe
that when we get into the other life our eyes will open to such clear
visions of the beauty of holiness and the excellencies of heavenly
love, all thoughts of evil will be rejected with a repugnance
something like what we would feel here by having the most offensive or
poisonous substance thrust into our mouth. It is declared concerning
the New Jerusalem that nothing shall enter therein that defileth, or
worketh abomination, or maketh a lie. Nothing shall enter therein that
defileth. Our Lord has graciously told us the things that defile a
man. He says: 'Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
thefts, covetousness, wickedness, lasciviousness, an evil eye,
blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within,
and defile the man.' Now, these are the Lord's own words; and they
enable us to understand just what is meant by the words, 'nothing
shall enter therein that defileth.'

"Now, Brethren, when the angels that meet us at the gate of the Golden
City shall take of the blood of the Lamb, and, with gentle hands, wash
away every stain of defilement from the sins here enumerated, and we,
thus cleansed, find ourselves safe, forever safe, within its blessed
walls, will we not shout and say: 'Behold! all things have become
new'?"

Stay nineteenth night with Brother Eli Dickey. We are now in Ashland
County, Ohio. Heavy rains to-day, and waters very high.

MONDAY, May 22. Pass through Richland County, and stay twentieth night
with Brother Samuel Shaffner, four miles from Bucyrus in Crawford
County.

TUESDAY, May 23. Night meeting at Benton. Subject: "The Miracles of
Christ's Healing Power." TEXT.--"And he healed all that came unto
him."

We hardly need being told that man is composed of body and soul; that
the body is the visible, material part of man, in which the soul,
man's invisible part, finds its home. Man's material part is but
little superior to that of the rest of the animal creation. It is
subject to the same laws. It must be fed and sheltered. It finds
enjoyment in food and drink, and comfortable surroundings, very nearly
akin to what we see in the life of brutes. Like them it is subject to
natural decay, liable to disease; and like them, must die. But man is
in possession of capacities and capabilities infinitely superior to
anything the rest of God's sentient creation enjoys. He has a soul
which is capable of unlimited attainments in the knowledge and love of
God, and in the knowledge and love of his fellowman. The heathen
philosophers supposed they had done their whole duty to themselves and
the world when they could vainly believe that they had realized in
their experiences what they thought a compliance with their favorite
maxim: "Know thou thyself." Whilst Christians believe and feel that
self-knowledge, or the knowledge of one's self, is very important, at
the same time they have longing aspirations to know all they can of
the Being who created this self, this thinking, reasoning, loving,
restless thing within them, called a living soul. Brutes have no
aspirations, no desires of this kind.

Right here we may see what God loves. It was not man's animal or
bodily life that brought the Lord into our world, for this is not the
man. It is the soul or spirit within the body that is the real man,
and all these souls collectively make the world that God so loved that
he gave his only begotten Son to save it. God never loved trifles. The
fact that God loved the world of man is proof that man, as a being
capable of glorifying God by reciprocating his love, was worthy of it.
This key opens the way to a glimpse of man's high destiny, attainable
by his taking hold of the Hand reached down in love to lift him up.
God's Word is the only book that can give man a true knowledge of
himself. It is the only source from which he can learn that he is a
sinner by his habitual transgressions of the great, law of love that
would bind all the units of God's intelligent creation into a
brotherhood of ineffable and eternal happiness. It was to redeem man
from this deplorable state, and deliver him from the destroying power
of sin, that Jesus came into the world. But when he came he found man
so low down in the darkness of ignorance, so stupid and slow to open
his eyes, so benumbed by the chilling power of the love of self, so
infested and possessed by evil spirits of hell, that but little
impression could be made upon him, except such as could be felt and
seen by means of his bodily senses.

These statements, which are true, account for the miracles wrought by
the Lord. In working them, however, he had a two-fold purpose. The
first was to arouse the people from their dormant state to one of
consciousness that a Being of superior power was among them. This they
were made to feel by his healing touch, his cleansing hand, and his
life-restoring virtue. And what was the effect of all this? It had
very much the same effect in one way that kindness toward children in
the way of giving them little presents, and gentleness and tenderness
in the way of gratifying their bodily desires and wishes, has upon
them. They love the one who treats them in such ways. Now, the Lord
healed the people. He healed all that came to him, of whatever bodily
ill they were suffering. He fed them, too, and did it all so lovingly
that they believed him to be the best and most powerful Friend they
had ever known. They followed him in throngs. They felt secure, bodily
secure and safe when they were with him. But we must not forget that
they followed him, not on account of the words he had spoken to them,
the instructions he had imparted, but "for the loaves and the fishes."
We almost instinctively say, in our meditations upon these things:
What a pity they could not discover in him something higher to believe
in and love than the mere power and will to heal their bodily ills and
minister to their bodily wants! This strong faith in his power and
readiness to minister in a miraculous way to their external, worldly
enjoyments and comforts is what led them to try to take him by force
and make him their king. Having now given you his first object in
working miracles, I turn to the second.

Here a great field for thought opens to our view, from which a volume
could be written. Every miracle the Lord wrought, just like every
parable he spoke, has a double line of truth, an inner and an outer
sense. These are related to each other as the soul and body are
related. Jesus says: "My words are spirit, and they are life." His
miracles, when rightly understood, are the same. "They are spirit and
they are life." Their spirit and life enter us through the light they
contain. Let us look at one or two with a view to find what spirit and
life we can: One Sabbath day Jesus met a man in a Jewish house of
worship, called a synagogue, whose right hand was WITHERED. Notice,
the man's hand was withered. This means that it was dead, just as we
mean that a plant is dead when it is withered, or so nearly dead that
its life is almost gone. This man's hand must have been powerless. He
could not use it to do anything; and it was his right hand. He could
not move a joint of it. It was simply powerless.

But notice particularly what Jesus commanded him to do. He said to
this very man: "Stretch forth thy hand." Does not that look like an
unreasonable command? The man might have plausibly said: "I cannot do
this. I have not been able to reach my hand to my mouth in the past
year. I can not do as you tell me." But instead of urging objections
he instantly obeyed, for the words, "Stretch forth thy hand," were not
more than out of the Lord's mouth when we read, "And he did so: and
his hand was restored whole as the other." Now I ask, Did this man
have any part to act, or duty to perform in this miracle of healing? I
answer, He did; and without his obedient cooeperation his hand would
have been left dangling powerless at his side.

Is there not a lesson here? Let us try to gather crumbs of instruction
from it. If you take your Bible and concordance, and hunt up the
places where the expression "right hand" is used, you will plainly see
that "right hand," when spoken of as the "right hand" of God, means
_power_, the power of God. As applying to man, it means the same, the
_power_ of man. In this sense the right hand of every unconverted man
and woman is _withered_ under the blighting curse of sin. But Jesus is
present to heal. He is ever ready to heal all who have need of healing
now, just as truly as when he was visibly among men. But he cannot
heal you without your willing consent to obey his commands. He first
of all commands you to repent, for now "God commandeth all men
everywhere to repent." The moment you are willing to obey this
command, that moment he will give you the power to obey. Without aid
from the power of the Lord that man never could have stretched forth
his withered hand; but the instant he was willing to obey, that very
instant he received the power to obey.

Again he says: "Give me thy heart." But your heart is all withered
too. It is so chilled and blighted by the cold, and damp, and darkness
of sin, that, like the man's right hand, without help of the Lord, it
is powerless. But the instant you feel a _desire_ to give your heart
to the Lord, such desire as the blind beggar had to receive his sight;
such desire as the poor leper had to be cleansed; such desire as the
publican had that God would be merciful to him a sinner; I say the
instant you feel such desire to give your heart to God, that instant
he will give you power to do so. It surely was a great relief to that
man to have his withered hand restored to healthy activity. It may not
have been very painful; indeed, it may have been so lifeless that
there was not much feeling in it. So it may be with your heart. And
let me say to you that if you really give God your heart in faith and
love he will so effectually heal it that it will beat with new life,
and the warm blood of love and truth from his Word will flow through
it until your greatest joy will be found in doing his will.

Stay twenty-first night in Benton.

WEDNESDAY, May 24. Stay twenty-second night at Lupton's.

THURSDAY, May 25. Go to Squire Knapp's and make deeds. Then to meeting
at Brother Heastand's. Part of John 1 is read. In afternoon return to
Lupton's and finish business with him. Stay twenty-third night at
Lupton's. Fine weather.

FRIDAY, May 26. Stay twenty-fourth night at Brother Jacob Bowers's.
Beautiful weather.

SATURDAY, May 27. Council meeting at Brother Jacob Bowers's, Jr. Night
meeting at Brother Thomas's, where we stay twenty-fifth night. Fine
weather continues.

SUNDAY, May 28. Meeting at Brother Jacob Bowers's, Sr. Speak from
Matthew 3. John's baptism was unto repentance. The people came to him
and were immersed of him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. This
was their first step in repentance. From this they were to keep on
bringing forth fruits meet for, or corresponding to, repentance. The
outside life was to be the exponent of the penitent heart within. He
also pointed them to him who was to come after him, that is, Christ.
He would baptize them in the Holy Spirit and fire. This was literally
fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Baptize one person to-day. Stay
twenty-sixth night at Brother Rotebauch's.

MONDAY, May 29. Go westward to Daniel Miller's, Solomon Wine's, Jacob
Miller's, and stay twenty-seventh night at Samuel Miller's.

TUESDAY, May 30. After meeting we go to Isaac Miller's in Richland
County, where we stay twenty-eighth night.

WEDNESDAY, May 31. Stay twenty-ninth night at Jacob Miller's.

THURSDAY, June 1. Visit Daniel Wine's, David Good's, Jacob Earley's,
David Weaver's, where we have meeting; then go to Samuel Earley's,
where we stay thirtieth night. A very fine day.

FRIDAY, June 2. Stay thirty-first night in Tymocaty.

SATURDAY, June 3. Dine in Upper Sandusky, and stay thirty-second night
at Brother Heastand's. Rain this forenoon.

SUNDAY, June 4. Meeting at Brother Solomon Miller's on Silver Creek.
First Peter 2 is read. Two persons baptized. Evening meeting at Stone
meetinghouse, on Honey Creek near David Rupp's. Luke 14 is read. Stay
thirty-third night at Brother Rupp's.

MONDAY, June 5. Stay thirty-fourth night with Brother Isaac Hartzog.

TUESDAY, June 6. Stay thirty-fifth night with Brother Jacob
Harshbarger. Fine day.

WEDNESDAY, June 7. Stay thirty-sixth night with Brother Cober.

THURSDAY, June 8. Stay thirty-seventh night with Brother Jonas Kline,
nine miles from Ashland.

FRIDAY, June 9. Get back to Brother Jacob Kurtz's, eight miles from
Wooster, in Wayne County, where we stay thirty-eighth night. Fine day.

SATURDAY, June 10. Annual Meeting begins. Peter Nead and I speak.
Three persons baptized. Love feast this evening. Delightful weather.
Stay thirty-ninth night at Brother Kurtz's place.

SUNDAY, June 11. Public meeting to-day. A great concourse of people.
Preaching at both house and barn. Fine weather continues. Stay
fortieth night at same place.

MONDAY, June 12. Council meeting is ready for questions. But few are
handled. Business goes on slowly. Stay forty-first night at same
place. Fine, clear day.

TUESDAY, June 13. This day we progress briskly. Much business is
transacted. Very fine weather continues.

WEDNESDAY, June 14. Finish business, and in afternoon we come to
Brother Sprinkel's, one mile from Canton, Stark County, where we stay
forty-third night. Very fine weather, but somewhat dusty.

THURSDAY, June 15. Call at Brother George Shiveley's; and have night
meeting at Brother Rothrock's, where we stay forty-fourth night. Speak
on John 1. Warm day.

FRIDAY, June 16. Stay forty-fifth night at John Shelly's, five miles
from Richmond, Jefferson County. Fine weather.

SUNDAY, June 18. Dine with Brother Jacob Shideler's and stay
forty-seventh night with Charles Guthrie, near Brownsville, in Fayette
County, Pennsylvania. Rain to-day.

MONDAY, June 19. Stay forty-eighth night with Brother Michael Thomas.
Rain this afternoon and night.

WEDNESDAY, June 21. Stay fiftieth night at Brother Daniel Arnold's in
Hampshire County, Virginia.

THURSDAY, June 22. Dine at Brother Zachariah Arnold's and stay
fifty-first night in Moorefield, Hardy County, Virginia.

FRIDAY, June 23. Dine at Isaac Dasher's in Hardy County, and stay
fifty-second night at William Fitzwater's, in Rockingham County,
Virginia.

SATURDAY, June 24. Breakfast at Daniel Fulk's at foot of Mt. Pleasant
in Brock's Gap, and then home. On this journey Brother John Wine and I
traveled in my carriage 1,083 miles. Brother Benjamin Bowman was not
with us all the time. He left us after we got among relatives and
acquaintances who were not the same, in these respects, to us that
they were to him. Otherwise they were the same to both alike, for they
were nearly all Brethren. But we met again at the Annual Meeting, and
returned home together. We had much pleasant conversation on the way,
and endeavored to build each other up by giving a religious turn to
our discourses. They are both clear-headed thinkers. I feel sure the
time has been well spent by our mutually improving each other, aside
from the good I hope we have done to others. May our heavenly Father
bless this happy journey to the present and everlasting good of all
who may have heard our public or private words of warning, of
instruction, of encouragement to the weak, of confirmation to the
strong, is my prayer. Amen.

Anna was safely conveyed home, nicely and tenderly cared for in my
absence, and I find her as well as I could expect.

THURSDAY, July 13. Perform the marriage ceremony of William Carrier
and Barbara Summers.

WEDNESDAY, July 26. Meeting at Forrer's Furnace. I speak on the
fiftieth verse of the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm. TEXT.--"This
is my comfort in my affliction." I have chosen this subject on account
of the afflictions which some of you have lately passed through, and
which are, I learn, still clinging to others in this neighborhood. As
I have been called--or sincerely believe that I have been called--to
administer medical relief to the sick, and have thus had much
experience in the sick room, and by the sick bed, I will venture to
offer some observations regarding the ways in which the sick should be
cared for and nursed, that they may be comforted in their afflictions
as to their bodily feelings. This done, I will endeavor to say
something regarding the ways in which their souls may be comforted.

The bed for the sick should be soft, but not heating. Nothing can be
more regularly and uniformly comforting to the afflicted than a soft
and easy bed. It need not be costly. Clean straw of oats, cut fine, is
my preference over all other materials. To stir the bed, the patient
need not be taken out, but gently, very slowly and tenderly, moved to
the opposite side first prepared, left there awhile, and then in the
same gentle way returned to the front, similarly prepared. Cleanliness
is next to religion, pure and undefiled, in the sick room. All fumes
of tobacco or other unpleasant smells should not be allowed for a
moment in the sick room. All offensive odors can most readily be
gotten rid of by ventilation. This can be best secured by opening
doors or windows, or both, if necessary. This should be repeatedly
done daily in all weathers. At this season windows should be open all
the time; but the patient should not be exposed to heavy draughts of
air. Unnecessary conversation is very distressing to most sick people,
even though the words be spoken low or in a whisper. Some of you, no
doubt, have had experience of this fact. People kindly feel it a duty
to visit the sick. One does not know that another is going, and each
being impelled by a sense of duty, more go than can be needed; and in
determining who shall return home, and who shall stay, conversations
take place that are often very distressing to the patient. I remember
a conversation I had with one of my own patients once, who had just
shortly before that time recovered from a severe and protracted
illness. He said to me: "Brother John, do try to set the people right
about visiting the sick. There is so much wrong about it the way it is
carried on now that very often more harm than good is done. I
remember," said he, "one night while I was sick. You had been coming,
I think, near three weeks, and I was beginning to mend. In the evening
I felt so much better I thought I was going to rest well and get some
good, natural sleep. But about eight o'clock several neighbors came in
who got to talking; and seeing that I appeared better they were
encouraged to keep on, under the impression that I was strong enough
now to stand it. Ah," continued he, "they did not know they were
almost killing me; for I became restless; and being very weak every
nerve and fiber in my body seemed to be excited into a state of
distressful commotion, from which I did not fairly recover during the
next three days. When you came again you gave very strict orders not
to allow more than one attendant in the room at a time, aside from the
nurse; and after that I began to mend again and got well."

One thing more, and I will leave this feature of the subject. This,
although last in order, is first in importance, because it is the very
basis of recovery. I mean food and drink. Very sick patients, we all
know, can take, and require very little; but that little is
all-important both as to quality, and uniformity as to quantity, and
exact regularity as to time in its administration. I will say here
with emphasis, that in no regard is it more important to comply
punctiliously with the instructions of an intelligent physician, than
in the nourishment given the sick. Without nourishment, recovery in
any case is impossible. How very important, then, that it be rightly
composed and properly administered! Food should be made as attractive
to the patient as possible. This should be carefully kept in mind when
preparing it for patients in a state of convalescence or recovery. The
nerves of the stomach at such time are often very sensitive, and small
excellencies in its quality will be highly appreciated, and slight
deficiencies as readily detected.

You remember, I started out with the text: "This is my comfort in my
affliction." I have tried to give you some bits of counsel as to the
means and ways by which the afflicted may be comforted physically. I
now turn to the means and ways by which they may be comforted
spiritually. But here a difficulty confronts us at the very start. We
cannot make pathological examinations of the soul's distress, and
conclude from these what therapeutic agents to employ for its relief,
as we can in that of the body. In the last we are governed almost
exclusively by the visible and tangible symptoms; but regarding the
first, we are deprived of all these, and are compelled to rely mainly
upon the oral testimony of the sufferer himself. I have repeatedly
been called to the bedside of the dying in compliance with their wish
to receive some comfort, some consolation in their last moments,
before launching out on the unknown deep of eternity. But, alas! with
the exception of a few, paid to humble and obedient followers of the
meek and lowly Jesus, nearly all such visits have caused me to feel my
own absolute incompetence to do them any good, and only left me to
witness the sun of their life go down in clouds and darkness. But
David says: "THIS is my comfort in my affliction." In saying this he
must have in mind some particular idea; some state of feeling
springing out of some previous preparation of heart, which he can
claim as his comfort in his affliction. The few verses preceding the
text give a clew to this very state of mind and heart. Let us look
over them and see what it was. In verse 44 he says: "I will keep thy
law continually for ever and ever." Verse 45: "I seek thy precepts."
Verse 46: "Of thy testimonies also, I will not be ashamed." Verse 47:
"I delight myself in thy commandments which I have loved." These
declarations make manifest David's love for the Lord; and the joy
springing out of this love is what he calls his comfort in his
affliction.

It was once my privilege, and I can say my happy privilege, to pass a
night beside the dying bed of a faithful minister of the Word. His
deathless and joyful spirit took its flight from earth about four
o'clock the following morning. He did not suffer much pain, and had
strength to express his feelings and thoughts to a limited degree. His
mind was clear. He was dying of a hemorrhage which no power on earth
could check. His comfort in his affliction was so great that from the
joy and peace in his soul he distinctly said to me, in these exact
words: "This is the happiest night of my life." He would sometimes
say: "I love God. I love all his dear people. I will soon join the
spirits of just men made perfect." About four o'clock in the morning
he asked to be turned in the bed, and he was gone. Ah, friends, this
brother had comfort in his affliction; nay, more, unspeakable comfort
in death. This is what all may enjoy in a greater or less degree, who
are laid on beds of affliction. A good life, a life lived in obedience
to the commandments of our Lord, is sure to bring peace to the soul
when we are in health, and this peace will not leave or forsake us
when affliction or misfortune overtakes us. Our Lord says: "Peace I
leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth,
give I unto you." Again he says: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of
me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." We take his yoke upon us
when we repent of our sins, believe on his name, love to do his
commands, come over freely and fully on his side, and work for him.
Instead of working for what is perishable, we work for that which
endureth to everlasting life. We come out of the darkness of sin and
death into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.

MONDAY, July 31. Harvest meeting at the Flat Rock. David Kline is
elected speaker.

SATURDAY, August 26. The job of building the abutments for the bridge
at Coots's is let to contract.

MONDAY, August 28. Attend the burial of Brother Solomon Garber. Age,
fifty-four years, five months and twenty-nine days.

WEDNESDAY, November 1. On this day Brother Kline, in company with
Joseph Miller, son of Daniel Miller near head of Linville's Creek,
started on a journey to West Virginia. They got to Jacob Warnstaff's
first day--had night meeting in Bethel meetinghouse, near by; meeting
at Chlora Judy's, on Mill Creek, next night; meeting at James Parks's,
on Looney's Creek, the night following. I will dress up the skeleton
of the sermon Brother Kline preached here, as best I can. Romans 14:7.
TEXT.--"For none of us liveth to himself."

The phrase "none of us," as used in the text, means _not one of us_. I
say this to give emphasis to this part of my subject.

The social element, or love for society, is deeply impressed upon all
the animate world. We feel the truth of a very common saying--"birds
of a feather will flock together"--every time it is repeated in our
hearing. This expression, in its most comprehensive sense, applies to
everything having life and volition or the power to will. It is seen
in the fishes of the sea, in the birds of the air, and in all the
denizens of earth, from insects and worms up to the highest forms of
organic brute life, and in man. This love for society, or company, or
companionship, is so strong that it is the bond of the universe.
Without it nothing living could subsist. To make this thought clear to
your understandings, let me just call your minds to reflect a little
upon what the state of things would be in the natural world if this
law of love were reversed in the brute creation. Our domestic animals,
instead of feeding together in harmonious and peaceable flocks and
herds, would instantly turn to fighting and seeking to destroy each
other. The earth would soon be strewn with the dead bodies of beasts
and birds, and the waves of the sea would throw drifts of dead fishes
upon the shore. But, fortunately for man, this love has never been
perverted in the lower orders of creation. Each kind loves its own
kind, and seeks its propagation. But man has fallen from this love,
the love of his fellowman, into a state of feeling in some respects
the very opposite, which is hate. Let the history of the world but
unfold her page, and the truth of what I have just said will appear in
lines written with human blood. It is from this, and this alone, that
human laws have been instituted. It is self-preservation. This is the
one single origin and basis of all human law. What protects me from
the wrath or cupidity of those who would destroy or devour me,
protects you; and inasmuch as all desire such protection, human
governments, and laws with fearful penalties annexed, have been
instituted. Right here, in a civil and social sense, the words of my
text apply with profound meaning: "For none of us liveth to himself."
They apply to every statute in every national code, as well as to
every local law in every land.

But human laws restrain by fear, and God would have all restraint from
evil to spring from love. The gulf between these two principles is
immeasurably wide and deep, quite as much so as the chasm between
heaven and hell. I said: Human laws restrain by fear. Why does the
heart murderer not kill? He is afraid that if he kills me, and it is
found out on him, somebody else will kill him who feels himself in as
much danger from his bloody hand as I was. Why does the heart-rogue
not steal? He is afraid his booty may not balance what it may cost in
the way of punishment. So with all criminality. With those who have
not the love of God in their hearts, nor the love of their neighbor
which springs out of this love, nothing but fear restrains them from
the worst of crimes. But this is a very unhappy state to be in,
because all fear hath torment. Human beings can never be happy in
their social relations, when the fear and dread of each other is the
governing principle in their lives. The heart of man was originally
created for the exercise of love, for perfect love, which knows no
fear. All the happiness and peace of heaven spring out of love made
perfect.

  "There love springs pure and unrepressed;
    There all are loved, and love again:
  Love warms each angel's glowing breast:
    Love fills each shining saintly train."

Fear, with its long and varied list of torments, primarily springs
from a sense of guilt. We have a clear example in proof of this in the
third chapter of Genesis. Immediately after the fall Adam is
represented as saying to the Lord: "I heard thy voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, and I hid myself." Now, Adam had heard that voice
before; it was the voice of love; but, oh! how changed! The voice
itself was not changed; but the ear that heard, and the eye that saw,
and the heart that felt its power, these, _these_ were changed. Ever
since that sad day man has been subject to fear, and has sought to
hide himself from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord God still
loved Adam, and right there and then gave a promise to save man. That
promise is in these words: "I will put enmity between her seed and thy
seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This
was spoken to the serpent. Christ Jesus our Lord is the seed of the
woman. He bruises the serpent's head under our feet whenever we
sincerely desire him to do so. The head of the serpent stands for sin
and transgression of God's holy law in all its forms, with the evil
loves which prompt us thereto. The heel which the serpent shall bruise
is man's natural body, and the natural feelings incident to him from
his connection with this body. Diseases, the infirmities of age, with
all the pains and anguish of body and mind; yea, death itself, and the
fear of death, all, all are but the bruises which the serpent, the
devil and Satan is inflicting upon the heel of the woman's seed.

But, Brethren, Christ is bruising the head of the serpent daily under
our feet. Every temptation to do some forbidden thing, every
inclination to indulge evil and impure desires and thoughts, fairly
resisted and overcome, is just that much of the serpent's head, of his
very life, bruised and crushed under our feet. Now, it appears to us
as if we did all this of ourselves, and in our own strength. But this
is very far from the truth. Jesus says: "Without me ye can do
nothing." "I am the way, the truth and the life." All the spiritual
life, which embraces all pure and holy thoughts, affections, motives,
with all the truth and holy love in the Christian's soul, is from the
Lord. Man of himself is nothing but evil, and but for the Lord's
redeeming and saving arm would forever sink to lower and yet lower
depths of ruin. But just turn with me to the twenty-first chapter of
Revelation, fourth verse, and see to what the Lord offers to exalt
man. We there read: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed
away." There is quite an excitement over California at this time.
Thousands have left their homes to try their fortunes in the far-off
land of gold. Some have already perished in the attempt to reach the
shining Eldorado, and many more may have to suffer the same sad
experience. But the Gospel invites the sinner to a city whose gates
are of pearl, and whose streets are paved with gold, and where the
society is exempt from all the ills of life; for there they die no
more.

Brethren, let us live not for ourselves, but for others, as far as
lies in our power. Our love feasts show our love for one another, and
our social equality with each other insomuch as we all eat together:
and our beautiful order in washing one another's feet sets forth our
readiness to help one another in the Christian life, for "none of us
liveth to himself."

SATURDAY, November 4. The two brethren have forenoon meeting at old
Brother Parks's, and Joseph Miller speaks in a somewhat general way on
First Corinthians 15. In the evening they have meeting at Enoch
Hyre's, and Brother Kline speaks on John 14:6. TEXT.--"I am the way."
His thoughts on this passage are so original and instructive that I
will endeavor to extend and elucidate them as best I can.

This passage, said he, comprehends the whole Christ as the Son of man.
As the way, the holy way, we may trace and follow his steps, and walk
in him from the manger to the cross; from the cross to the grave; and
from the grave to his exaltation at the right hand of the Father in
heaven. Of this way the prophet Isaiah speaks in these words: "And an
highway shall be there, and it shall be called, The way of holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it; ... but the redeemed shall walk
therein." Is not this a delightful view of Christian life as it was
exemplified by our Lord! The prophet calls it the highway of our God.
Like the way of Noah's ark, it is above the tops of the loftiest
mountains of sin and death and destruction. Like the way of the ark
again, it is the way of holiness, for righteous Noah and his family
are upon it.

But I wish to call the attention of all here to-night to the
particular line of truth and motive the Lord had in mind when he said,
"I am the way." By thus pointing out the way, and showing that eternal
life and happiness are the blessed reward of walking in it, I hope to
induce some here to-night to enter it. I might here generalize
somewhat by calling your attention to the fact that it is natural for
us all, when going anywhere, to feel best satisfied when we know the
way we are on is the right way to where we want to go. It is true,
however, one may tramp along through life over public roads, merely to
get a subsistence from the fragments he may pick up by the way, and be
wholly indifferent as to where the road is conducting him. I will not
say that such a life is a fair representation of the thoughtless
sinner's way, as regards all preparation for a future state of
existence, but I will ask him if it is not so? But let us
particularize.

The first recorded words that Jesus uttered were spoken by him when he
was twelve years old. They were addressed by him to his parents when
they found him in the temple: "How is it that ye sought me sorrowing?
Did ye not know that I must be about my Father's business?" This was
his first public step in the way we are to follow. We all have the
same Father to love and obey that Jesus had, and he is none other than
the God who made us. It is his business to fit and prepare us for
everlasting happiness; and when we are about his business as Jesus was
we are reciprocating his love by doing his pleasure. But this was only
the beginning. No further record of Jesus is given until about
eighteen years after, when he came to the Jordan to be baptized of
John. But John said: "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest
thou to me? But Jesus said, Suffer it to be so now; for thus it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness."

Some may think lightly of baptism, but if it "became" the King of
glory to be baptized in water to fulfill all righteousness, how can
any one esteem it lightly, who has any regard for his soul? Since he
himself is the way, can we rationally conclude that he would do
anything for a guide to us that is unimportant? He had no sins to
confess, it is true; but still he must be baptized to fulfill all
righteousness. How important, then, must it be for us to submit to
this ordinance, who are all defiled with sin!

  "Ashamed of Jesus! yes I may
  When I've no sins to wash away:
  No guilt to shun, no good to crave;
  No love to give, no soul to save."

But now I must call your attention to his Sermon on the Mount. This is
the most instructive, truth-abounding and love-abounding sermon the
world has ever heard. It is a summary of the love, the truth, the
purity of heart, the humility of soul, the poverty of spirit, the
hungering and thirsting for righteousness, the forgiveness, the
charity, the meekness of the true child of God. Hence our blessed Lord
says right at the close: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and
doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was
founded upon a rock." I want to tell you right here that Jesus
fulfilled every jot and tittle of its truth in all its varied and
minute applications, in the pure and holy life he lived on earth. He
thus became the way.

I have sometimes been accosted by others on this wise: "You teach a
doctrine of works! You teach that people must do so and so to be
saved. I understand the Word to teach that Christians are saved by
faith without works." I have occasionally answered such accusations, I
fear, perhaps, in not the true spirit of meekness, by retorting that
if some professing Christians are ever saved at all it will surely be
without any works on their part. But usually, when I am rightly at
myself, or better, when my heart is with the Lord, both in answering
and preaching, I say, We as Brethren believe and teach that "faith
without works is dead." All good works are done in faith. And no man
can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with his heart, without loving
him; because faith is a loving acceptance of all the truth revealed by
the Lord to man. Our heartfelt reception of that truth leads to
obedience, and obedience is good works. For "by works faith is made
perfect." When he says: "This DO, and thou shalt live," he does not
lose sight of the loving faith in which it is to be done. When he
says: "So let your light shine before men, that they may see your GOOD
WORKS, and glorify"--YOU? No!--"your Father, which is in heaven." It
is by good works, then, that we are to glorify our Father which is in
heaven.

Again to the Sermon on the Mount. I told you a while ago that this
sermon sets forth the living way, or the living Christ. All the
parables and miracles aim at nothing higher than to prepare the minds
and hearts of the people to do, in an enlightened way, the things
commanded and taught in that wonderful sermon. Obedience to all the
ordinances of God's house is but a showing to the life and in the life
that meekness, that state of heart purity, that forgiveness, that
charity or brotherly love, that heavenly mindedness, which shine forth
in clear light there. But all the good there is in that sermon
consists in the doing of it. I may think of loving my enemy, and of
praying for him, and of forgiving him, but will the thought avail
anything, unless I carry my thought out in the acts of my life? Our
Lord prayed for his enemies even on the cross. They had nailed him
there, so unjustly too; but in the anguish of his distress he said:
"Father, forgive them; they know not what they do."

One thought more, and I will close. We must not forget that the Lord,
by his Holy Spirit, is the life of the way. Of ourselves, and left to
ourselves, we could never enter the way. Without the Lord's power in
us through his Holy Spirit we can do nothing. This great truth in its
fullness, accepted and believed in the heart, is the highest
attainment in faith that man is capable of. The deeper and warmer our
love for the Lord is, the clearer and stronger our faith grows; and
the clearer and stronger our faith is in him, the firmer are our
assurances that he is our life. We feel so free, so at liberty to do
just what we will, either good or bad, that the truth of our absolute
dependence upon God for every good affection and thought, for every
good motive and its attainment, is a lesson we are slow to learn.
Peter had not learned this lesson when, confident in his own strength,
he declared that he would not forsake the Lord. It is this sense of
our own weakness that leads us to pray. Prayer must proceed from the
heart. Otherwise it is not prayer, but a mere form of words. The Lord
will never help any one spiritually who does not feel the need of
divine help. Saul was struck down when the divine light flashed upon
him with a radiance above the brightness of the sun; but that light
only blinded him. The Lord then sent Ananias to inquire in the house
of Judas in Damascus for one called Saul of Tarsus: "For," said he,
"behold he prayeth." Without this prayer Saul would nevermore have
seen anything. This prayer was the opening of his heart to do the will
of the Lord, for in it he said: "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to
do?" I need only add here that the very first thing he was commanded
to do was: "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on
the name of the Lord."

SUNDAY, November 5. The two brethren had meeting at Isaac Shobe's and
stayed all night at Jacob Bargdoll's. On

MONDAY, November 6, they had morning meeting at Isaac Dasher's, and
night meeting at Nimrod Judy's, where they stay all night.

TUESDAY, November 7. They dine at William Hevner's in Brock's Gap, and
reach home in the evening.

The editor is making these transcripts from the Diary January 26,
1899; just a little over fifty years after the entries were made. He
was then a young man; and the current of life's forces, like a mighty
river, has borne him on its bosom over a large part of the
territory--especially in the two Virginias--traveled over and preached
over and prayed over by our long since sainted brother, Elder John
Kline. He lived to see good results from his labors, but they were not
strikingly conspicuous. As the Diary shows, now and then a brother, a
sister, applies for, and receives baptism at his hands. But we must
not overlook the truth that he was breaking the ice of indifference to
all the claims of religion in the minds and hearts of these people. He
was the very first minister in the Brotherhood to begin and carry on
what may be called an aggressive effort to spread a knowledge of
gospel truth through the present counties of Pendleton, Hardy, Grant,
Hampshire, Mineral, Randolph and Pocahontas in what is now West
Virginia. Other active and able ministers of that day, a few of whom I
will here name, all living in the Shenandoah Valley, would cheerfully
go with him; but he led the way. Those whose names I will give were
Benjamin Bowman, Daniel Miller, Abraham Flory, Isaac Long, father of
the very excellent and able preacher Isaac Long, Jr., Martain Miller,
brother of Daniel; John Harshbarger, and a little later on Jacob Wine
and Christian Wine. These are all gone to the heavenly shore, to live
in the paradise of God. But their works do follow them. They follow
them, and will follow them to the end of time, in the form of new
houses of worship erected by a largely increased and increasing
membership; by an increase of enlightened piety, as exemplified in its
possessors by their nonconformity to the world and their attendance
upon the ordinances of God's house. Here, however, we see only the
beginning of the good fruits from their sowings. The records of the
book of life; the palms; the white robes and crowns; the song of Moses
and the song of the Lamb will better tell than we ever can here the
exceeding preciousness and excellence of their works.

THURSDAY, December 7. Perform the marriage ceremony of Benjamin
Wampler and Anna Driver at Mother Wampler's; also the marriage
ceremony of Eli Summers and Sophia Frank.

SUNDAY, December 24. Get word of the death of Uncle Frederic Kline. Go
up to his place.

MONDAY, December 25. Uncle Frederic is buried to-day. Age,
seventy-five years, ten months and fourteen days. Stay all night at
Christian Garber's.

THURSDAY, December 28. Perform the marriage ceremony of Michael B.E.
Kline and Elizabeth Rhodes.

SUNDAY, December 31. At home. I have traveled in the year that is just
at its close 4,411 miles. The year appears very short. When I review
its labors and toils I am forced to reflect upon the imperfection of
my work. I have never delivered a discourse that was satisfactory to
me throughout. I hardly ever fail to see some lack of thought right
where I wanted to make the truth clear and impressive. Often and often
the reflections of my mind, as it were, hear a voice within saying:
"Why did you not put it this way? Why did you not think of that very
appropriate passage of Scripture, which would have fit the place so
nicely, and have been so expressive?" I do not suppose that any one
will see this little book while I live. After I am gone it may he
consigned to some dark closet, with the rest of its kind, as useless
rubbish. But should it ever fall into the hands of any minister of the
Word who may be afflicted in his work with thoughts akin to those I
have expressed in this review of the year, I beg him to be encouraged
rather than discouraged by them. I believe they are messages from the
Lord, who constantly seeks our highest good and greatest usefulness.
Satan, if he could, would induce us to believe that we are all right,
just what we should be; and in this way inflate us with a profound
sense of our own importance, and in this pride of heart make us esteem
ourselves greatly superior to all others. How this feeling differs
from that inculcated by Paul: "Let each esteem another better than
himself"! How different, too, from the words of the meek and lowly
Jesus: "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted"! These reviews and
criticisms of our works and ways tend to make us more thoughtful and
circumspect in the future. We seek to have our lacks supplied, our
wants relieved, and are induced thereby to apply our minds to the
study of the Word with more vigor, looking at the same time to the
Lord for the enlightening guidance of his Holy Spirit. It now lacks
just ten minutes of midnight. I will retire with the retiring year,
wishing to all a good-night, and joyful eyes to behold the dawn of the
new year.

THURSDAY, February 22. Hear the distant report of cannon in
commemoration of the birth of George Washington, which is said to have
occurred on the twenty-second day of February, 1732. It is presumable
that those who find pleasure in public demonstrations of this sort are
moved by what they regard as patriotic feelings and principles. Let
their motives and enjoyments spring from what they may, they have a
lawful right to celebrate the anniversary of his birth in any civil
way they may choose. But I have a somewhat higher conception of true
patriotism than can be represented by the firing of guns which give
forth nothing but meaningless sound. I am glad, however, that these
guns report harmless sound, and nothing more. If some public speakers
would do the same, it might be better both for them and their hearers.
My highest conception of patriotism is found in the man who loves the
Lord his God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself. Out of
these affections spring the subordinate love for one's country; love
truly virtuous for one's companion and children, relatives and
friends; and in its most comprehensive sense takes in the whole human
family. Were this love universal, the word _patriotism_, in its
specific sense, meaning such a love for one's country as makes its
possessors ready and willing to take up arms in its defense, might be
appropriately expunged from every national vocabulary.

Perform the marriage ceremony of Isaac Brady and Leanna Hulvey, at
John Hulvey's.

SATURDAY, March 3. Night meeting at John Mongold's on Lost River. I
speak from Luke 10:42. TEXT.--"But one thing is needful."

Various interpretations have been given of this text. Having given it
a good deal of thought myself, from the belief that a right
understanding of the passage is all-important, I will endeavor to make
clear to your minds what appears to me the Lord's meaning. All of you
take time to-morrow to read the tenth chapter of Luke, and you may see
many things I will not take time to notice to-night.

"But one thing is needful." If one were to come to each of you
privately to-night, and say to you: "I have plenty of this world's
goods to give away, tell me what you need, and I will supply you," and
remove all doubt from your mind of his meaning to do what he said, we
might be surprised at the varied answers and statements that he would
receive. Possibly--but I sincerely hope there are none such here
to-night--some might say tobacco, or snuff, or whisky. There are,
however, many things really needed for the support of life in this
world, and it is a part of wisdom to know our real needs, and how best
to supply them. Our Lord, on one occasion, referred to the two most
general needs of people,--food and clothing,--in which he instructed
them not to be forgetful of God in all their efforts to obtain these,
for, said he, "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all
these things."

Our Lord does not limit our bodily wants to one thing; so it cannot be
any worldly good he has in view. It must then be a need above, and of
vastly more importance than any worldly consideration. On one occasion
our Lord uttered a self-evident truth in these words: "He that walketh
in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth." By darkness in this place
ignorance of divine and spiritual things is meant. Again: "The people
which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." In this passage
darkness means ignorance and light means knowledge from teaching.
Sitting in the region and shadow of death is a figure so strong in its
import that we hardly know how to show forth its full significance.
Sitting implies an easy state of mind and feeling. The region of death
signifies the place where the love of self and the love of the world
bear rule, and find their gratification and satisfaction in worldly
enjoyments, and that place is man's depraved and spiritually dead
heart. The shadow of death signifies that beclouded state of the
understanding which is the inevitable consequence of being satisfied
to sit in darkness. Is not this altogether a frightful picture of
man's unenlightened and unregenerate state? But it is a true picture,
for it is given by the Lord, who knows what man is and what is in man.

Have I wandered away from my text? By no means. I have held up this
picture to show that man is so deeply sunk in darkness or ignorance
regarding himself and God that without instruction in the truths of
God's holy Word he does not know and he never would know what he does
need. Prior to the discovery of America the native Indian did not know
that he needed anything beyond what he then had in a natural way.

When the white man came and got acquainted with him he might have
addressed him in the exact words of my text as applied to his social,
moral and civil state and surroundings: "One thing is needful." That
one thing, properly infused and evolved, and in connection with such
infusion and evolution therefrom, properly applied to use, would have
transformed him from a savage to a civilized state; from temporal
misery and wretchedness into the enjoyments of life, liberty and the
high pursuits of happiness.

You may now wonder what that one thing would have been. One word
expresses it all, and that word is EDUCATION. The wonderful gifts of
divine goodness, in the shape of latent treasures of coal, iron, and
the precious metals; the exhaustless fertility of American soils; the
salubrity of its climates; the boundless power of its falling streams,
all, all these were here for the Indian alone, for hundreds, perhaps
thousands of years before the white man came. Why did he not use them?
Because he lacked the one thing needful, the proper education or
development of his mind, the knowledge of understanding the ways and
means of converting the heterogeneous into the homogeneous; the
useless into the useful; the ill-formed into the suitable. What the
Indian lacked is the very basis of the white man's individual and
national prosperity.

I have here laid a broad foundation on which I hope to erect a
superstructure of doctrine that may do us all good. I will here say
that EDUCATION into the knowledge and love of God's revealed Truth in
its true relation to man's life is the one thing needful to every
human being. I use the word EDUCATION in its most comprehensive and
exalted sense, that of preparing the mind and heart for the attainment
of the highest and noblest ends of life on earth and in heaven. In
this sense it takes in salvation with its happy experiences and
results. It takes in regeneration, that wonderful and radical change
in man wrought by God through his Holy Spirit, by which man passes
from darkness to light, and out of death into life.

The word _disciple_ means a learner, one who is receiving instruction.
Our Lord had twelve disciples whom he was training in a special way
for a special work. He was divinely educating them. He was opening
their minds and hearts as he opened Lydia's heart so that she attended
the things spoken of by Paul. He was imparting to them by parables, by
miracles, and by private interpretations, and still above all by the
examples he set, the means of acquiring this spiritual, this divine,
this heavenly education that would carry them through life by his
help, and make them the very pillars and grounds of the truth when
they should behold His face no more on earth. This heavenly training,
then, or the training of man's mind and heart for a heavenly life on
earth and for the ineffable enjoyment of that life above, is the one
thing needful. A deep consciousness of this is what led Mary to sit at
the Lord's feet and hear his words. The want of this left Martha to be
careful and troubled about many things--things of time and sense. A
desire for this high attainment caused David to sing so sweetly these
beautiful words: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will
I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life." By dwelling in the house of the Lord David meant with the
Lord's people: and as the Lord is always in his house with his people,
dwelling in his house is dwelling with him. All, in every age, who
sincerely desire to know the Lord, to do his will, and enjoy his
presence, desire to dwell in his house, which is the church of the
living God. They desire, like Mary, to sit at his feet and hear his
words. They sit at his feet and hear his words when in deep humility
of soul they hear his Gospel preached, or sung, or prayed; or when
they read it themselves.

Can I not prevail on some here to-night to accept Mary's happy choice,
to choose that good part which shall not be taken away from them?

SUNDAY, March 4. Meeting at Nesselrodt's. John 13 is read. Stay all
night at James Fitzwater's, and come home next day.

FRIDAY, March 16. Jacob Ritchey in the Gap is taken with a very severe
attack of cramp colic. I relieve him speedily and effectually by means
of active treatment. I found him in a state of almost indescribable
distress from the acute pains he had. I decided very quickly, after a
brief examination, that the cause of his trouble lay in a spasmodic
contraction of the muscles of the bowels. The powerfully antispasmodic
action of lobelia and steaming caused the nerves to let go their
abnormal grip, and he was well.

SATURDAY, March 31. Council meeting at Shaver's meetinghouse below
Woodstock in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Brother George Shaver is
established in the ministry, and Brother Neyhiser advanced.

FRIDAY, April 13. Council meeting in the Brush meetinghouse. Jacob
Miller, son of Daniel Miller, is elected to the ministry of the Word.

FRIDAY, April 20. On this day Brother Kline, in company with Brother
Benjamin Bowman, started on a journey to some of the western counties
of Virginia, now West Virginia. The first day they got to the widow
Miller's, on Briery Branch, in the southwest corner of Rockingham
County. The next day they went through North River Gap and got to
Henry Sanger's, in Highland County, Virginia, where they had night
meeting. Here Brother Bowman delivered a discourse, which, according
to the outlines in the Diary, was so pregnant with original thought
characteristic of the man that I will endeavor to expand its
contracted form and give it a more readable shape. TEXT.--"Then said
Jesus to those Jews which believed on him: If ye continue in my word,
then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free."

There was great diversity of feeling among the Jews in Christ's day,
just as there is among Gentiles now. Some were flint; others, clay in
the hand of the potter. "The common people heard him gladly; but the
scribes and Pharisees resisted the counsel of God against themselves."
If we read the entire chapter carefully it will give us a more
impressive view of and a clearer insight into the stubborn hardness of
the Jewish heart than any other single chapter that I can now think
of. The Jews were so wedded to their worldly sanctuary, so in love
with the representative forms of worship, that they could receive no
just ideas of genuine spiritual worship. Let me draw a comparison
here. Many people seem to think themselves rich when they have plenty
of money either in hand or standing out on interest. They think so
from the fact that money represents every exchangeable commodity of
worldly goods. In it they behold the supply of every bodily want, the
service they need and the honor they crave.

This is something like what the scribes and Pharisees, the elders and
priests saw in their religion. And these worldly emoluments and
benefits are what they feared would be taken away from them, should
the great principles of love to God and love to man, inculcated by our
Savior, be generally received. They said: "If we let him thus alone,
all men will believe on him; and the Romans will come and take away
both our place and our nation."

The Roman power had a civil regard for the temple so long as it
retained its dignity as the national house of Jewish worship. Should
it, however, lose this honor by being no longer needed and used as
such, the Romans would withhold this regard and convert it--as was
actually done years afterward--into a barrack for soldiers. Where
would then be the salaried scribe, the domineering and overbearing
elder, the rich but hypocritical Pharisee, and the pompous high
priest? Their place and their nation would be gone. These
considerations, in connection with their inbred conceits that they
were the peculiar, chosen and exclusive people of God, caused them to
reject the Lord. "He came unto his own and his own received him not."
But some did receive him, and "as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his
name." It was to such as believed on him that the words of my text
were addressed. The text gave them, and it gives the same to us, three
promises by the mouth of him whose word is yea and amen.

First promise: "If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples."

Second promise: "And ye shall know the truth."

Third promise: "And the truth shall make you free."

These promises are all so full of love and truth that a long and
instructive discourse might be based upon each one separately, and
then much of their subject matter remain untouched. We are told how we
may be true disciples of the Lord. A disciple is a learner, one who is
receiving instruction because of a sincere desire in him to know the
truth. We are truly his disciples when we abide in his Word. What is
the meaning of the clause, "If ye abide in my word"? Let James, the
apostle of charity, answer: "If a man be not a forgetful hearer of the
word, but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his
doing." For myself, I must say that learning the lessons of Christ is
very much like learning the lessons given in almost any other branch
of knowledge. We send our children to school. Some take delight in
their books, and make satisfactory progress. Others, that have the
same opportunities to learn, seem to take very little interest in
their lessons or in the instructions of their teachers, and move on
very slowly. Why is this? It is mainly a lack of love for study. One
hungers and thirsts for knowledge, another does not. But the one that
loves to acquire knowledge is the one that abides in the instructions
of his teacher and his books, and he is a true disciple or learner. It
is very much the same way in the school of Christ. Some hear, obey and
profit greatly by what they hear. Such abide in his words. Such are
his true disciples.

Some one may ask: "What are his words in which man must abide?" I
answer, They are all the words he has spoken. "Man liveth by every
Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Jesus never uttered an
idle or unnecessary word. All "his words are spirit and they are
life." In his last great prayer our Lord lifted up his eyes and said:
"Father, sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
Remember, too, that the Son spake none but the Father's words; for he
said to those very wicked Jews who sought his life: "The things which
I heard from the Father, these speak I unto the world." Moses, the
prophets, and the Psalms of the Old Testament; and the writings of the
New Testament comprise the entire Word of God. It was of the
life-giving power of this Word, Old and New, that the angel said to
John on the isle of Patmos: "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy." All teaching is prophecy; and all teachers of Divine Truth
are prophets. And as the spirit and meaning of all the words God has
ever declared to man in their most exalted sense bear witness of Jesus
and set him forth as the very life and truth and way, this, therefore,
is what is meant in what the angel said to John. "And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth." This Word made
flesh was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. To abide in his Word
is to live in him as the way, the truth and the life. In this state we
are truly his disciples. We will now turn our thoughts to the

SECOND PROMISE.--"And ye shall know the truth." This promise will
surely be realized by every one, without exception, who abides in the
words of the Lord. It is a promise very much like that other in these
words: "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." Books have been
written in defense of the truth of Divine Revelation. I have read
several. They are ably written, and with good intentions. But I doubt
if any unbeliever has ever been converted by any of them. In the first
place, unbelievers are not likely to read books on such subjects; and
in the second place, without a heartfelt desire to know the truth,
they would not be persuaded though one should arise from the dead. To
one who loves the truth, the truth bears witness of itself. It is
self-evidencing in its own light. It bears its own testimony.

I not long since read what purported to be a true story of a man by
the name of Casper Hauser, who had been intentionally brought up in a
dark cave from his very infancy. Up to mature manhood he had never
seen a ray of light, except what proceeded from the dim lantern which
his keeper used in supplying him with food and other things. Had this
man been told, while in the cave, of the wonderful light of the sun
and the beauties of the outside world, he would not have been able to
understand what was told him. But if he would have been willing to
take the hand of some true friend and be led out into the light, he
would not have needed any argument to convince him that what he had
heard was true. Like the queen of Sheba, when she visited King
Solomon, he might have said: "It was a true report I heard, but now
mine eyes have seen it, and the half had not been told me."

Let me say to you, friends, that right here in this Divine Word is one
greater than Solomon, whose eyes are as a flame of fire to illuminate
the sinner's dark understanding, and whose countenance is as the sun
shining in his strength to warm and cheer the sinner's cold and
cheerless heart. That one is Jesus. As the Divine Word, he revealed
his glory on the mount, and Peter in the joyfulness of his heart said:
"Lord, it is good to be here." How often does the true disciple, when
the Word is revealed to his heart, in the warmth of its love and light
of its truth, feel like exclaiming in the same words: "Lord, it is
good to be here!" But not all know the truth; and we ask, Why is it
so? In answering this question several things have to be kept in mind.
Some--but very few in our land--are not in reach of the preached Word,
are not instructed so as to be able to read it, and are so situated
socially as to hear nothing of the Gospel. Some are born deaf, who can
neither hear nor read. Some are born idiots who are incapable of
understanding. With such ignorance is no sin. But what shall we say of
the great army of unbelievers who, in the very blaze of gospel light,
shut their eyes and, like the Gergesenes, beseech the Lord to depart
out of their borders. These "love darkness rather than light; and they
will not come to the light." This answers the question, "Why do not
all know the truth?" They will not abide in his words. They will not
do the truth: "For he that doeth the truth cometh to the light." We
now turn to the

THIRD PROMISE.--"And the truth shall make you free." This is the most
precious promise of all. It is just what the truth will do for every
one who knows the truth and obeys it in his life. It will make him
free. Like the Jews, some may say, "We have never been in bondage. We
are free now, and how can you say, The truth shall make us free?" The
Lord may answer you on that. The Jews claimed the same freedom that
you claim. They said: "We be Abraham's seed, and have never been in
bondage to any man." But Jesus answered: "Verily, verily I say unto
you, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin." You
decide now for yourself whether you are a bondservant or a free man.
Do you commit sin in the love of it? Do you willingly transgress God's
holy law contained in the Ten Commandments? If so, Jesus says you are
a bondservant of sin. Paul says the same in these words: "To whom ye
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are, whether of sin
unto death; or of obedience unto righteousness."

Again: You are commanded to repent and believe the Gospel. You are
commanded to be baptized, confessing your sins. Have you complied with
these plain precepts of Holy Truth? If not, the seal of bondage is
still upon you, and every day you live in sin stamps that seal deeper
and yet deeper upon your heart. But there is balm in Gilead for you if
you will accept it; and there is a physician there for you, if you
will but let him administer the remedy. That balm is the heavenly,
holy, healing Word of the Lord, and that Physician is the Lord
himself. Do you ask how you are to take it? Take it in faith, "for he
that believeth is not condemned; but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the
only begotten Son of God."

"And the truth shall make you free." Thousands on earth and millions
in glory bear testimony to the truth in these words. A living, loving
belief in the words of Jesus; a faith that works from love and
purifies the heart is the only power that will break the yoke of sin.
This faith God is ever ready, through his Holy Spirit, to help you to
have. Of yourself you can do nothing; but the very last words Jesus
uttered on earth were these, "Lo! I am with you to the end of the
world."

SUNDAY, April 22. The two brethren had meeting at Doe Hill, in
Highland County. They took dinner at Joel Siple's, and had night
meeting at George Wine's. On the twenty-third they went down the South
Fork to Jacob Stone's and had meeting in one of his outbuildings. In
the afternoon they had meeting at the widow Hoover's on the Fork, and
stayed all night at Dr. John Keister's. On the twenty-fourth they had
meeting at Bethel church in the forenoon; got dinner at Jacob
Warnstaff's, and in the afternoon have meeting at Zion church in Hardy
County. They stayed all night at the widow Peggy Dasher's. Mrs. Dasher
(quoting from Diary) is a member of the Methodist denomination, and a
very kind and hospitable woman. She lives up to her Christian
profession as taught by her Discipline. We held family worship in her
house and tried to impress upon the minds of her sons, who are
intelligent and promising young men, the "one thing needful," the
giving of their hearts to the Lord.

WEDNESDAY, April 25. They had meeting at Nimrod Judy's. Brother Kline
spoke from Matthew 18:11. TEXT.--"The Son of man is come to save that
which was lost."

If man could fairly realize what he has lost through sin; and what may
be gained by forsaking all for Christ; in other words, what it is to
be lost, and what it is to be saved, he could not rest satisfied to
remain one moment longer in his sin-ruined state. Like the Philippian
jailer, he would instantly cry out, "What must I do to be saved?" Like
the people on the day of Pentecost, being pierced as to their hearts
by what they heard and saw, he would say: "Brethren, what shall I do?"
"The Son of man is come to save that which was lost." It is of the
utmost importance to know what was lost, so as to know what it is that
the Son of man came to save. I will try to tell you this. It is you,
it is I, it is every human being upon the face of the earth. And are
all lost? Yes, without an exception. To what extent are we all lost?
To the extent of all that is of us--body, spirit and soul. And are our
bodies lost? Yes, our bodies are lost to all that God intended them to
be. Our bodies were never designed to be the abodes of disease and
suffering; neither were they intended to be subject to infirmity from
age. When God looked down upon a finished creation he saw that it was
good, yea, very good. Can this be said of our bodies now? Let the
blind, the deaf, the lame, the countless sufferers on beds of
affliction, the child-bearing mother, the decrepit consumptive, the
rheumatic invalid, let these say whether our bodies are very good now.
And how about our spirits? I use the term _spirit_ here in the sense
of its being the basis of human perception and thought. Are our
spirits or minds very good? Let those who are trying to learn and look
into the secrets of knowledge and science answer this. From the child
in school to the highest rank in scholarship ever held by any man, the
same complaint comes up, that lessons are hard, and what is acquired
as knowledge is very unsatisfactory.

But I have touched only the hem of sin's garment in what I have said.
If the soul or will of man were still very good, I mean to say here
that if man had not lost his love for his fellow-man and his love for
God; in other words, if man still loved the Lord his God with all his
heart and his neighbor as himself, feebleness of body and weakness of
mind would be matters of small moment. The body is soon done with any
way; and the mind or intellect is still sufficiently clear for all the
purposes of life in this world; and when once disengaged from the body
that here clogs and fetters it,--as it will be at death,--in the hope
of being lifted to a higher sphere of perception and thought, the loss
to man suffered by the fall in these two departments of his being
would be comparatively small.

But man's will or inmost love is the secret spring of life. From this
all his affections flow; and right here we find his Marah, the bitter
waters of his soul. In reading the story of the children of Israel in
the wilderness we learn that they came to a place where the waters
were all bitter. Brethren, that place is right in our own hearts. Our
hearts are the springs from which these bitter waters flow in the form
of "evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,
blasphemy, pride, foolishness." Mark 7:21, 22. What an outflow of
bitterness! Enough to flood a world to destruction! And this
destruction had come, and its arm would have held its power over man
eternally, had not the great Prophet, the Moses of love, come and cast
a tree into the waters whereby they were made sweet. The Lord in his
Word is this tree. He is the tree of life, whose leaves are for the
healing of the nations. His voice comes to us from far: "I am the Lord
that healeth thee; for the Son of man came to save that which was
lost."

It is of infinite importance for us to know how he saves us, what we
are expected to do, how we are to work with him and to what extent. I
will try to give some light on this from the Word itself. Jesus said
to his disciples: "If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not,
because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the
night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him." This beautiful
and striking parable, showing the benefit of knowledge and the
disadvantage of ignorance, lights the sinner's way for his first step
toward the Lord. Knowledge, which is light from the Lord through his
Word, is the very first thing every one must receive. The sinner first
receives the clay and the spittle applied to his blind eyes. He does
not get his sight from this application. When he hears the Gospel with
something of a desire to have his eyes opened he is receiving this
anointing of his eyes. He must go to the pool of Siloam and wash
before he can have sight. This washing in the pool is the first step
in that humble spirit of obedience by which the understanding is
cleared up and prepared to know the Lord. When any sinner gets this
far the Lord is sure to find him and whisper in his heart: "Dost thou
believe on the Son of God?" Every true penitent sinner, with his eyes
open, will answer in heart: "Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on
him?" Then the joyful response will be whispered again: "Thou hast
both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee." The Lord meets
the returning sinner in his blessed Word, and there he shows himself
to him, and there he talks with him.

Water, in many places in the Old as well as the New Testament, is the
emblem or symbol of Divine Truth. I need not say that without water
man cannot live. His body is largely composed of water. It is
consequently essential as a beverage; and as an ablution,
indispensable to cleanliness. Reading and hearing the Word of Divine
Truth from a real thirst or desire to know the truth, is what is
spiritually symbolized by drinking water. This may be proved by what
the Lord said to the Samaritan woman: "He that drinketh of the water
that I shall give him, shall never thirst; for it shall be in him a
well of water springing up into everlasting life." By the expression,
"never thirst," Jesus does not mean that there will never be any
further inclination to drink the water of life, but he means that
there will in that soul never be any more perishing, dying thirst, for
the water of life will be like a spring in the heart that will flow on
forever from the Lord. It will be the rock in the wilderness that
supplied the camp of Israel with water, and that Rock is Christ.

But again. The sinner's whole inner man is defiled with sin. This may
be illustrated by the spots and scales and raw blotches on the skin,
caused by the disease called leprosy. This disease affected every part
of the body; but, like smallpox and some other kindred affections, it
made itself mostly visible upon the surface of the body. It gave the
victim a horrible appearance, so much so that no one was willing but
such as were similarly afflicted, to go near a leper. But the water of
Divine Truth will effectually and forever wash away all this filth and
loathsomeness from the redeemed sinner's soul and prepare his
spiritual body for that bright array of fine linen, clean and white,
in which the saints shall be clothed as a fit emblem of their
righteousness. Paul calls all this the washing of regeneration. In
that great change, without which no man can see the kingdom of heaven,
called regeneration, or the new birth, wrought by God only, the water
of truth is the means employed. This is so evident that water is
specifically named in connection with it in these words: "Except a man
be born of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of
heaven."

Ananias did not forget this when instructing the penitent Saul of
Tarsus; for at the close of all the words the Lord had authorized him
to say to Saul, we find these: "And now, why tarriest thou? Arise, and
be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the
Lord. And Saul arose and was baptized." Saul's sins were not washed
away by the water in which his body was baptized, but that water
symbolized the truth, the Lord's truth, that does wash away sins. And
his being immersed in it in each of the three names, according to the
great commission which the Lord had given some time before, signified
his faith in the Word of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost. Peter says: "Baptism is not the washing away of the filth of
the flesh," but I feel authorized to say that it is the outward sign
or emblem of the power of divine truth to wash away the filth of the
soul. The change in Saul, wrought by this act as the crown of
obedience, was so great that from this time on he was a new man, and
had a new name, for he was called Paul ever after.

But we must not forget that salvation is all of God. Of ourselves we
can do nothing. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. All that man
can do is to take the Lord's hand and be led in the way; to open his
eyes to the light, and his ears to the truth, and his heart to the
life, in faith receiving, and in life living the precepts that make
him wise unto salvation.

THURSDAY, April 26. The two brethren preached the funeral of Isaac
Shobe's mother. She had passed away shortly before, at the high age of
ninety-four years. They spoke from First Corinthians 15. From here
they went to James Parks's and had night meeting. The next day they
had meeting at William Parks's; and on

SATURDAY, April 28, they had meeting at Enoch Hyre's in forenoon, and
at Elijah Judy's at night. They anointed Sister Elijah Judy with oil
in the name of the Lord.

SUNDAY, April 29. They had meeting at Sister Chlora Judy's in the
forenoon, and then crossed the Fork mountain to Nimrod Judy's, where
they had night meeting and stayed all night.

MONDAY, April 30. They got home. Quoting from the Diary Brother Kline
says: "I love to go among the mountains. The people there seem to pay
better attention to what is said, and manifest better behavior at our
meetings than they do in the thickly-settled and more fashionable
sections of our State. It is true that ignorance and poverty abound in
some places; but are the souls of the poor less dear to the Lord than
the souls of the rich? On one occasion our Lord referred to the fact
that the Gospel was preached to the poor as a proof of its heavenly
origin. But there are intelligent people living among those mountains.
And in the way of hospitality and genuine kindness, meeting you with a
smile and a hearty welcome, they are probably unsurpassed as a people,
rich and poor alike."

The high regard in which Brother Kline held the people of the western
part of the old State of Virginia, and the reciprocation of that
regard by their high appreciation of him and his mission, accounts for
the many visits he made among them, and his devotion to their
spiritual welfare. Nor was his work evanescent. The seal of his
influence was so deeply impressed upon their affections and memories
that to-day, after the lapse of fifty years, its stamp is almost as
fresh as when first made. Nor is this a matter of wonder or surprise.
The sermons I have set in order were substantially preached by him and
other ministers, mostly led into that section by him; and the power of
such discourses, together with the worship and instructions held and
given in families wherever he stayed, had an influence that will never
be forgotten. The writer's own personal acquaintance with the people
living in sections of his vast district of labor gives him to know
that the name of John Kline is still as a household word with many of
them. Nor is this all. The indoctrination of these people into the
beliefs and practices of Revealed Truth as held by the Brethren was so
profound, so clear, so convincing, that they to-day stand abreast of
others in defense of these doctrines as at first received, in the face
of all the isms and religious innovations of the times.

FRIDAY, May 18. Start to the Annual Meeting. Ride Nell. Stay first
night at Isaac Dasher's.

On this journey the Editor can not depart from the simple but
beautiful and almost childlike daily entries in the Diary. If they
appear monotonous to the reader, the Editor begs him to leaf over them
and find something that will suit his taste better. He must, however,
say something about Nell. She proved to be a very remarkable mare
indeed. For strength and endurance, through cold and heat, in hunger
and thirst, over mountains numberless and pathless woods and valleys,
on long and exhausting journeys, Nell has had few equals. History has
not been willing to drop the name of Bucephalus; and Nell is more
worthy of a place on its roll. He bore a conqueror for a corruptible
crown: she bore a conqueror for an incorruptible crown. His was an
earthly service; hers a heavenly. The name of Nell, under very
peculiar and distressing surroundings, will appear again.

SATURDAY, May 19. Meeting at Elijah Judy's. Hebrews 12 is read. After
meeting go to James Parks's, and stay second night.

SUNDAY, May 20. Meeting at Patch's church on Looney's Creek in Hardy
County, Virginia. Speak from Acts 2. Dine at John Stingley's. Have
night meeting at Jacob Cosner's, where I speak on Hebrews 12, and stay
third night.

MONDAY, May 21. Come to meeting at Solomon Michael's. Elections are
held. Thomas Clarke and Michael Lion are established; William Michael
is elected speaker; William George and Thomas Lion are elected
deacons. Come to Samuel Arnold's on New Creek, and stay fourth night.

TUESDAY, May 22. Dine at Robert Broadwater's on the Alleghany, and
stay fifth night at Eli Whetzel's.

WEDNESDAY, May 23. Meeting and elections. First John is read. John Ogg
is elected speaker, and Eli Whetzel deacon. Love feast in the evening.
A little company of brethren and sisters, with the Lord in our midst.
A time I shall probably never forget. Stay sixth night with Brother
Whetzel.

THURSDAY, May 24. Meeting at the Greenville church. Matthew 5 is read.
In the evening have meeting in a schoolhouse near the widow Berkley's,
and stay seventh night at her house.

FRIDAY, May 25. Meeting in a schoolhouse near Daniel Beachley's.
Matthew 24 is read. Five persons baptized. Stay eighth night at John
Beachley's near the Berlin meetinghouse.

SATURDAY, May 26. Meeting at the meetinghouse. John 3 is read. Stay
ninth night at Brother J. Beachley's.

SUNDAY, May 27. Meeting at the meetinghouse. Acts 2 is read. Stay
tenth night at same place. We had much edifying speaking on the
chapter read. One beloved brother spoke at some length on these words
in the last verse of the chapter read: "Having favor with all the
people." He said in substance: "Brethren, the having favor with all
the people is very pleasant to us naturally, and encouraging
spiritually, if the favor be of the right kind and obtained in the
right way. I am here reminded, in the way of a comparison, of what a
distinguished statesman once said of the presidency of these United
States. He said it is an office that is neither to be directly sought
nor directly declined. I do not think his statement would be far out
of the line of true wisdom if applied to us as Brethren, in relation
to our standing in the eye of society at large. What may be truthfully
said of one brother or sister in private life, in this particular
regard, may be truthfully said of our entire Brotherhood in a public
regard.

"We all know how pleasant it is to enjoy the favor, the friendship and
respect of those living around us. The enjoyment from this source has
given rise to the formation of 'harmonies' and 'colonies,' with some.
Such establishments are favorable to social enjoyment, no doubt; but
it is to be feared that segregation in that form may engender feelings
akin to selfishness, and dwarf the higher impulses to general good.
But the favorable regard in which we may be held should not be sought
as a consideration of the first importance. To serve and please the
Lord should be the first and foremost aim of every brother and sister.
If the favor and respect of others meet us in the line of duty, as set
forth in our doctrines and practices as a Brotherhood of believers in
and humble followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us regard it as a
desirable token of good already done, and a promise of good that may
still be done.

"Brethren, a review of our growth in numbers and influence as a body
of Christians, with our original and, in the eyes of the world,
peculiar observances as to ordinances in the church, and deportment
and customs in the world, is to say the least pleasantly surprising.
Our name as Brethren is hardly a century old, if I am rightly
informed; and what are we now? A legion, not of devils, but of angels
for good. And may I not here add the words of my text, 'Having favor
with all the people'? I do not think these historic words are to be
construed to mean that the Brethren of that Pentecostal day had no
enemies; but that they had the favor of the disinterested and
unprejudiced classes. This is just what I think _we_ have, where we
are known. There has been a day,--but thank God that day is
past,--when public opinion, if history be correct, was largely the
reverse of what it is with us. Vice, then, was virtue; and goodness
was criminal. Rebukes of sin and calls to repentance and reformation
of life were silenced by the martyr's faggot and stake. We cannot
here, and we would not if we could, attempt to trace the sublime array
of causes, both divine and human, that have contributed to the happy
change we now enjoy; but sure it is, we now realize the ideal dream of
the far-off seer, described in these words: 'But they shall sit, every
man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them
afraid.' We have the favor of the people when we have the favor of the
government; for the people are the government.

"Brethren, we have cause for inexpressible emotions of gratitude to
God for the favor we enjoy. The outlook is bright; the sky of promise
calm and serene. It is said that a Grecian patriot and statesman once
assumed a very weighty responsibility, which required him to leave his
home and State to meet it. He seemed loath to go. He expressed fear
that things would not go on in his absence as they had in his
presence. Finally, however, he secured a pledge from every member of
the Athenian court that no change in the order of government and the
laws should be made during his absence. He went; but such was his love
for his country that he never returned. Brethren, the time is not far
distant when I, your humble servant, burning with love for my church
and people, will have to leave my home and country. Nothing, I say
nothing, could give me more comfort when I make the start than the
assurance on your part that you will make no changes in our faith and
rules of order, _in_ church and _out_, during my absence. Then will I
bid a joyful farewell to all, feeling that no changes from our present
order will ever be made, for I will never return."

MONDAY, May 28. Our Annual Meeting begins. Questions received and some
motions made. Stay eleventh night at same place.

TUESDAY, May 29. Council continues. Good order and love prevail. Stay
twelfth night at same place.

WEDNESDAY, May 30. The business having all been disposed of in a way
as satisfactory as we could do it, after prayer and the singing of the
hymn,

  "Blest be the dear uniting love
    That will not let us part,"

the meeting closed, and we gave each other the parting hand about 10
A.M.

Have night meeting at Brother John Ogg's on way home. Speak from part
of Luke 13, and stay thirteenth night with Brother Ogg.

THURSDAY, May 31. Stay fourteenth night at Thomas Clark's.

FRIDAY, June 1. Stay fifteenth night at Jacob Cosner's.

SATURDAY, June 2. Meeting at Rorabaugh's on New Creek, in Hampshire
County, Virginia. Acts 10 is read. Get to Enoch Hyre's and stay
sixteenth night.

SUNDAY, June 3. Meeting at Enoch Hyre's. Part of Acts 2 is read. Polly
Stambaugh is baptized. Cross the mountain to Leonard Brake's, where I
stay seventeenth night.

MONDAY, June 4. Attend the burial of Frederic Dove in the Gap. Age,
eighty-seven years, two months and seventeen days Stay at Dove's
eighteenth night.

TUESDAY, June 5. Attend the burial of Brother Nasselrodt, near Dove's.
Age, sixty-one years, five months and twenty-eight days. In the
evening get home.

FRIDAY, August 17. Attend the burial of Elizabeth, daughter of William
Hevner, in the Gap. She died of typhoid fever. I speak from these
words in Psalm 103: "Surely, man's days are as grass: as a flower of
the field, so he flourisheth: ... and the place thereof shall know it
no more." Her place in the home is sadly vacant. We can only bow in
tearful sympathy with the bereaved family.

THURSDAY, September 6. Perform the marriage ceremony of William Miller
and Sarah Shoemaker, and the same for Levi Runion and Elizabeth
Aubrey.

FRIDAY, September 7. This day Brother Kline started on another journey
to Hampshire County, Virginia. He attended a succession of meetings
and love feasts both going and returning, as was his custom. He got
home September 21, after an absence of just two weeks. He does not
forget Nell. On the evening of his arrival home he says: "On the
journey from which I have just returned, Nell has carried me 221
miles. If Martin Luther and John Wesley are correct in their opinions,
Nell may be rewarded for her uncomplaining faithfulness, in a future
state of existence. But as we have no assurance of this, I desire to
reward her in this world as well as I can, for her gentle and untiring
service. I think the comfort of brutes generally is not thought of as
much as it should be. Solomon says: 'The righteous man regardeth the
life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.'
Prov. 10:12. Solomon deals out a bit of very cutting sarcasm here, in
the subordinate clause of his proposition; but it is fairly merited by
such as are cruel to brutes. People do not, I am sure, regard the
comfort of brutes as they should. There are, here and there, noble
exceptions; but horses labor faithfully for us, and very often the
only reward they get is harsh treatment and scanty feeding. The Lord
has graciously given to man the supremacy over the brute creation. But
man should not show his supremacy by acting the part of a tyrant; but,
like a wise ruler, 'do justice and love mercy.' Whatever else may be
brought against me on the day of judgment, I am resolved, by the help
of God, that no brute shall there, in fact or figure, rise up and say:
'You mistreated me intentionally.'"

SUNDAY, September 30. Attend the burial of William Hevner's son
Harvey. He died of typhoid fever. His age was twenty-seven years, two
months and four days. It has been a very short while since his sister
Elizabeth passed away. We should weep with those who weep: but our
deepest sympathy for others cannot give us a realization of the depth
of grief felt by bereaved parents and their children. Happy are those
who can look beyond the tomb to have their sorrows healed.

Between this time and the close of the year Brother Kline made only
one long journey. He and Anna went in his family carriage to Maryland
first. After attending a number of love feasts and other meetings
around Frederic City and Shepherdstown, they went down the Cumberland
Valley beyond Harrisburg, and after a few days' sojourn there they
return by very nearly the same route they went. They were just three
weeks and two days on this journey.


END OF 1849.

Whole distance traveled this year by me is 3,903 miles.

SUNDAY, February 12, 1850. Meeting at Buck Hill, in Shenandoah County,
Virginia. I speak from John 6:44, 45. TEXT.--"No man can come to me,
except the Father which hath sent me draw him."

I here note the substance of what I said. My text sets forth the two
great facts which all should know: _man's weakness_ and _God's power_.
The first part of the text declares man's absolute weakness in himself
and of himself. In another place our Lord says: "Without me ye can do
nothing." In the text he says: "No man can come to me." Had he stopped
here we would be left without hope. But he did not stop here.
Immediately, as if by the same breath of love, he adds: "Except the
Father which hath sent me draw him." This part shows that if the
Father does draw a man he can come to Jesus. Now, then, does the
Father draw? The prophets say he does in these words: "And they shall
all be taught of God." He draws them by teaching them. In what follows
we may learn the power of this Great Teacher. Notice very
particularly: "Every man,"--this means every human being, whether man
or woman,--"every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of
the Father, cometh unto me."

But here are things very deep. Our minds inquire to know how the
Father, whose voice we have never at any time heard and whose shape we
have never seen, can teach us. It is through the Son that the Father
speaks, for the Son bears this testimony himself in these words: "I
speak not from myself; but the Father which sent me, he hath given me
a commandment what I should say and what I should speak. And I know
that his commandment is life eternal: the things therefore which I
speak, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak." Nothing can
be plainer than this that Jesus spoke with authority, the divine
authority of the Father, and that he is God the Father manifest in the
flesh, the Emmanuel--God the Father with us. For further proof of
this, turn to Isaiah 9:6, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace." Again our Lord says: "All power is given
to me in heaven and on earth." Paul's teaching harmonizes with this:
"For," says he, "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily." By the Godhead he means the Divine Head of creation,
providence, redemption and eternal salvation: "For all things were
made by him;" and as Paul again says: "In him all things consist," or
hold together.

We are now prepared to understand how Jesus could know the thoughts of
men, and why he needed not that any should testify to him of man, for
he knew what was in man. He knew all this by creation and
preservation, by his power of perception which is boundless, and his
knowledge which is infinite. Man's body, when viewed intelligently,
with its organs of life and motion, is a thing of wonder in our eyes.
Anatomy reveals in its organs, designs and purposes in their
structures and uses which overwhelm us with astonishment. What, then,
must the soul be, when its structure and organization, essence and
power as far exceed those of the body as the man who lives in the
house exceeds the house? For the body is nothing more than the house
or habitation of the soul. Paul calls it "our earthly house." He says:
"In this we groan--it will be dissolved." He then immediately turns
his thought to the renewed soul or spiritual body, and calls it "a
building of God, a house not made with hands." All things, then,
pertaining to our souls, being naked and open to the eyes of him with
whom we have to do, we may rest secure in the belief that whatever he
tells us about ourselves is true. He knows just what we can do and
what we cannot do. And it is he who says, "No man can come to me,
except the Father draw him."

But perhaps some inside this house are saying within themselves: "Is
man not free to choose good or evil--to do right or wrong?" I answer
that he is free,--free as the eagle in the air; free as the fox in the
bramble; free as the lion in the desert; free as birds and beasts are
free to comply with the instincts of their natures and the
inclinations of their wills. Man's freedom is what makes him a
responsible being. He is yet more free than the brute creation;
because that is bounded by the limits of capacity. But man's mind is
capable of indefinite expansion and elevation in knowledge. Still the
text is true: "No man can come to me, except the Father draw him." Let
me draw a comparison here. A king once made a great supper and invited
many to come and partake of it. At the right time he sent forth his
servants to tell them that were bidden to come, for all things are now
ready. Did they go? No! They all began to make excuses. You see they
were free, free to go, and free to stay away. They chose to stay away,
and in this very way every sinner uses his freedom; he chooses not to
come to the Lord.

When a man's will or a woman's will is set on something they love
above everything else, can they of themselves change their wills? I
have known several instances in which a young lady set her affections
upon a man who was not her equal in any respect, and very far below
her in general character. I have known the mother of such a lady to
bend over her daughter, and with tearful eyes entreat her to withdraw
her affections from that unworthy object and give them to another who,
in breathless suspense, and with a soul and character and surroundings
worthy of her, was but waiting to receive them. And did that young
lady change? Did she withdraw her love from the unworthy object and
give it to the other? She did not. Her answer every time was: "Mother,
I _cannot_." Just in this sense, relatively, the sinner is free. He is
free to love most what he likes best, and that is himself and the
world. In this state he would forever remain but for "the grace of God
which bringeth salvation." Right here comes in the necessity for the
change of heart, the new creation and regeneration, as Paul calls it;
the being born again, as the Lord and Peter call it, upon which
everything depends, and without which no man can enter the kingdom of
heaven. This is connected with the drawing of the Father, "for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the
heart."

When I was young I could not understand what it is to come to Jesus,
to be with him, to follow him. I thought I could readily see how
people could come to him to be healed, and to be cured of their
diseases, and to be fed by his liberal hand, when he was visibly on
earth in the flesh. But he is no longer here in that form. I was in
darkness. My eyes could behold no form which I could approach unto; no
visible steps for me to follow; hear no audible voice of comfort to
encourage, of instruction to enlighten, and of commands to obey.
Where, thought I, is he to be found, and how are we to know when we
have found him? These and many other similar thoughts occupied my
mind, until I wondered much why he did not stay when he was here. I
suppose that many young but thoughtful minds have wandered, and others
at the present time are now wandering in this same wilderness of doubt
and uncertainty. Let me say to you, my dear young friend, that Jesus
is here as truly now as he was when visible to natural eyes. As God,
he is here in his glorified state. To every one who desires him he
says in words of warmest love, "Lo, I am with you alway." These are
his very words. He is everywhere. He said, just before his death, by
way of encouraging his disciples: "I go away, but I will see you
again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away
from you." He continued: "I will not leave you comfortless: I will
come unto you." But he has promised yet more than his presence to go
with all who love him: he declares in words we can understand that "if
a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and
we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Again he says:
"He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit." In
his last prayer to the Father he says: "I in them, and thou in me,
that they may be perfected into one." These promises ought to assure
every one of the greatness and the power of the love of Christ; since
he loves us so much as to be willing to come and dwell with us and be
in us forever.

It is by faith that we come to him. We see him with the eye of faith.
We walk with him by faith, not by sight. We love him because he first
loved us, and gave his life to redeem and save us. All this and much
more we learn in his Word. His Word is the Gospel which is able to
make us wise unto salvation. Let me exhort all of you, old and young,
to read and search for its hidden treasures, for therein are contained
the words of eternal life. It is the duty and privilege of every one
to pray. Prayer is the eye that looks to Jesus, and the heart that
says: "Lord, save, or I perish." Faith is the hand that lays hold of
his saving promises. Obedience is the whole man in active service on
the side of the Lord Jesus Christ.

SUNDAY, March 3. Go to Sellers's schoolhouse. Speak on John 14:6. Dine
at Felix Senger's; then home.

Felix Senger deserves more than a passing notice. He, with his father,
Joel Senger, moved to Rockingham County, Virginia, about the year
1847. Both father and son belonged to the Brotherhood, and each was
like the other in devotion to its interests, actively employed. Felix
established a nursery of fruit trees, the second, if not the first,
established in the county. Most of the orchards planted from his
nursery, after having given the most abundant satisfaction, are now
very old or dead. Some trees, though in the decline of life, still
tell the sweet story of Felix Senger's nursery. They are like some
good people, who, though old, can still remember and tell of the one
who, though dead, was the means of their being planted in the Lord's
orchard of spiritual fruit trees.

Brother Kline attended the burial services of four aged people in this
month. The first was that of old mother Mills, as he calls her. This
took place the fifth. Her age was eighty-one years and eleven months.
The next was that of Mrs. John Carr, on the eleventh. Her age was
seventy-one years. The next was that of Mr. Stern, on the eighteenth.
His age was eighty years. The next was that of Alexander Glovier, on
the twenty-seventh. His age was seventy-nine years, one month and
twenty-four days.

SATURDAY, March 30. Attend council meeting at Shaver's meetinghouse in
Shenandoah County. Samuel Mummert is elected speaker.

THURSDAY, April 11. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Jacob Wine
and Jacob Miller are elected delegates to the Annual Meeting.

SATURDAY, April 20. Council meeting at the brick meetinghouse in
Augusta County. Daniel Brower is established, and Jacob Brower
advanced in the ministry.

SUNDAY, May 5. Meeting in our meetinghouse. Romans 6 is read. Joshua
Wampler and wife, Hannah Sites, Mary Miller, Hetty Showalter and Mrs.
Eaton were baptized by me to-day.

TUESDAY, May 7. Perform the marriage ceremony of John Tussing and
Susan Watkins.

MONDAY, May 13. Visit Mary Wampler, who is very sick. Give her a
course of medicine. Then go to see Christian Fulk in the Gap. He is
very sick.

TUESDAY, May 14. Visit Christian Fulk again. He appears some better,
but his case is very doubtful.

NOTE.--This brother, after a severe illness, in which he was
assiduously attended by Brother Kline, was buried June 9 following.

THURSDAY, May 16. Attend an evening meeting at John Zigler's in
Timberville. Brother George Shaver is there. He speaks from Acts 2.

Substance of what he said: The day of Pentecost witnessed the
establishment of the first Christian church on earth. The wonderful
prophecy of Joel received its fulfillment on this day. The sun had
been darkened and the moon turned into blood, or darkened so as to
appear like black blood; volcanic fire and the vapor of smoke had
attended the earthquake while the Lord of glory hung upon the cross;
the baptism in the Spirit and in the fire was now present; the
apostles were induced with miraculous gifts to speak with other
tongues; and when Peter and the rest set forth the Lord Jesus in his
resurrected glory and power, the Jews there assembled, being cut to
the heart, cried out: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" The answer
which Peter gave then and there is the true answer to that
all-important question. I sincerely desire that every unconverted man
and woman in this house will duly consider the answer, for it may
redound to the salvation of his or her soul. I will therefore give it
in the exact words we find recorded. They are these: "Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Notice here, obedience comes first. The repentance and the baptism
precede the gift of the Holy Spirit. God is holy; and the sanctuary
must be cleansed before he is willing to set up his glory there. The
Temple had to be dedicated before the Lord could dwell in it. This
gift of the Holy Spirit, by which we are to understand his entering
into our hearts and making his abode with us, is the beginning of a
heavenly life in the soul. The fruit of the Spirit, as it appears in
the life of its possessor, is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, kindness, meekness, temperance, brotherly kindness,
charity.

The body of every true follower of Jesus Christ is a temple of the
Holy Ghost. But I cannot dismiss the subject yet. I have reason to
believe there are some unconverted men and women in this little
assembly. Were those hearers on that day sinners above all men? "I
tell you nay! And except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." I
sometimes think they were not such sinners as many we see around us
now. Was it not for these the Lord prayed as he hung upon the cross?
Hear his dying prayer: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do." Can this be said of the many who go on heedless of all the
preaching, and praying and reading that is being done to instruct
their minds and move their hearts? I do not think it can. And it is to
be feared that in a coming day the very sinners who go on in sin,
facing the very light of gospel day, may be compelled to realize the
awful truth uttered by our Lord: "He that knoweth to do his Master's
will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes."

But there is glorious news here for every one who is willing to obey.
Thousands of obedient hearts are rejoicing to-night, on earth and in
heaven, in the happy experiences they have of the presence of the Holy
Spirit in their souls. This is the good news, this is the Gospel of
their salvation. God is his own witness in every one that loves to
obey him. "If ye abide in my words, ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free." The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. It
is the Lord in man as "the way, the truth and the life." "Ye are God's
sanctuary: ye are God's building." How ineffably exalted is the state
of that man in whose heart and mind the Lord has fixed his dwelling
place! We can not realize the glory that awaits us, when the veil that
now hides the inner sanctuary shall drop and disclose to our eyes the
enraptured vision.

Brethren and sisters, let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due
season we shall reap if we faint not. Therefore let us rejoice
evermore; let us pray without ceasing; and "in every thing give
thanks; for this is the will of God concerning us."

THURSDAY, May 23. Perform the marriage ceremony of Christian Runion
and Diana Estep.

SATURDAY, May 25. Preach the funeral of Elijah Judy's wife. A very
dear sister whom I lately baptized has left us. But our loss is her
gain. She was the sister of Enoch and Saul Hyre. She leaves a sad
husband and two very fine children, Enoch and Sallie. My prayer for
them is that they, with their father, may follow in the steps of their
pious mother and receive her glad welcome

  On the blissful shore,
  Where partings are no more.

THURSDAY, July 4. Attend the burial of Peter Driver on the head of
Muddy Creek, in Rockingham County. His age was eighty-three years and
eight months. He was an honest member of our Brotherhood. His children
consisted of four sons and five daughters; and they are now all heads
of families, doing well, and members of our order of Brethren. Peter
Driver was a blacksmith. He once related a fact to me which I will
here note. "In my early days," said he, "we knew nothing of binding
wagon and carriage wheels with a heated tire. I wonder," continued he,
"that our daily experience in working iron did not teach us that an
iron band or tire is larger when it is hot than when cold. Some may
have thought of this," he said, smiling, "but if they did, I guess
they were afraid that if they would venture to put on the tire hot,
the wheel might be burned up before they could get the tire cooled."
He was very partial to the German language, and was never known to
speak English from choice. Some one once said to him, "Mr. Driver,
English people have the same God that German people have." "I believe
that; but he speaks to German people in a much plainer way in his Word
than he does to English people." Of course he could understand German
best.

SATURDAY, July 13. Go to Page County. Cross the Massanutton and Peaked
mountains by what is known as Koontz's Path. Daniel Dovel and John
Harsbarger are with me. They are very pleasant and cheerful brethren.
We spend the night together at Brother William Dovel's.

SUNDAY, July 14. Meeting at Liberty schoolhouse. Isaac N. Walter is
there. He is a well-known and very popular preacher in the Christian
church. This is the first time I have ever met with him. He is very
friendly and sociable, and will carry an influence wherever he goes.
He was at one time a very strong Adventist. He professed to believe in
our foreknowing the day of our Lord's coming, and announced it as
being very near at hand. Brother Benjamin Bowman told me that on one
occasion friend Walter announced that he would preach a sermon on the
second advent of Christ, and therein tell the day on which we might
confidently expect the Lord to appear in glory, and give the scripture
evidences on which his proofs rested. This sermon was announced for
Antioch, a brick meetinghouse belonging to the Christian connection,
and stood four miles north of Harrisonburg, and not far from where
Brother Bowman lived. He told me that a large concourse of people was
present to hear, and he with the rest. The discourse was eloquent, but
with the thoughtful not very convincing. But the day, which Mr. Walter
had so confidently set for the appearing of the Lord in glory, passed
by as all other days pass by, in harmony with all the other notes that
make the music of the spheres. Not long after this, the two met in the
road. Walter looked a little bashful, but spoke first, and said:
"Well, Brother Bowman, I was mistaken." "Yes," Brother Bowman replied,
"but I had discovered that before you told me."

SUNDAY, August 4. Meeting in Elk meetinghouse, in Page County. I speak
from Luke 16:9. TEXT.--"Make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into
everlasting habitations."

This is a very remarkable passage of Scripture. My understanding of it
differs a little from that of some of our Brethren, but it is all in
love, and each bears with the other's interpretation. I will here give
a brief outline of my view of it. I think the Lord meant to encourage
a very free use of this world's goods in the way of helping the poor,
especially those of the household of faith. Through Paul we learn that
Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Christian people may imitate the unjust steward in this one thing: he
aimed to provide for the future by making use of what was within his
reach at the present. This may be our Lord's meaning. But he may have
meant more. The wealth of some has doubtless been acquired in an
unrighteous way, while in their unregenerate state, heedless of
conscience and justice. Such mammon or wealth must be unrighteous,
because unrighteously obtained. Those who have acquired wealth in an
unjust way, and who afterward repent in heart and see the evil of
their former course, may be deeply distressed, and at the same time
have no opportunity to do as Zaccheus did,--make restoration. To such,
it does appear to me, Jesus would say: "Let my Father's children have
a share of it. Use it in a way that will glorify him, by helping his
dear children; and if you fail to be found in the number of those who
are 'my brethren' at the great day of final accounts, you may still
come in as 'the blessed of the Father' and inherit the kingdom
prepared for you. It will then be my joy to acknowledge you and say:
'I was hungry, and you fed me; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I
was a stranger, and you took me in; I was naked, and you clothed me; I
was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came unto me.'"
Whatsoever is done to one of the least of the Lord's brethren he
accounts it as done to him. Such is the wonderful union and identity
of the Lord and his people. When Paul was struck down he cried out:
"Who art thou, Lord?" And the answer came: "I am Jesus of Nazareth,
whom thou persecutest."

I would earnestly encourage all to go on unto perfection. Then we will
be sure of the heavenly inheritance. "And blessed is she that
believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were
told her from the Lord."

FRIDAY, August 9. Harvest meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize Henry
Swartz and wife, and Barbara Yount.

SUNDAY, August 31. Meet brethren Daniel P. Saylor and Boyle at
Shaver's meetinghouse, in Shenandoah County.

SUNDAY, September 1. Meeting at same place. The visiting brethren
speak to great edification and comfort.

MONDAY, September 2. Meeting at Flat Rock meetinghouse. The visiting
brethren are with us, and rivet attention by their able discourses.
Brother Saylor does not seem to be lifted out of his shoes by the
encomiums passed upon him. But I suppose he has got used to them.

TUESDAY, September 3. Meeting at our meetinghouse. The visiting
brethren with us to-day. They draw large congregations.

To-day I was somewhat amused at an answer I heard given. Brother Sam
Wampler noticed the deep interest visible in the congregation, and, I
suppose, contrasted it in his mind with that manifest on occasions
when none but our home preachers are present. He accosted, in a very
pleasant way, one of the members in these words: "How does it happen
that when I preach you hang your head as if you might be asleep; but
when preachers from a distance come you appear to be all eyes and
ears?" "Why," replied the brother, "Sam, when you preach I know it is
coming all right whether I hear it or not: but when strange brethren
get up I do not know what may be coming, and think it best to listen."

MONDAY, September 9. This day Brother Kline and Daniel Yount start in
company of each other to Pennsylvania. They went on horseback, out
through the mountains of the western part of Virginia and Maryland.

FRIDAY, September 13, they had meeting at the widow Jacob Snider's in
the forenoon, and evening meeting at Brother Jacob Steel's, in Bedford
County, Pennsylvania. On the fourteenth they had meeting at the same
place.

SUNDAY, September 15. They had meeting and a love feast at the Yellow
Creek meetinghouse. On the sixteenth they visit John Deahl's, John
Eschleman's and stay all night at John Brumbaugh's, near Clover Creek
meetinghouse, in Blair County, Pennsylvania.

TUESDAY, September 17. They attended a meeting and love feast at the
Clover Creek meetinghouse. John 3 was read. Isaac and George Brumbaugh
were established in the ministry of the Word. One person was baptized.

WEDNESDAY, September 18. They passed through Martinsburg to Brother
David Allebaugh's, where they had night meeting. Brother Kline had for
his subject "The Importunate Widow, and the Unjust Judge."

DIARY NOTES.--We should not conclude from this parable that our
heavenly Father is compared to an unjust judge who has no regard for
his subordinates. This is not at all the point of comparison. We
should not let our minds dwell here for a moment, because the contrast
between the character of the judge and that of God is so great that
there is no point of similarity.

The whole lesson, I think, is found in the power of prayer. What moved
the judge to grant the widow's request? It was her importunity. But he
did this only to get rid of her. It, however, shows what earnestness
will do even with an unfeeling man. Here the comparison comes in. If
an unfeeling man, who has no reverence for God and no regard for the
welfare of others, can be influenced to regard the petition of a poor
widow, though from a selfish motive, because she will not be put off,
what may we not expect to do by prayer when our Father in heaven is
ever ready to hear and answer prayer? He invites us to pray. He says:
"Pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in
secret, shall reward thee openly." We must by no means lose sight of
the one great point in the comparison, and that point is the widow's
EARNESTNESS. Prayer, without earnest feelings of want and dependence
upon God, is but a form of words, and no prayer at all.

But let us notice the point in her prayer: "Avenge me of mine
adversary." Who her adversary was we have no means of knowing, nor how
he became her adversary. But we are told who the Christian's adversary
is. Peter tells us in these words: "Your adversary, the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." The word
AVENGE means to conquer or destroy an enemy, for the purpose of
securing tranquility to the party avenged. In this sense Moses
_avenged_ the children of Israel on the Midianites. In the same sense
Ahimaaz said: "Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the
Lord hath avenged the king of his enemies." I think you are now
prepared to understand what the Lord means by the words: "And will not
God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him? I tell you
that he will avenge them speedily."

It is now understood that the DEVIL, the very vilest and worst of all
tramps, is the Christian's adversary. But God has promised to avenge
him, if he will call upon him in that spirit of earnestness which is
deaf to denial, such as the widow had. We must not forget, however,
that God, in all he has ever done for man in the way of avenging him
of his enemies or adversaries, required man's assistance. As Paul puts
it, we are coworkers with God, and so must we ever be.

Let us now test this matter a little. God is willing to bruise Satan's
head under your feet, and thus avenge you of the worst adversary you
have ever known. He is at hand, ready, with more than twelve legions
of angels at his service, if needed. You are sorely tried. You are
tempted to commit adultery with some one until every nerve in your
body trembles from the agony of suspense between conscious right and
conscious wrong. One deep, fervent prayer from the heart breathed to
Almighty God: "Lord, save, or I perish," will avenge you of your
adversary, will put him to flight, and leave you and God masters of
the field. Brethren and friends, this is no idle talk. God will as
surely give you the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, as he has
promised it.

The Lord says with apparent emphasis: "Hear what the unjust judge
saith." There must then be something in it which deeply concerns us to
know. Just what I have said is in it, the power of prayer. "The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

But again: You are tempted to do something very sinful, and you seem
to yourself to try to pray. You feel the serpent's coil about your
heart drawing tighter and yet tighter, until your spiritual breath
seems almost gone. I will tell you now just how you have got into this
fix. You did not look to God soon enough. You put off praying and
allowed the tempter to twist himself around you in the way he is. Do
you ask what you are to do in this case? I will tell you. If you will
just summon breath and courage to say from your inmost soul: "God, be
merciful to me a sinner," your adversary will let go his filthy hold
of you, and the Lord will set your spirit free. "God will avenge his
own elect speedily." But they must cry unto him.

I love this word "cry." It carries with it to my mind the cry of an
innocent child to its parent, when it fears danger or feels the need
of something. Brethren, such let our cry to the Lord ever be. There is
never any dallying with words in the mouth of a little child. Its
requests, though they may not always be wise, are always sincere, and
sincerity is what the Lord most loves, and hypocrisy is what he most
abhors. "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye can
not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

THURSDAY, September 19. They had meeting at a schoolhouse near Brother
Brumbaugh's. They spent the night at Jacob Burket's. The next day they
came to Brother Samuel Coxe's, in Logan's Valley, and spent the
afternoon in writing letters. I here note an example of Brother
Kline's exactness. He this afternoon wrote a letter to Brother Henry
Koontz. He notes the main points in the letter. One is that he wants
Brother Koontz to be at the Flat Rock meetinghouse on December 8, at
10 o'clock, without fail.

SATURDAY, September 21. They came to Brother Jacob Beck's, and had
night meeting in the Baptist meetinghouse near by.

SUNDAY, September 22. _Delightful morning._ This is the first entry
for the day. Brother Kline was not unappreciative of the beautiful.
This must have been one of those bright and balmy mornings witnessed
only in September months, and rarely then. Nature is in her calmest
mood. Summer is just bidding farewell, with a smile of promise that he
will return again, and as a proof of his good will lays all the rich
treasures he has gathered for us into the lap of Autumn, who is at
hand to receive them.

We have morning and afternoon services in the Baptist church here. In
the morning meeting "The Strait Gate" is the subject. In the
afternoon, "The Departure of Paul." Acts 20:36, 37. TEXT.--"And when
he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they
all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him."

The first impression made on the mind upon reading this text is the
great love which these tender-hearted disciples had for Paul. But we
need not be surprised at this, when we remember the great love which
the tender-hearted Paul had for them. The elders of the church at
Ephesus, and probably many of the sisters and lay brethren, had come
to Miletus to have Paul take affectionate leave of them before taking
sail for Jerusalem. He also desired to give them a parting exhortation
and offer prayer with them on their behalf. The words of the
exhortation are recorded in the chapter read, but the words of the
prayer are not. We are not sure that the prayer was audible. It is
possible to think they all kneeled together and thus prayed with and
for each other, but mostly for Paul. From the secret chambers of their
hearts the still small voice of loving prayer ascended to the ear of
him whose throne is heaven, and whose footstool is earth. Be this as
it may, the prayer was earnest, and the exhortation gladly received:
"For they all wept sore, and fell upon Paul's neck, and kissed him,
sorrowing most of all that they should see his face no more." Who of
us, Brethren, has not prayed at the departure of one we dearly loved?
As you take the hand probably for the last time, and give the last
touch of the lips, who can withhold prayer--prayer from the inmost
depths of the soul? As the receding form fades from sight, how the
heart swells with emotions of prayer for blessings upon the departing
one, altogether too big for utterance. Such were the feelings of these
sorrowing disciples at the departure of Paul.

Brethren, the account here given shows the love in which the truth was
received in that day. Paul here says: "I have not shunned to declare
unto you the whole counsel of God." This means a great deal. Oh, how
many, many at the present day fear to declare the whole counsel of
God! And it is a sad truth, or at least I believe it to be true, that
if a minister in almost any of the so-called orthodox churches would
have the courage, from a sheer sense of duty, to declare the whole
counsel of God in the ears of his congregation, instead of falling on
his neck and kissing him at his departure, they would be heartily glad
to get rid of him. But, Brethren, I am persuaded better things of you,
and things which accompany salvation. Our love for the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is our best evidence, when
that truth is lived out in a life of obedience to the Lord's precepts,
that we are walking with God in the fellowship of the Spirit. So let
us ever walk.

MONDAY, Sept 23. They went through Huntingdon City, in Huntingdon
County, Pennsylvania, and got to Brother Michael Bolinger's, where
they had evening meeting in a schoolhouse near by, and stayed all
night at Brother Bolinger's. Next day they took dinner at Brother
Andrew Spanogle's, and got to the meetinghouse at one o'clock. Meeting
and love feast. Luke 24 is read. They stay all night at Brother
Umbenhaver's.

WEDNESDAY, September 25. They have meeting at the meetinghouse.
Hebrews 10 is read. Brother Michael Bolinger was this day ordained to
the full work of the gospel ministry. May the Lord bless the good
brother in his work. They had night meeting at Brother Samuel Myers's
in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, where they stayed all night.

THURSDAY, September 26. They had a union meeting at Brother George
Keever's, and stayed all night with Brother Keever.

FRIDAY, September 27. They attended a council meeting before
preaching. Brother Abraham Rothrock was this day ordained to the full
work of the gospel ministry; and Brother Jacob Mohler was advanced.
The visiting brethren spoke on the text: "My kingdom is not of this
world." Night meeting was appointed, but owing to a violent storm of
hail and rain no people assembled.

SATURDAY, September 28. They got to Brother Jacob Royer's, in Union
County, Pennsylvania, where they stayed all night. Clear and cool.

SUNDAY, September 29. Meeting begins at half past nine o'clock. Union
meeting this evening.

MONDAY, September 30. The vote of the church was taken before
preaching, and Brother Isaac Myers and Brother John Sprogle were
ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry. They attended a
night meeting in a schoolhouse near Brother Christian Shiveley's, and
stayed with him all night. They are still in Union County,
Pennsylvania.

TUESDAY, October 1. They went to Brother Christian Shallaberger's, in
Juniata County, Pennsylvania, where they attended night meeting and
Brother Daniel Yount spoke from Eph. 2:8, 9, 10. He explained the
meaning of the word GRACE, that it is the love of God for the
undeserving of his love. He defined FAITH as being a loving acceptance
of God's revealed truth: that faith is the gift of God only this far,
that he tells man what he is to believe and how he is to believe, that
the Gospel of our salvation is what man is to believe; that he is to
believe with the heart, with all his heart: that the new man, the
regenerated man, is God's workmanship, created unto good works. He
carried out all his points very ably, and left a good impression.

WEDNESDAY, October 2. They attended a union meeting in Good Will
meetinghouse.

THURSDAY, October 3. They attended a council meeting in the forenoon
at the meetinghouse. Brother David Myers was ordained to the full work
of the ministry, and Brother Solomon Seever was chosen speaker. They
had night meeting at Thomsonsville, and stayed all night at Brother
Solomon Seever's.

FRIDAY, October 4. They had meeting in a schoolhouse near Brother
Pool's on the Juniata river; then night meeting at Brother Jacob
Spanogle's, where they stayed all night.

SATURDAY, October 5. They had meeting in a schoolhouse near by. They
stayed all night at Brother Peter Long's near Germantown, in Perry
County, Pennsylvania.

SUNDAY, October 6. Meeting in the Methodist meetinghouse in
Germantown. Brother Kline spoke on Luke 24:48. TEXT.--"And ye are
witnesses of these things."

It is a happy but not uncommon experience with Christians, when
reading the Divine Word, to receive some new thought, or see some new
truth by the reading of the most familiar passages. In this particular
the Book of Revelation is like the book of nature. The treasures of
knowledge in both are inexhaustible; but they do not come to us, we
must go to them. "And ye are witnesses of these things."

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth."
"The Word was God." "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy." These Scriptures, in their most comprehensive sense,
include the all of the divine manifestation in the flesh. The Lord is
the life of all the things written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the Psalms. Their spirit, or spiritual significance
is all confined to the testimony they bear to the Emmanuel, the God
with us. Hence "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,"
very much as the spirit of man is the life of his body. In the early
part of his ministry he had told these very disciples that he came to
fulfill the law and the prophets. He fulfilled the law of the
Decalogue or Ten Commandments to the extent of every jot and tittle,
from its lowest natural to its highest spiritual requirement and
significance. The prophecies likewise all centered in him, and found
in him their fulfillment; not, however, in their fullest development,
for eternity alone will witness this; but they disclose in him their
spirit and life. "Thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

These eleven disciples, from this time on to do the work of apostles,
had been with the Lord in nearly all of his public ministry and life.
They knew how he had overcome in temptation; how victorious he had
been in his conflicts with the accusing and fault-finding Jews, and
how patient and forgiving he had been in his trial before Pilate and
the high priest. They were witnesses of the purity of his character
and life; of the disinterested love he bore toward all within his
reach; of the good will toward men manifested by his going about doing
good wherever he went. But the point above all other points in his
character in which all poor sinners are most deeply interested is the
duty and work he here laid upon these eleven apostles: the commission
he gave them, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached
in his name. They were witnesses of his mercy so often shown to
sinners of the lowest and vilest character. Did he ever send one away
empty? If you will read the four Gospels in which are recorded the
life of Jesus Christ you may be surprised to see how often he said,
"Thy sins are forgiven." Once when he was in a Pharisee's house a
woman in the city, who was a sinner, washed his feet with her tears of
penitence, and he said: "Her sins which are many are forgiven." Some
people brought to him a man sick of the palsy lying on a bed. And
Jesus seeing their faith said to the sick of the palsy: "Son, be of
good cheer; thy sins are forgiven." This man's sins were remitted,
because remitted and forgiven have the same meaning.

I must here call special attention to one point in all the miracles of
healing wrought by the Lord, and that point has relation to the cause
of all our woe. It is the sin of man. To the impotent man who had lain
by the pool thirty and six years, unable to get in, after being
healed, the Lord when he met him in the Temple said: "Sin no more,
lest a worse thing come upon thee." Paul says: "By one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin." Death of the body is the point at
which all diseases, ailments and infirmities aim; and the death, the
eternal death, of the soul is the point at which all sins aim. "Death
is the wages of sin." "And ye are witnesses of these things." In
relieving insane, idiotic, epileptic and dumb people of the mental
ailments afflicting them, he always removed the cause by casting out
the devils or evil spirits as the cause of their troubles.

I know that some people doubt or disbelieve that sin is the cause of
all suffering. I have met such. They freely aver that this cannot be
so, because the brute creation suffers, which they say is sinless. It
is a well conceded fact that brutes are not accountable. They have no
future state of existence. They lack that freedom of the will to
choose good or evil, and that understanding to know good from evil,
both of which man has in unlimited possession. Still, brutes are
subject in a low degree to the very same vile passions, the indulgence
of which in man becomes sin to him. And why? Because man is destined
to live to eternity, in another state of existence. If man's existence
were to terminate with the life of his body, his sins, although of a
somewhat viler character than those of the brute creation, would be of
no more account. The Lord sent out his apostles, and in their steps
others to follow, whose great business it was, has been, and ever will
be to tell people that they are sinners; that sin is the cause of all
the misery, wretchedness, suffering and unhappiness in earth and hell,
and that the only way for people to be rid of the multiform evils of
existence is to be rid of sin.

Salvation from sin, then, is immensely the most important matter that
can possibly engage man's heartfelt attention, as I said at the start.
How to get rid of the evil of sin--I mean the love of evil--and how to
come into the possession of the love of what is good, and as a result
of that love lead a good life, is the sum and substance of all divine
teaching. And why? Because a man's character, whether good or bad,
goes with him when he dies. Character is the only thing we do take
with us when we leave this world and enter the next. "He that soweth
to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to
the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." "Whatsoever a
man soweth the same shall he reap," is a law as immutable as the law
of gravitation. Our Lord has mercifully opened up a way, a highway,
out of a life of sin into a life of holiness. The first step in this
way, nay, the first step towards it, is _repentance_. This involves a
very great change in the state of man's will or heart. Heart and will
have the same meaning. Repentance is a change in the affections of the
heart. It is a change so great that man of himself, unaided by the
Lord, would never make it. It is a change from the supreme love of
self and the world to love of the Lord and one's neighbor. "Except a
man deny himself, and take up his cross daily, he cannot be my
disciple." Self-denial and bearing the cross are repentance.

"If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life
also, he cannot be my disciple." All these relationships symbolize
evil affections and thoughts which are to be no longer loved. The
withdrawal of the affections from all our inherited and acquired evils
is repentance. If the right hand be in the way of our repentance, it
must be cut off. If the right eye cause us to stumble, it must be
plucked out.

But it will not do to leave the matter thus. The quotations and
references I have given are so strong they almost overwhelm us. We
almost cry out when we hear or read them, as the disciples did when
the Lord had just told them of the impossibility of a rich man's
entering the kingdom of heaven: "Who then can be saved?" But I give
you the same answer the Lord gave the disciples: "With men this is
impossible: but with God all things are possible." It is the Lord who
gives us the power to repent. Bartimeus could not see until the Lord
opened his eyes. But when he called, the Lord heard. So we must call.
"And whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved."
This is faith; and I may here add the Lord's words: "I am come a light
into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in
darkness." But remission of sins is as sure to follow true repentance
as day is sure to follow the darkest night. "Every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit." Remission of sins, and a life of good works, is the
fruit borne by the penitent man symbolized by a good tree. And what
does remission of sins imply? It implies casting our sins behind us;
forsaking them; leaving them off, and not looking back. It implies
putting one's hand to the plow in a new field of life and labor, and
never looking back. "He that putteth his hand to the plow, and looketh
back, is not fit for the kingdom." Looking back with a longing eye, as
Lot's wife did, is sure proof that we have not fairly remitted our
sins in heart, but that we still love them.

I perceive from the expression of some faces that surprise is felt at
my intimation that man remits his own sins. But he does as truly as he
destroys the grass from among his corn or the weeds from his garden.
God gives him the strength and the will to do both, but man has his
work to do. He must be a coworker with God. Would there be any good in
blind eyes being restored to sight, unless man would be willing to see
with them? Or any good in palsied arms made strong, unless they were
used to do good? Or any good in having the whole leprous body
cleansed, unless the cleansed man would return to give glory to God?

Isaiah's very first vision of the church called forth that wonderful
exclamation: "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your
doings from before mine eyes: cease to do evil; learn to do well."
This, when done, is the remission of sins. It is sending them back, to
the rear; while we have the Lord always before our eyes. He said to
the blind Pharisees: "Cleanse first the INSIDE of the cup and the
platter, that the outside may be clean also." Paul says: "Let us
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and SPIRIT." James
says: "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye
double minded." Does not all this look as if man had a good deal to do
with the remission of his sins?

It is natural, or, rather, it is in harmony with God's order in the
creation of man, for him to desire to have a part and lot in all the
Lord does for him. He enjoys most the fruit of trees planted by his
own hands. A lady appreciates the garden or lawn arranged and set
according to her taste, and cultivated by her hands. God mercifully
favors us with similar feelings in making good, pure-minded,
truth-loving, faithful men and women of his intelligent creation. With
this intention he has given man special work and ways of manifesting
his will to work with the Lord. The only ordinance of this kind which
I will call your attention to to-day is that of baptism for the
remission of sins. It is also called the washing of regeneration. As
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, the three eternal and
infinite essentials of the Divine Trinity, all have part in man's
repentance, in the remission of his sins, as well as in the
regeneration of his will unto eternal life, BAPTISM in water, in each
of the three names, is enjoined in our Lord's great commission. "Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost."

As an order of Christian Brethren, we hold that a threefold immersion
of the body in water by a properly authorized administrator is
necessary to fulfill the requirement of the great commission. As
water, in its highest and divinest significance, symbolizes all the
holy means by which man is enabled to renounce and remit his sins, so
baptism symbolizes his heartfelt acceptance of and submission to those
means. From this it is called the baptism of repentance first, and,
later on, as the truth became clearer, it is called baptism for the
remission of sins. As additional light was still thrown upon man's
salvation, a light which Nicodemus could not see, baptism acquired a
new significance, described by Paul as "the washing of regeneration."

Almost unwittingly we now find a threefold significance in the
ordinance. It symbolized first, in the ministry of John, repentance
toward God the Father. But after the martyrdom of John no baptism was
administered until the day of Pentecost, when it received its full
significance. As Peter had experienced so much of the evil of sin and
the joy of forgiveness, it symbolized to his mind the remission of
sins. He was right. Paul was the unbelieving, educated Jew, whose
heart was so set against the Lord that after his conversion he felt
himself to be a new man, with a new name; and in his letter to Titus
he calls it "the washing of regeneration." Thus we have a threefold
significance of the ordinance, as well as a threefold act. Anyone,
then, whether fully conscious of the truth or not, says, by submitting
to the ordinance, "I have repented of my sins; I have forsaken my sins
and desire to keep them forever behind me; I desire to walk in newness
of life. I accept the love of the Father, the truth of the Son, and
the power of the Holy Ghost by which I have been taken 'out of death
into life,' and from the power of Satan to God; my feet set into the
way of holiness, and a 'new song put into my mouth, even praises unto
our God.'"

The two brethren had night meeting at John Eby's, where they stayed
all night.

MONDAY, October 7. They got to Brother David Kinsey's, in Franklin
County, Pennsylvania.

TUESDAY, October 8. They had night meeting at Brother Jacob Rile's.

The next day they joined company with brethren Christian Long and John
Glock, who come up the Shenandoah Valley with them to Brother Kline's
home, which they reached Saturday, October 12.

On December 8 Brother Kline started to Baltimore. He went partly on a
visit to his relative, Michael B. Kline, who was, at this time, a very
prosperous commission merchant in the city. Brother Kline spent about
six days in Baltimore this time; and whilst hardly any one else would
have thought of anything beyond the pleasure of the visit and a little
business to be attended to, he must have a gathering and preach. He
made his voice heard time and again. No doubt many heard what they had
never heard before--the truth. On his return home, he stopped in
Washington City and had a pleasant interview with President Fillmore.

In the year 1850 Brother Kline traveled 4,070 miles. He preached
thirty-one funeral sermons. Twelve of these were for persons over
fifty years of age; seven, for persons between twenty and fifty; and
twelve for persons under twenty. He delivered one hundred and ten
sermons at appointments for preaching, besides the many councils and
other meetings attended. When at home he was also called to administer
medicine to the sick. This service and the ministry kept him actively
employed almost the whole of his time.

THURSDAY, January 9. Perform the marriage ceremony of Conrad Custer
and Nancy Shoemaker; also the same for George Hulvey and Diana Turner.

TUESDAY, February 11. Perform the marriage ceremony of Jackson See and
Bettie Whitmore.

THURSDAY, February 20. Perform the marriage ceremony of Solomon Hulvey
and Catharine Ritchie.

MONDAY, February 24. A fearful storm unroofs part of my barn to-day.

SATURDAY, March 8. Council meeting at Beaver Creek meetinghouse. The
church has under consideration the matter of preparing for Annual
Meeting to be held at the Brick meetinghouse, near Christian Kline's,
on Middle river in Augusta County, Virginia, to begin Saturday, June
7, 1851.

SUNDAY, March 9. Meeting at the Beaver Creek meetinghouse. First Peter
1 is read. Afternoon meeting in Bridgewater, in the Lutheran church.
Speak on John 3:29. TEXT.--"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom:
but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him,
rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy
therefore is fulfilled."

This is a wonderful testimony, borne by John the Baptist. It at once
shows the love which that wonderfully great and good man had for the
Lord, and at the same time his own deep humility of heart in his
presence. And the Lord's testimony concerning John given in these
words, "He was a burning and a shining light," is equally wonderful,
and carries with it the great love he had for John.

John had many friends. All held him to be a prophet of extraordinary
character; and if his popularity had tended to corrupt the honest
simplicity of his heart he would not have borne this testimony to
Jesus. But he goes still further in his disavowal of all claim to
preferment by confessing and not denying that he is not the Christ. He
says: "He must increase, but I must decrease." Jesus was the sun
rising in his splendor; John the moon paling in his light.

The church is the bride. The Lord is the bridegroom. "He that hath the
bride is the bridegroom." There is a doctrine of deep interest
involved in John's testimony. It concerns every one of us to know it.
It is the relation subsisting between the Lord and the church. This
relation is represented as that existing between husband and wife, the
very nearest that can subsist between two human beings--the
unification of one with the other to the extent that they are no more
twain, but one flesh. Reference to this relation of the church to the
Lord is to be found in the Scriptures at several places. Isaiah
prophesying the glory of the true Christian church exclaims: "For as
the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over
thee."

But it is consistent and proper for a bride to adorn herself
preparatory to her marriage. But even for this occasion she should be
arrayed in modest apparel, as becometh saints. But God recognizes the
propriety of suitable ornamentation, and uses it as a figure in these
words: "My soul will greatly rejoice in the Lord, for he hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation, as a bride adorneth herself with
her jewels." The garments of salvation beautifully symbolize the holy
life of God's saints, and correspond to the fine linen, clean and
white, in which the bride, the Lamb's wife, is arrayed, as described
by John in the Apocalypse. Her jewels correspond to the divine truths
of the Word, which ornament a good life.

I will now offer some practical thoughts on what I have stated, so as
to draw the attention of your minds more closely to the subject. Some
people seem to think it a matter of small moment whether one makes a
public profession of religion or not. Such seem to satisfy their minds
by concluding that God knows what is in their hearts, and that the
church has no business to concern itself about them. They think they
can live as good and as pure lives out of the church as in it. This
last conclusion may be correct, for many do not live very pure or good
lives _in_ the church. But all this has nothing to do with God's
established order. A man might say: "I love that lady, and with her
consent I will live a virtuous life with her. But I do not intend to
marry her after the ceremonial style of most people. Marriage
ceremonies are useless, and with her consent we will just go together
as husband and wife, and so live; and whose business is it but our
own?" In the first place I have to say, that if two could be found who
were willing to go together and live in this way, if they were not in
some way severely punished, they might thank their good stars for it.
In the next place I have to say that such cohabitation would wholly
subvert the order of society by giving loose reins to lust which would
break in upon the legal relationships of the social compact to an
extent that would place us on a social level with the aborigines of
America.

And what would the Lord's kingdom be without a visible church? He
says: "My kingdom is not of this world." His kingdom being essentially
invisible, it remains a matter of necessity that there be some way for
making its subjects visible to one another as such, and capable of
being recognized and known as such.

Our Lord says: "The kingdom of heaven cometh not with observation; for
lo! the kingdom of heaven is within you." Now, we cannot look into a
man's heart. All we can know of a man's heart is from what he says and
does. But the Lord has established an order for the subjects of his
kingdom. He has proclaimed a law, call it a ceremonial law if you
choose, by obedience to which all the subjects of his kingdom on earth
may be found out and become known to each other. That law is the
Lord's will made visible in the order of his brethren, carried out in
the forms of church organization by means of established ordinances
appointed by him. The Lord does not want his bride to wander through
earth's vanities a viewless, inactive, unprotected entity:

  Doing nothing for his cause,
  Learning nothing of his laws;

but he wants her to appear "all glorious within" and without; "bright
as the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners."

I have been accused by some of never preaching a sermon without having
something to say about baptism, as if discoursing on that subject
might be criminal in their eyes. I can boldly say I do not like to
close a sermon without saying something about it, because baptism in
water, as the door to the visible church, has so much significance in
it that I do not feel as if I had fully discharged my duty to the
souls of men without it. But I am not altogether singular in this
respect. I have some very good company. John the Baptist had _baptism_
in two of his sermons. Peter the apostle had _baptism_, in two out of
three of his sermons. Ananias had _baptism_ in the sermon he preached
to Saul, and that in a shape altogether too strong for many, as that
Saul should wash away his sins in it. Philip had _baptism_ in his
sermon to the eunuch, and Paul had _baptism_ in his joyful
anticipations of heavenly glory, and calls it the washing of
regeneration; and in fact he laid strong emphasis on it in his answer
to the Philippian jailer's question, "What shall I do to be saved?"
But the Lord's sermon to Nicodemus gives the crown to _baptism_ as the
visible birth into the visible church. He calls it "born of
water,"--internally born of the Spirit, externally born of water. So
you see, friends, I have plenty of company in this line of preaching,
and good company too.

Baptism, as the visible ceremony of union of the penitent, believing,
loving candidate with the church, and of the church with the Lord as
his bride, holds the same rank in its relation to the Divine Law as
the ceremony of marriage holds to human law. Both are simple in form,
yet both are absolutely essential to order and an orderly life both in
a religious and social sense. The ordinance of marriage and that of
baptism compare remarkably in another point of view. Both cement a
union to be dissolved only in death. Both have the stamp of the divine
seal, impressed by the Lord's hand, engraven with the words: "WHAT GOD
HATH JOINED TOGETHER, LET NOT MAN PUT ASUNDER."

Now, friends, let me beg you to take the Lord's way. He invites you
affectionately to come and take his yoke upon you. Learn to work in
his vineyard. Your own heart is a vineyard which the Lord will own if
you will but give it to him: and he will help you to keep it clean. He
will give you richly to enjoy the first ripe grapes of a good life
lived in his service. But remember: "He that is ashamed of me and of
my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in
his Father's glory, and the glory of the holy angels." Then why not
come into the church? None are too poor to come. It costs no money or
goods. Why not please your King by visibly becoming his subject? Why
not honor your Lord by obeying his commands? Why not glorify your
Husband by publicly taking to yourself his name and living henceforth
a holy and virtuous life in his sight?

TUESDAY, March 25. Aunt Mary Kline, Uncle Frederick Kline's widow, was
buried to-day. Age, seventy-two years, eleven months and five days.

WEDNESDAY, March 26. Attend the funeral of Giles Devier's little
child. It was buried at our meetinghouse. Age, one year, five months
and sixteen days. It is a pretty thought that angels may gather little
children from the arms of their parents, as love plucks roses from
their parent stems. "Of such is the kingdom of heaven."

THURSDAY, March 27. Perform the marriage ceremony of Robert Allison
and Mary Kline, daughter of Joseph Kline.

TUESDAY, April 1. William Smith took leave of us for his new home in
Illinois.

WEDNESDAY, April 9. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse. John
Wine is elected speaker.

THURSDAY, April 10. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Christian
Wine is elected speaker.

FRIDAY, April 18. Council meeting at Lost River meetinghouse. Jacob
Pope is advanced. His work in the ministry is very acceptable to the
Brotherhood as far as known.

THURSDAY, April 24. I am sick. Erysipelas right bad.

For the next six days Brother Kline is confined to his room. Dr. Jacob
Driver, a very well informed and successful Botanic Physician, is
called to the case. His treatment is so judicious and active that by
Thursday, May 1, Brother Kline is able to ride out. Dr. Jacob Driver
was born and raised in Rockingham County, Virginia. He gave rise to a
numerous family, and in the autumn of 1852 moved and settled in Allen
County, Ohio. His children all became members of the order of the
Brethren. His son Jacob is now an active minister in the Sugar Creek
congregation in the above County. Dr. Jacob Driver died in Allen
County about the year 1867, deeply lamented by all who knew him. He
and his wife, in their early days, became members of the Brotherhood.
He was a son of Peter Driver, a brief notice of whom has been given.

TUESDAY, June 3. Meeting and love feast at our meetinghouse.
Revelation 2 is read.

SATURDAY, June 7. Meeting in the grove near the Brick meetinghouse, on
Middle river. Many people gathering. Acts 3 is read. From present
appearances there will be a very large concourse of people at this
Annual Meeting.

SUNDAY, June 8. Meeting in the meetinghouse and also in the grove.

MONDAY, June 9. The Yearly Council opens. Take in the questions.
Transact some business. Good order prevails, and a spirit of love and
union abounds. If by these meetings we can foster and preserve the
unity of the faith and order of our beloved Brotherhood, so that
wherever we may go among our Brethren we may be able to see eye to eye
and face to face as to the doctrines we preach and the order of
Christian life we uphold, our highest aim will have been reached. It
may be that as time goes on and knowledge is increased new things will
come up demanding consideration; but I sincerely hope and pray no
departures from what we now regard with so much love and unanimity as
the will of the Lord will ever take place.

TUESDAY, June 10. All the queries and business items left over from
yesterday are taken up and disposed of to-day. The Annual Meeting
breaks up in good feeling, but with the sad forecast that some present
to-day will never attend another Yearly Meeting. Be it so. In heaven
no farewell tears are shed. It is not the parting that makes one sad.
It is the how and the where and the when we shall meet again that
break up the fountains of our hearts.

WEDNESDAY, June 11. Meeting in the Methodist church in Harrisonburg.
Brother Daniel P. Saylor spoke on the Great Commission, Matt. 28:19,
20. He showed great boldness of speech. He shuns not to declare the
whole counsel of God. Many were present to hear a sermon from a
minister of our faith for the first time in their life. I have
sometimes feared that Brother Saylor's love for souls is at times
obscured by the severity of his speech in the stand, and by the
austerity of his manner among the people. Whilst Christian propriety
does set limits to "becoming all things to all men," still, as far as
consistency will allow, God's ministers should show great love for the
people in their associations with them. Some preachers, I believe, do
more good out of the stand than in it. They do this by little acts of
kindness and little words of love.

Between the last date above given and the thirtieth day of July,
Brother Kline preached ten funeral discourses, each of which was
delivered on the day of burial. Paul uttered a great truth when he
said: "It is appointed unto men ONCE to die." But only once. If they
die a _second death_, it is their fault. The death of the body is the
only death ever _appointed_ unto men.

WEDNESDAY, August 6. Attend the funeral of Nimrod Dove. Age,
forty-eight years, eleven months and thirteen days. Nimrod Dove was a
patient and persevering school-teacher. Some, who are now young, will
doubtless remember him gratefully when they are old.

FRIDAY, August 8. Harvest thanksgiving in our meetinghouse. Betty Frey
is baptized.

SUNDAY, August 17. Meeting in Andrew Chapel in Harrisonburg. Good
attention. Stay all night at Christian Myers's, near head of
Linville's Creek. I spoke to-day on Luke 14:10, from this clause:
"Friend, go up higher." This is what the Lord says to every one who
comes to the gospel feast in that spirit of deep humility and
self-abasement that is willing to take the lowest place. God's people
go up higher when they arise to walk in newness of life. When they add
to their faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge
charity. They go up higher as they increase their knowledge of his
Word, in the love of its saving truth. They go up higher as they love
God and their neighbor more.

The love of self and the world attracts man downward into the foul
pits of vice, immorality, intemperance, gambling, profanity, anger,
jealousy, worldly fashions, and all the forms and phases of evil. God
would have men come out of these horrible pits, wash themselves in the
pure water of his Word, and take a lowly seat at his table. Then with
joy he will say to each: "Friend, go up higher."

These are the outlines of my discourse to-day. The Editor would love
to expand the rich thoughts, condensed in these outlines, into an
elaborate discourse in exact accord with what he feels sure the
beloved brother said, but the limits of this work forbid.

SUNDAY, September 21. Meeting in our meetinghouse. I this day baptize
Noah Frey and wife; Isaac Smith and wife; Widow Dove; Mrs. Bulger and
Barbara Baker.

MONDAY, September 22. Brother Kline started to Maryland. The Diary
shows many meetings, councils and love feasts attended. On

FRIDAY, September 26, he assisted at the ordination of Brother
Christian Keafer to the full work of the ministry. Brother McCleningen
was elected speaker. This service was in the Welsh Run congregation,
near Brother William Engel's. He speaks of union meetings in which he
served, at different places, but does not say a word further about
them, as to why they were so called or for what particular object they
were held.

TUESDAY, September 30. He attended a union meeting in the Beaver Creek
meetinghouse, in which he served; and on

WEDNESDAY, October 1, he attended a union meeting in Welty's
meetinghouse, in which Brother Shaver served.

After attending several other meetings and making many visits, he
started for home, where he arrived October 5.

TUESDAY, October 28. Attend the funeral of Sister Gibbons. She died
yesterday at the home of her son Samuel Gibbons, near Luray, Page
County, Virginia. She grew old in years, but the service of the Lord
was not old in her heart. She passed from labor to reward at the high
age of ninety-one years, lacking nineteen days.

WEDNESDAY, November 12. Brother Kline started on another journey to
Hardy and Hampshire Counties. He held a night meeting at James Stump's
in Hardy; preached the funeral sermon of Brother Solomon Arnold; held
a union meeting at Brother Benjamin Leatherman's; attended morning
meeting on

SATURDAY, November 15, at the meetinghouse; and held night service at
Joseph Arnold's.

SUNDAY, November 16. He had forenoon meeting at William George's and
night meeting at Solomon Michael's. He filled six other appointments
between this, and his return home, where he arrived Friday, November
21. I find extended outline notes of but one sermon preached on this
journey. These I will here put in as good shape as I can. He delivered
this sermon at Jacob Keplinger's, in the Gap, the night before he got
home. Jacob Keplinger was a Lutheran himself, and the sermon was
preached right in a community of people of the same faith. But they
had respect for Brother Kline. The religious warmth of his heart and
the purity and simplicity of his life won for him the esteem and
friendship of people wherever he went.

    TEXT.--The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither
    shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom
    of God is within you.--Luke 17:20, 21.

People never grow entirely out of their childhood feelings. We
naturally incline to value most what our eyes can see and our hands
handle. Our natures are so sentient that objects of sense please us
best. It is from this that object lessons attract the young. They can
best apprehend what their senses can grasp. It is very difficult for
the mind to grasp abstract truth. But right here lies the basis of all
true education. The power to comprehend truth in the abstract, to take
hold of its ramifications as subjects of thought, and reduce them to
order in the mind, so as to develop and give them concrete form for
practical ends in life, is education.

The Pharisees wanted a sign. Even Herod hoped to see some miracle done
by the Lord. The reply of Jesus to the Pharisees was that "an evil and
adulterous generation seeketh after a sign." And now they want to know
when his kingdom will come. My text is the Lord's answer. "The kingdom
of God cometh not with observation." It is not something
representative, with visible outlines and surfaces that you can
perceive by means of your senses. It is altogether invisible: it is a
state of mind and heart: it has its place in a man's soul: it is not
outside of you; "for lo, the kingdom of God is within you." In this
regard the kingdom of heaven is like education. You cannot tell by
simply looking at a man whether he is educated or not. And why?
because education is not a thing of the body, but of the mind; and the
mind or understanding is invisible.

Just so it is with the kingdom of God. It has no connection with the
body. In fact the body, with its appetites and passions opposes it.
For as Paul says: "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the
other." The kingdom of God, then, has its place in man's renewed heart
and mind, and can therefore never be a thing of observation. But let
us look a little further. The most precious and valuable things of
earth are worthless until brought out into use. Of what good are all
the mineral treasures of earth while hidden in the mines? Just so "the
kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in the field."

But our heavenly Father has prepared a body, a visible, organized body
for his kingdom on earth, so that it may become active, useful, and in
every way promotive of man's highest good on earth and his highest
bliss in heaven. This body is the Lord's visible church. Like the
human body, it is composed of members, and each member has his place
and office of service in the body. The church is composed of those who
do the Lord's will; and he owns all such as his brethren. On one
occasion he exclaimed: "Who are my brethren?" And immediately he said:
"Behold my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father
which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
Thus the church is composed of such as hold a relationship with him,
symbolized by that of brother, sister and mother. It is for his church
that Jesus offered that wonderful prayer recorded in the seventeenth
chapter of John. He there says: "I have manifested thy name unto the
men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou
gavest them me; and they have kept thy word." The church, then, is
composed of such as keep the Lord's Word.

He said: "My kingdom is not of this world." Neither is the church,
which is the visible, active, use-loving and use-performing body of
the kingdom, of this world. It is not organized according to the order
of human institutions and laws, but according to God's order. Human
laws and customs have really and legitimately nothing to do either
with its organization and government or with the admission of members
into its body and their retention and conduct in the body. But the
church is _in_ the world. By its being _in_ the world, where sin and
sorrow and suffering abound; where there is so much pain to assuage,
so much want to relieve, so much evil to combat, so much ignorance to
dispel by the light of truth, numberless and boundless opportunities
and demands are presented for "the good man, out of the good treasure
of his heart to bring forth good things."

And in the world is just where the Lord wants his church to ever be.
It is in the church on earth that God's people learn those wonderful
lessons of self-denial, humility, gentleness, brotherly kindness,
forbearance, patience, and all other heavenly qualities and graces. In
a word, the church, in its purest form and highest sense, is heaven
begun on earth. Hence the blessed Jesus, in the prayer referred to,
says: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

Since the church is the outward, visible form of God's kingdom on
earth, it is of the utmost importance that the church give expression
to and be a representative of the soul and spirit of the kingdom. Paul
says: "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The church must be righteous. By
this is meant that it must obey the Lord's Word. He says: "Ye are my
friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." It is obedience on the
part of the church that makes any organization bearing that name
acceptable to the Lord. In the great day to come some will say: "We
have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our
streets." But he will say: "I tell you I know you not whence ye are."
Many others again will say: "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity." The lips of man may not apply
these terrific words to any whose doom is yet to be disclosed; but all
organizations claiming to be churches of Jesus Christ will do well to
see to it that they obey from the heart those ordinances given by our
Lord both by example and precept. When he pronounces us happy, we may
feel sure that we are safe.

Let us now, before we close, look over the ground and see where the
church of the Brethren stands, which it is my privilege to represent
here to-night. Jesus was baptized, that is, immersed by John in the
river Jordan. We follow his example as further set forth in the great
commission he gave. He washed the disciples' feet, giving us an
example that we shall do to one another as he did to them. This we do.
He ate a supper with them before the administration of the Communion.
This we do; and from other scripture authority we feel justified in
calling it a love feast. He administered the Communion of his body and
blood, symbolized by the bread and wine. This we likewise do. Now we
have his blessed Word for it: "If ye know these things, happy are ye
if ye do them."

SUNDAY, December 7. Michael B.E. Kline and wife are baptized at
Timberville.

WEDNESDAY, December 31. I have traveled this year 3,816 miles, mostly
on horseback; and preached forty-five funeral discourses.

THURSDAY, January 22, 1852. Attend upon my aged mother. She passed a
calculus or stone from the bladder to-day weighing seven ounces and
two and one-half drachms. Its greatest circumference is nine inches. A
very wonderful concretion indeed.

THURSDAY, March 11. My dear aged mother passes away from earth to-day,
at 1 o'clock. She has been a good mother. I rejoice in the thought
that from her bright home in heaven, if saints are permitted to look
down upon earth, she can still witness the fruits of her good example
and influence, manifest in the well-doing of all her children, and
most of her grandchildren.

FRIDAY, March 12. Take Anna over to Brother Samuel Kline's, where our
dear mother now lies a corpse.

SATURDAY, March 13. Mother is buried to-day. Her age was eighty-one
years, three months and twenty days.

MONDAY, March 22. This day Brother Kline started to Maryland. As usual
on such journeys, he visited many friends and Brethren, among whom he
mentions D.P. Saylor, Jacob Saylor, Howard Hillery, Brother Cover,
Joseph Engle, Philip Boyle, Israel Engle, Brother Rupp, Jesse Royer,
Betsy Engle, William Deahl, Abraham Deahl, Brother Rhinehart, and
others. He preaches and prays as he goes; leaving behind him good
examples, good instructions, good doctrines, with prayers and good
wishes for all. What a life of good works! He returned home Thursday,
April 1.

THURSDAY, April 15. Council meeting at the Flat Rock meetinghouse.
John Neff is elected speaker.

FRIDAY, April 16. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. John Zigler is
elected to the deaconship.

SATURDAY, April 17. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse. Jacob
Miller is advanced in the ministry of the Word.

SUNDAY, May 16. Attend a meeting in the Campbellite church in
Baltimore. I meet Brother D.P. Saylor there. He speaks from Heb. 12:1,
2. Outlines of his discourse. TEXT.--"Let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us; and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us; looking unto Jesus."

He said: The book of Hebrews is, in one respect, the most
extraordinary book in the New Testament. It sets forth Christ the Lord
to us in a somewhat new light, and new relation. All the other books
of the New Testament are mainly occupied in setting forth Jesus as the
atoning Savior. But this book is preeminently taken up with Christ the
anointed High Priest of our profession. The other books tell what
Jesus has done to redeem the world from sin. This book tells what he
is now doing to save his people.

In his admonitions and instructions Brother Saylor beautifully
referred to the Olympic games celebrated by the ancient Greeks once
every four years. From these the figure of running a race, given in
the text, was borrowed. A man cannot run long and well with a load on
his back. You have no doubt seen the fabled demigod Atlas pictured
with the world on his shoulders. I have often thought of that old
Grecian representation of avarice, as being something like a true
picture of many professors of the Christian religion at the present
day. You see the old myth struggling along with this big round world
on his back, apparently casting his eyes upward at times as if he
might be longing to reach the top of Mount Olympus, the home of the
gods: but alas! his head is bowed and his back bent under the mighty
pressure, and he never got there. It will fare no better with the man
who tries to carry this world with him to heaven. The apostle says:
"Let us cast off every weight" that would hinder our progress.

You know the devil is called a serpent. No sane man ever yet invited a
snake to bite him. If one is bitten by a copperhead or rattlesnake, it
is either because he has gone where he ought not go, or else, if
compelled, he was not watchful, but was off his guard. Besetting sins
are these snakes in the grass and along the hedges. The apostle here
takes it for granted, as a thing settled long ago, that the Christian
has laid aside his habitual sins. Besetting sins are such as we meet
or overtake unexpectedly in the way, and like robbers that beset us
and take our goods, they spoil our peace and take away our joy. The
best way for all Christians is to keep out of the way of snakes and
robbers.

"And let us run with patience the race that is set before us." In
another place Paul says: "I press forward to the mark for the prize."
He represents the Christian as running, but not as uncertainly. Not as
if some one else might beat him and take the prize, and he thereby
lose it. No, no! In the Christian race there is a prize for every one
that runs with patience the race set before him.

But he also speaks of a _mark_. The language here employed indicates
that the _mark_ must be reached before the prize can justly be
claimed. This mark is conformity to Christ in spirit and life. "If any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "He has set us
an example that we should follow in his steps." The prize is heaven
and eternal happiness. God is pleased to give to his children things
which they are incapable of obtaining by their own efforts; but he
will not give direct what they are capable of getting by judicious
means rightly applied. It is no credit to any one to depend on others
for what he could win for himself. It is so in the Christian's race
for eternal life.

"Looking unto Jesus." If you have ever been at sea you noticed the
interest with which sailors watched the lighthouses along the shore in
a dark night. This figure may help us in our thought of looking to
Jesus. His word is a "lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path."
Friends, when you look prayerfully to the Lord's Word for guidance in
your religious life you are looking unto Jesus. He is nowhere else to
be found. But he is always there, and whosoever will look may find him
there unto the salvation of his soul.

They stayed all night at Michael B. Kline's.

MONDAY, May 17. They stopped awhile with Sister Rubicum in
Philadelphia; and arrived at the Irving House, in New York City, at
10:30 P.M.

Men love to honor their favorites. Washington Irving has caused his
name to be stamped upon the affections of the people of this city.
Irving collars, Irving hats, Irving signs and Irving attached to many
things give evidence of the high regard in which he is held. We will
pass his home on the Hudson to-day.

TUESDAY, May 18. Take the steamer "Henry Clay" to Albany, where we
land at 3 P.M. Kossuth is in the place. A great procession, with many
other demonstrations in honor of the Hungarian exile, is given. These
things are not done for the man personally, but for the cause which he
represents, that of freeing his country from the galling yoke of
bondage. We have a delightful boat ride up the Hudson.

I must here relate a short encounter which I had with a professed
infidel on the boat. He some way came to the conclusion that I was a
religious man, and probably a preacher. This led him to approach me
for a talk, and he introduced himself in a very courteous and
agreeable manner. After he had stated his objections to the Christian
religion, I asked him if he was absolutely certain that there is no
place and state of future punishment. He answered: "I do not contend
for this; but only hold that hell is unreasonable, and that heaven is
impossible: and according to Bible description, to me at least, it
would be undesirable." I answered: "I suppose you will allow, that if
the Bible is _not_ true I will fare no worse after death for having
taught its doctrines and the faith of Jesus Christ: and you no better
for having denied both?" "All this," said he, "is self-evident." "But
if it so turns out that we both, after death, find that God's Word is
absolutely true, which, my dear friend, will fare the better then?
You, for having rejected the Lord Jesus Christ before men; or I, for
having humbly confessed him?" We parted at the landing to meet,
perhaps, no more until that day when the secrets of all hearts shall
be made known.

WEDNESDAY, May 19. Get to Buffalo, New York, at 8 P.M. Stay all night
at the Mansion House. Philip Dorsheimer, proprietor.

THURSDAY, May 20. This day I enjoy my first sight of Niagara Falls.
Cross on the bridge over to the Canada side and go up to the falls.
Return by the bridge and go up to the falls on the American side. Go
to see the buffaloes; and visit the telegraph office. Return to the
Mansion House and stay there all night. I suppose that all the
thoughts and emotions which a view of Niagara Falls is capable of
exciting in the beholder have been so clearly and graphically
expressed in prose and verse, so far as lies in the power of words to
express them, that I feel like keeping silent. This, however, I will
venture to say, that in the sight of such mighty power I felt very
small and weak. How, then, thought I, will I feel when I come in sight
of the Power that made and moves the world!

Cold and snow this morning. But I must remember that I am not in
Virginia.

FRIDAY, May 21. Take passage on the steamboat "America" to Erie; then
on to Cleveland, where we arrive at 5 A.M. Sleep a little. Then, on
same boat, to Sandusky City, where we take cars to Tiffin, and from
there go to Brother Eversole's, in Hancock County, Ohio.

SUNDAY, May 23. Brother Kline attended forenoon meeting at Brother
Peter Weant's; and afternoon meeting at Brother Dickey's. In the
evening he went to Brother Daniel Rosenberger's and assisted in
anointing a sick sister. Next day they had meeting at Brother Jacob
Kendrick's. On Tuesday, while they were detained at Perrysburg,
Brother Kline says: "We saw the fishermen make a haul with their
seine. While witnessing the adroitness and care with which they
separated the bad fish from the good, I was reminded of the parable in
which the same performance is spoken of. The gospel net catches or
takes in both good and bad. But the separation of the good from the
bad cannot take place on earth. 'At the end of the world the angels
shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just.'"

WEDNESDAY, May 26. They take the boat "John Hollister" for Toledo:
from there they take cars to Elkhart, Indiana. The two brethren, Kline
and Saylor, do not appear to have been together all the time on this
journey; but at Elkhart it seems they got together again and two other
brethren with them; for he now speaks of brethren Saylor, Krontz and
P. Ebersole all going together and staying all night at Brother Jacob
Studebaker's; and on the twenty-ninth they all go to Jonathan Wylan's,
the place of the Annual Meeting. Brother Kline reports a wonderful
concourse of people.

SUNDAY, May 30. They have meeting at three places. On Monday business
begins. Many queries are placed in the hands of the subcommittees. On
Tuesday the reports of the subcommittees are taken in, and discussions
follow freely, but all in a spirit of love.

WEDNESDAY, June 2. Business is all disposed of by 3 o'clock, and the
meeting breaks up. Brother Kline goes to Michael Waybright's and holds
night meeting.

On his return trip Brother Kline revisits Elkhart, and goes to Dayton
to Brother Henry Yost's. From there he goes to Cincinnati to see Drs.
Kost and Curtis, with whom he spends a night; thence back to Columbus;
goes through the state prison; visits other places of interest; and
thence through Cleveland and Pittsburg home. He arrived home

SATURDAY, June 12. He reports 2,685 miles traveled from the time he
left home till his return.

SUNDAY, June 27. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize Daniel Wampler
and wife.

FRIDAY, July 2. Write letters to Brethren in Pendleton and Hardy
Counties to make appointments for preaching. He gives plenty of time
for those Brethren to whom the above letters were sent, to make the
appointments generally known; and allows time for the slow transit of
the mails in that day. Brother Kline's successes were never brilliant
or dazzling, as some men's appear, but they were acquired by methods
which few men are willing to adopt; and achieved by self-sacrifices
and labors which few men are willing to undergo.

FRIDAY, August 20. This day Brother Kline started to Pendleton County,
Virginia. From Pendleton he went to Hardy County, and from there to
Hampshire County. He filled every appointment made for him by the
Brethren to whom he had written on July 2. On his outward way he left
a line of appointments which he filled on his return homeward. On this
tour he traveled 183 miles on the back of his faithful mare Nell, over
roads and mountain paths next to impassable. He was gone from home on
this trip just two weeks, in which time he preached nineteen sermons,
attended one council meeting and one love feast.

Such preaching tours, as this work abundantly shows, were but common
proofs of his missionary spirit and love for the souls of men. Added
to this we find a purely unselfish spirit in him. Not long before his
martyrdom he told me that if he would have asked for money along the
lines of his work extending over many years--using his very words--"I
know that I would have freely received it; but I have never asked one
cent; and, God prospering me in the future as in the past, I never
expect to." He went on his own expenses, always and at all times,
apparently more ready to give than to receive.

THURSDAY, September 30. On this day Brother Kline started to
Tennessee. He rode Nell. He went up the Valley of Virginia, stopping
with Brethren and preaching by previous arrangements made by letters.
He stayed all night with Peter Nininger, and one night with Benjamin
Moomaw. At both places he filled appointments previously sent on.

MONDAY, October 4. He dined at Jacob Brubaker's. He arrived at Brother
John Bowman's on Friday, the eighth.

SATURDAY, October 9, he had meeting at John Bowman's. It would seem
that he had leisure here to jot the outlines of his discourse on that
day. He spoke from Rev. 2:7. TEXT.--"He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

There is a wonderful correspondence of natural things with things
spiritual. It is this correspondence which makes a good life give
evidence of a good heart within, and intelligent conduct prove that it
is the offspring of an enlightened mind. If there were no
correspondence between internal and external things--between the tree
and its fruit--what would we know about anything? It is from this law
that all our Lord's parables and miracles derive their significance.
When he spoke of external, natural things, he wanted his disciples to
learn internal, spiritual things. In the text he speaks of a hearing
ear. "He that hath an ear." Do not nearly all men have ears? In
several other places the Lord says: "He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear." It is plain that the natural ear is not meant; but the ear
of the soul (by which is meant an understanding mind) is the ear meant
in the text. But to hear means more than just to understand what is
said. People may understand what they hear or read, and still be none
the better off for it. To hear, in a divine sense, is to hearken; and
to hearken means to obey, or a willingness to obey. The text then
means about this: "He that understands what the Spirit saith to the
churches, let him obey." This brings up the question whether or not
people of ordinary intelligence are able to understand what the Spirit
says to the churches.

Let us turn to what the Spirit says to the church at Ephesus. After
reviewing the good qualities and characteristics of this church, much
to their praise and credit, he does not flatter their vanity, by
intimations or otherwise, to think themselves all right and in need of
nothing; but "I have this AGAINST thee, that thou didst leave thy
first love. Remember therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and
repent." It is truthfully said "our best friends are those who warn us
of danger." This is God's friendship for his churches. He shows his
people by his Word where they may go wrong, and, if they have ears to
hear and eyes to see, where they _are_ wrong. _Leaving their first
love_ is the charge brought against this church of Ephesus. And it is
the only charge. To what extent or degree they had departed is not
definitely said; but they had gone so far that repentance and
reformation, or the doing of their first works, was necessary that
they might be restored to the state they had once enjoyed.

Now it appears plain to my mind, from all the teachings I find
elsewhere in the Word, that love to the Lord their God with all the
heart, and love to the neighbor, which is the church, is, and forever
ought to be, the first and only love. The church is the good Samaritan
that lifts up the wounded brother who has fallen among the thieves of
temptation, and restores him. This love to the Lord and the church is
the love from which these Ephesian brethren had fallen. Departures
from first loves are not uncommon in the church and out of it. The
newly married couple enjoy a warmth of affection that sweetens their
cup of happiness and strews flowers all along their pathway of life.
This pleasure lasts while their love lasts; but when love dies,
happiness dies with it. This accounts for the joyless, pleasureless
life of many married partners. First love, alas! departed; the first
fire all burnt out, leaving naught but the dull ashes of cold
indifference and burning tears. It sometimes goes somewhat the same
way with members coming into the church. They run well for a season,
manifest a deep interest in the things of religion, but when
tribulation or persecution ariseth on account of the Word, directly
they stumble. Entire churches sometimes lose their first love for the
Lord and for one another. This seems to have been true of the church
at Ephesus.

The best way for all is to be sure that the first love is of the right
kind. I have heard of some coming into the church from motives of mere
personal interest. I have heard of one man who confessed, after he had
been expelled, that he got out of the Dunkards all he wanted. Said he:
"They helped me out of debt, and that is what I went in for." That man
never lost HIS first love. His first love was the love of self and the
world, and that is the love he carried with him when he was turned
out. Such examples, however, are rare. As a people we are not often
imposed upon in this way. But some who come in with the best of
motives, desiring to live in the church, to be built up in the church,
and to help build up the church, may, as I have known instances of the
kind, lose these good feelings, become discouraged, and altogether
unhappy. To such, if any of that class are here, I now speak.

At the start I have to say, I have glorious news for you. The Lord
says to us all: "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of
good cheer; I have overcome the world." The blessed Savior has
overcome the world for every one of his people. We all have our
tribulations; but some are better able to bear them than others. The
Apostle Paul says: "Confirm the strong, support the weak." It seems
strange to us that any could ever grow weak in his day, when they were
as yet almost in sight of their ascended Lord, and in hearing of the
echo of his voice. But so it was then, and so it will ever be. But God
knows our feeble frame. "As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord
pitieth them that fear him." Our Lord, just before his crucifixion,
said: "I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you." This he
spoke to his sorrowing disciples. This he says to you, and to every
discouraged disciple of his: "Ye, therefore, now have sorrow, but your
sorrow shall be turned into joy." As he was preparing to wash the
disciples' feet it is said of him: "Having loved his own which were in
the world, he loved them unto the end."

  "His is an unchanging love,
  Higher than the heights above;
  Deeper than the depths beneath;
  Stronger than the hand of death."

It is impossible for one human soul to enter fully into the feelings
of another, so as to realize in all the particulars of experience what
the other suffers. But the Lord knows it all. "He that made the ear,
shall he not hear? He that made the eye, shall he not see? He that
made the heart, shall he not understand?" He consequently knows the
proper remedy for all the backslidings, declensions of our first love,
and all relapses into states of lukewarmness. His prescribed remedy is
_repentance_, in every case. If you will take the time to read
carefully the seven letters addressed to the seven churches of Asia,
you will see that _repentance_ is the remedy prescribed in every case
of failure in duty, weakness of faith, coldness of love; together with
all the troubles growing out of these.

_Repentance_ is a change of mind. It is a change from wrong feelings
and affections in the soul to right feelings; from weak faith in the
Lord to strong faith; from weak love for the Lord and the church to
strong love. Joy of heart and peace of mind are as sure to follow a
change like this as a tree is sure to bloom in spring. Blossoms on
trees, other conditions favoring, give promise of fruits. Your joy and
peace from true repentance, like the bloom on a good tree, will give
promise of a life full of good fruits. No one need tell me that he
cannot repent. "Nothing shall be impossible unto you." Who says this?
Jesus says it. Again: "If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do
it." But again he says: "Without me ye can do nothing." Speaking to
the Father, of his disciples, the Lord said: "I in them, and thou in
me, that they may be perfected into one."

We are slow to learn the greatest of all the truths God has revealed,
the truth that the Lord is personally, in the fullness of his love,
wisdom and power, in the soul or spiritual body of every one of his
children. "Ye are God's temple; ye are God's building." As the life of
the vine is the life of the branches, so is Christ our life. The Lord
is ever at hand; not only _around_ us, but _in_ us. And he is not only
able but ready at all times to do us all the good we are capable of
receiving from his hand. Say not then, "I cannot repent;" for one
earnest, believing, trusting look to him, with whom all things are
possible, will cause the tears of penitence to flow down your face in
a stream that will "make glad the city of our God," rebuilt with its
walls, in your heart.

But the Lord tries to encourage his _lost-love_ children with promises
additional to those of his presence, love and power. He sets forth
inducements of a character that surpasses all worldly considerations
as far as the heaven is high above the earth. Notice some of them: "To
him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God." To eat of the tree of
life is to enjoy all the blessedness and happiness of a heavenly life.
"In the paradise of God" is a figure taken from the garden of Eden,
for paradise means garden. We sometimes wonder at the folly of our
first parents in disobeying God's commands, and thus bringing upon
themselves the disgrace and ruin which followed. But do we not act
after the same manner when we disobey the Lord? We as surely deprive
ourselves of the enjoyments of his favor and conscious presence as
they did. But through his abounding love in Christ Jesus we can be
reclaimed and reinstated sooner than they. Thanks be to God, the
scheme of redemption and salvation is now complete; and we are not now
required to wait four thousand years to have the head of the serpent
bruised under our feet. Neither is there a flaming sword of
threatening vengeance to guard the gate against our return. We are
invited to return. The gate is open. Yea, the Lord himself is the
gate. He stands beckoning, even calling and saying: "I am the way; I
am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved." The
paradise of God, the garden of Eden, is planted by the Lord in the
heart of every true follower of his. This is a great truth. When we
are in heavenly frames of feeling we are in a state to enjoy its cool
shade and partake of its fruits. There the sun does not light upon us,
nor any unpleasant heat.

Hoping that what I have said in much weakness may be made strong by
the Spirit of God, unto edification and comfort, I now close. On

SUNDAY, October 10, he had meeting at Brother Christian Wine's. Next
day he visited David Garst's; and stayed all night at the widow
Bowman's.

He visited successively, in order, the following named brethren and
sisters, preaching nearly every day: Daniel Crouse's, John Sherfey's,
John Basehore's, Henry Swadley's, widow Bowman's, John Bowman's, Henry
Garst's.

TUESDAY, October 19. He started homeward, but stopped at Brother
Michael Grabil's and attended a meeting in Roanoke meetinghouse.
Assisted by brethren Kinsey and Brubaker, he ordained Brother
Christian Wirt to the full work of the gospel ministry.

FRIDAY, October 29. He arrived home safe, after an absence of
something over four weeks. The whole distance, going and returning,
was about 600 miles. This he traveled on Nell's back. Good, patient,
faithful Nell!

From this time on to the close of the year, Brother Kline was mainly
engaged in the practice of medicine, together with his ministerial
labors. On far into the next year the same may be said of his work.
Ever active, no such thing as idleness ever had a place in his life.
Looking through his Diary, observing the unintermitting activity of
his life "_every day and Sunday too_," I am struck with wonder that he
did not get tired.

SUNDAY, March 13, 1853. Meeting at the Elk meetinghouse, in Page
County, Virginia. Acts 9 was read. My topic was Saul's conversion.
There are three points in the conversion of Saul which I noted
particularly in my discourse to-day. They are as follows:

I. Saul's conversion was _unexpected_. II. It was _miraculous_. III.
It was _thorough_.

No event could have been less expected than the conversion of Saul of
Tarsus. Lightning from the clear blue sky, or the breaking forth of
the sun at midnight, could not have struck both Jews and Christians
with deeper amazement than did the report of the change of Saul from
persecutor to protector of God's people. But this is sometimes God's
way. Often does he send us blessings and do wonders when we least
expect them. Day breaks at the darkest hour. In the midst of parching
dryness the refreshing shower comes. The hardest pain is just before
the birth. A sleepless night ends in a joyful morning. In this way he
shows us that the "excellency of the power is not of men, but of God."

In our religious experiences we sometimes feel prayer a burden;
reading and meditation a task. We loathe ourselves and wonder how
Jesus can love us. Out of such frames of feeling the Lord sometimes
suddenly lifts us, by causing light to break in upon our souls,
revealing some new truth, some fresh affection, in which we rejoice.
In addition to these instances of unexpected blessings, we sometimes
see men gathered into the fold, for whose conversion we had lost all
hope.

We need not wonder that Saul's conversion was wholly unexpected. He
had shown such hostility to Jesus of Nazareth that no ground for hope
of any change in him was anywhere visible. His conviction was
therefore, in the eyes of Christians, a miracle. But it was so only in
appearance. The light, above the brightness of the sun, that shone
upon him, was but the same light that shone from the face of the Lord
and glistened from his raiment on the holy mount when he was
transfigured. John had a somewhat similar vision of the Lord upon the
isle of Patmos. John was better prepared to receive the vision than
was Saul; but even John fell at the Lord's feet as dead. The Lord
immediately laid his right hand upon John, and in the tenderness of
his love said: "Fear not." These same sweet words fell from his lips
upon the ears of the three disciples on the holy mount. But Saul heard
far different words. A voice sounded into his soul: "I am Jesus of
Nazareth whom thou persecutest." This terrific announcement broke up
the sealed fountain of his sinful heart and he cried out: "Lord, what
wouldst thou have me to do?" He was then told to go into the city of
Damascus, and it would there be told him what he had to do.

Notice the difference. The Lord did not say to him as he had to many
others: "Fear not." This seemed to be his cherished phrase to all who
loved and believed on him. To the women at the sepulcher, these words,
"fear not," were addressed by the angel. To the church, seen in vision
by the prophetic eye of Isaiah, the words, "Fear not, for I have
redeemed thee: fear not, for I am with thee," are tenderly spoken by
the Lord. If Saul's conviction had been brought about by human agency
through the preaching of the Word, the adversaries of the cross might
have said that he had been persuaded, or bribed with money to change
his manner of life. But nothing like this could be said now. The men
who journeyed with him could testify otherwise. They saw the light
that flashed upon him; but they heard not the words spoken. They were
not persecutors of Jesus by intention as Saul was. Like the soldiers
who nailed the Lord to the cross, they knew not what they did. But
Saul knew what he was doing, and the light struck conviction to his
heart.

Conviction is a knowledge of sin imparted by the Holy Spirit through
the Word. The light that Saul saw is an expressive emblem of the light
of revealed truth. Light signifies truth, in very many places in the
Scriptures. Take, for examples, the following: "The people which sat
in darkness saw great light." Darkness here does not mean natural
darkness, but mental or spiritual darkness, which is ignorance. Again:
"Every one that doeth evil, hateth the light." This was Saul's state
exactly. He was doing evil, and he hated the light to such a pitch of
passion that he sought to take the lives of the children of light. But
it was God's way then, and it is God's way now, to convict and convert
men by means of the very thing they hate, which is the Word of Truth.

Saul remained three days and nights in this awful state of conviction
in which time "he did neither eat nor drink." The anguish of spirit
suffered during these days and nights no heart but his own can ever
know. His sins were red with the blood of the saints. Doubts as to
what the persecuted Jesus might require of him, with a thousand
unanswerable questions, harassed his mind. Conviction, or a feeling
sense of sin, always precedes conversion. Repentance cannot take place
without a knowledge of sin's condemning and destroying power. When
this is felt man desires to be rid of sin, and asks what he must do to
be saved. This is the first step in repentance. Conversion and
repentance, complete, are expressions meaning one and the same thing.
Our Lord's illustration is instructive: "When a woman is in travail,
she hath anguish; but when she is delivered she straightway forgetteth
her anguish for joy that a man is born into the world." These words
from the lips of Jesus tell us more about conviction and conversion
than all else that has ever been written.

We must notice the kindness in which Ananias approached Saul to
complete the manward side of his conversion and usher in the new
birth. He put his hands on him, not roughly, but gently, and said:
"BROTHER SAUL,"--"and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had
been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was
baptized." His spiritual eyes were now open; his sins washed away; and
out of the baptismal stream he was visibly born into the church a new
creature in Christ Jesus, with a new name. I hold the belief that Saul
changed his name himself. His old life was now so abhorrent to him
that he could no longer bear to hear the name by which he was called
when pursuing that course of life. It was his desire to cast all
recollection of it out of mind, and the old name with it. But he never
did forget entirely. He calls himself the chief of sinners, and almost
gets wild with exultation over the mercies of God. Hear some of his
joyful exclamations: "Who shall condemn us! Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ! O, the length, and the breadth, and the depth and
the height of the love of Christ!" Paul never doubted his conversion.
He became as enthusiastic in building up the church as he had been in
tearing it down. He tried to repair the evil he had done by adding new
recruits to the church to fill the places of those whom he had either
driven out or caused to be martyred.

Brethren and sisters, here is a lesson for us all. Let us follow
Paul's example in self-denial, in love for the Brethren, in love for
the unconverted, in the love of doing good at all times and in all
ways.

THURSDAY, April 7. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. David Kline is
advanced in the ministry, and John Long is elected to the deaconship.

SUNDAY, April 10. Meeting at the Lost River meetinghouse. George
Halterman is baptized.

SUNDAY, May 1. Meeting at Turner's schoolhouse, in the Gap. Samuel
Smith is baptized.

SUNDAY, May 8. Meeting at Joseph Glick's. Samuel Good and wife
baptized.

MONDAY, May 9. Meeting in our meetinghouse. John Bowman and Daniel
Crouse are with us, on their way to the Annual Meeting.

THURSDAY, May 12. This day Brother Kline and Benjamin Bowman started
together, on horseback, to the Yearly Meeting, which, according to the
Diary, was appointed to meet near William Deahl's. They went down the
Valley of Virginia, and arrived at Brother William Deahl's Saturday
evening following.

SUNDAY, May 15. _Diary_: There is preaching at three places. We were
made to witness a very distressing occurrence to-day in the sudden
death of Brother Daniel Haines's wife. She came into the meeting in
her usual state of health, and in two hours she was a corpse. Death
had done its work upon the body; but it could not touch the soul to
which Jesus had given eternal life. "Hither shalt thou go, but no
farther; and here shall all thy waves be stayed," may be applied to
death as it comes to the child of God, as appropriately as to the
great ocean.

MONDAY, May 16. Come to the meetinghouse. Committees are appointed. Go
to Jacob Saylor's and take in questions. In the meantime preaching is
going on at the meetinghouse as yesterday. We stay all night at
Brother Deahl's.

THURSDAY, May 17. Business progresses slowly.

WEDNESDAY, May 18. At about four o'clock it is announced that all the
business before the meeting has been disposed of, and the meeting
breaks up, with many farewell salutations and much tender feeling. We
stay all night with John Waltman, married to Martin Deahl's daughter.

MONDAY, May 23. Love feast at our meetinghouse. A great concourse of
people, but good order. The brethren John Bowman and Daniel Crouse are
here. They speak to good acceptance.

TUESDAY, May 24. Go to the Tristle meetinghouse. Christian Funk is
buried. Age, eighty years, three months and nineteen days. He was a
very consistent member of the Mennonite persuasion, and suddenly died
in the meetinghouse, on Sunday before, in the very act of singing a
devotional hymn with the congregation. Let us hope that as the song
died on his lips here his soul caught its echo in heaven.

SUNDAY, June 19. Go to Philip Ritchey's schoolhouse in the Gap. Speak
from Jer. 7:23. TEXT.--"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey
my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people."

I said in substance: Man is to-day what he has ever been. "The carnal
mind is enmity against God" now, quite as deep-seated in man's heart
as when he led his unholy and rebellious people out of Egypt. Man's
will now, as then, is contrary to God's will. But God wants to change
man's will so as to incline it to good instead of evil. God is
infinitely blessed and happy, because he is infinitely just and good.
Man is unblessed and unhappy, because he is unholy and evil. One of
the clearest proofs of man's degeneracy is found in his willingness to
remain in his sinful and unhappy state. Like the man among the tombs,
he is ready to cry out, in thought if not otherwise, "Let us alone!
what have we to do with thee? Art thou come to torment us before the
time?"

The two great lessons given in the text, are OBEDIENCE and REWARD. I
will tell you about _obedience_ first. To make this very plain you
must first be told that _obedience_ consists in doing what one is
commanded to do. Two things, however, are necessary to make obedience
a duty. _First_, the command must come from a right source; it must be
based upon the right authority. _Second_, it must be given in a way
that can be understood. The command must be plain. These two things
being established, it is the duty of every one to hear and obey what
he is commanded to do. Disobeying good commands is as sure to bring
suffering and loss as violating the laws of health is sure to bring
disease into our bodies. Let us notice some of the commands which, in
the course of our lives, it may be our duty to obey. There is no
difference between a law and a command. Every law is a command in
substance, and every command is a law. There are very deep things
involved here, but I will not now enter upon them. Every command is
but the expression of the will of the commander; and the will of the
commander in every case, when expressed, and compliance with it is
demanded, is a law.

Authority has many grades. There is parental authority, teachers'
authority, magisterial authority, legislative authority. All these
grades of authority are necessary for our well-being. But no benefit
can be derived from authority of any kind without obedience to that
authority. The best law can do no good unless it be obeyed. Parental
laws, no matter how wise and good they are in themselves, are of no
account unless the children obey their parents. It is the same with
all laws.

Possibly it may not be clear to the understanding of some how
obedience to God's laws makes man happy. Let us then consider this
matter of obedience on a lower grade. Parents love their children.
Parents have much of life's experiences. They are capable of knowing
better than their children can what is best for the children. Now if
children will heed what their parents say to them in the way of good
counsel, instruction, and government, love, peace and harmony will
prevail in the household. Joy will be a constant guest. Happiness will
crown the board. Habits of good will be formed in the young which will
not forsake them when they are old. In youth the foundation is thus
laid for honorable success in later years. Reverse this picture:
instead of happiness, discontent; instead of joy, distress; instead of
peace, contentions and broils; instead of respectability, disgrace;
instead of honor, shame. What an amazing difference between the
rewards of obedience and the effects of disobedience! The good results
of obedience to good laws are boundless in extent and endless in
duration.

This now brings me to the main point of my discourse, obedience to God
and its rewards. As God is infinitely good, and therefore wills
nothing beyond the good of his creatures; and as he is infinitely wise
to know in what the highest good of his creatures consists, it becomes
man's highest duty and privilege to know what God would have him to
do. But inside of all the externals of obedience there must be a state
of heart and mind conformed to God's will before any works can be done
acceptable to him. What _is_ this state of mind and heart? It is all
expressed in two words,--love and faith. Jesus says: "If ye love me,
keep my commandments." As much as to say, "Do not act the part of a
hypocrite by putting on the form of obedience with no love in the
heart." He continues the thought by saying: "He that loveth me will
keep my words." Obedience, you see, is the proof of love, true
obedience, I mean.

Some gravely ask, _Which is first in the heart, love or faith?_ This
question is very nearly like that of asking which is most necessary to
the growth of plants, heat or moisture? The truth is plain, that both
are necessary; and both together. Without both together no seed could
sprout, no plant put forth its leaves. Just so it is with the growth
of gospel seeds in the soul. There must be love and faith, both. But
this is very plain and easy to be understood. No one can believe in
Jesus truly without loving him; and no one can love him without at the
same time believing on him. "We love him because he first loved us:"
and faith is but a belief in and joyful acceptance of the words which
tell us how he has made known his love for us. Out of this love and
faith true obedience springs.

We must notice one particular in our thought upon this subject. It is
a matter of the deepest interest to every one of us. I now state it:
Our _love_ and _faith_ grow with our obedience. What class of children
love their parents most and repose the most confidence in them,
obedient children or disobedient children? Obedient children, you all
answer. Why is this? It is because obedient children receive daily
rewards for their good conduct in the expressions of appreciation and
love on the part of their parents, brothers, sisters and friends. Love
begets love. Just so it is with man and God. The Apostle James puts
this thought beautifully: "If a man be not a forgetful hearer, but a
doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." How will he
know this? By the heart consolations and comforts it brings him. The
Holy Spirit will bear witness with his spirit that he is a child of
God. "God is not slack concerning his promises." When he says: "Obey
my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people," do you
think he has no way of letting them know they _are_ his people? Will
not a father and mother own the child they love? How much more our
heavenly Father will own and bless his child!

  "The opened heavens around me shine
    With beams of sacred bliss,
  When Jesus shows that he is mine
    And whispers: I am his."

There can be no greater enjoyment than the reading of the Scriptures
when we feel that we have complied with their injunctions and
requirements, and have a will to do so for ever. It is then the "peace
of God which passeth all understanding" fills the soul, and the mind
is happy.

The text says: "I will be your God; and ye shall be my people." This
is the reward of our obedience. If men would preach from this to the
end of time they could tell but a very small part of the blessedness
wrapped up in this promise. People think much of the blessings of this
life when they are joyous and cheerful from health and prosperity. But
in this promise life and health are guaranteed to all eternity. "He
that believeth on me shall never die." We are assured that in the
glory world sickness and pain and death shall be no more. "I will be
your God." This means in the way of every good. "No good thing," says
the Psalmist, "will the Lord withhold from them that fear him." This
will be made clearest in the world to come. "He is able to do
exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think." "I will be your
God,--not for awhile and then cast you off. I do not repent of my
promises and gifts. You may make a promise, or give something, or do
something from an impulse of feeling, which you afterwards regret; but
I am subject to no such weakness." In this sense he speaks to us in
his Word. He will, if we heed his voice, make of us all "a people
prepared for the Lord," a converted, obedient, sanctified and
eternally saved and happy people.

Some may regard God as man's enemy. They seem to think there is
something terrible in religion, and the farther away they can keep
from it the safer they are. What a fatal mistake! To be a child of God
is to be safe and happy. Our heavenly Father feels the love of pity
for the sinner. I lately read a very touching account of a lost child.
The father went calling, _calling_ the name of his boy. After awhile
the boy was found; but his mind was so bewildered and confused that he
did not seem to know his father's voice. So it is with the sinner. He
has wandered so far away from home, the home of peace with God, that
he knows not the voice of the Father. That voice is still calling:
"Come unto me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls;" for "he came
to save that which was lost."

"And ye shall be my people." We get to be his people by true
repentance, faith and baptism. He commands us to repent. He commands
us to believe on the Son. "He that believeth the Son hath everlasting
life." He commands us to be baptized. Obedience from love and faith
makes us his people. As Jesus ascended from the waters of the Jordan,
lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and a voice from heaven said:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." This was an
expression of the Father's love which he has for every one who, from
the heart, will hear his voice.

WEDNESDAY, June 19. It is now delightful weather, and Brother Kline is
this day on the Great Cheat mountain, filling two appointments at a
place which he calls Marsh's. The Great Cheat mountain lies west of
the Alleghany proper, and for many miles ranges nearly parallel with
it. A branch of Cheat river drains the valley between the two. The
people in this section are mainly employed in rearing cattle and
sheep. The lands are well adapted to grazing. But in most localities
of this country meetings for preaching and other religious services
are rare, and the Gospel is seldom heard. Brother Kline's heart ever
leaned toward destitute regions like these. He would say: "I
occasionally find one whose sense of sin has so mellowed his heart
that, like a ripe apple, he is ready to fall by a gentle touch of
gospel truth."

FRIDAY, July 1. Yesterday I had meeting at Josiah Simmon's, and to-day
have meeting at the same place. I speak from 1 Peter 1:19. TEXT.--"Ye
were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ."

I tried to set before these dear people the only hope of salvation. I
told them about the Son of God; that he was born of a woman, a pure
virgin who conceived him not of man, but of the Holy Spirit of God;
that his birth was heralded and announced by an angel from heaven who
named him Jesus before he was born, for, said the angel, "He shall
save his people from their sins."

When he came to be a man about thirty years of age he was publicly
baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan, "and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove upon him: and, lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Jesus lived a life of sinless
purity, going about doing good, teaching the people the way of
everlasting life; healing the sick; raising the dead to life; giving
sight to the blind; hearing to the deaf; cleansing the lepers, and
casting devils and evil spirits out of people who were subject to the
evil powers by which they were possessed. All these things are related
by the four evangelists. Jesus also taught the people many things by
parables, in which he set forth his great love for them; what he was
able and willing to do to save them from their sins, and what it was
necessary for them to do to be saved.

But the Jews would not accept the truth he told them. They were a very
proud and self-righteous people, and were not willing to be instructed
in things they vainly believed they understood better than Jesus did.
He called on them to repent of their sins. They denied their being
sinners. He told them he was the Son of God, and that he came down
from heaven. They would not believe this: and just because he taught
and did things contrary to the way their proud and selfish hearts
thought right, they arrested Jesus the Lord of glory, took him before
their high priest, gave him a mock trial, and had him crucified. Some
may not know just what this means. It means that Jesus was nailed to
two pieces of wood one across the other; his hands were nailed to the
crosspiece above, and his feet to the high post that was fastened by
its lower end in the ground. Thus he hung in agony till he was dead.
This was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was done through the
envy, malice and hatred of the Jews. It shows how very wicked they
were. Some good men who had not consented to the death of Jesus took
his body down from the cross and placed it in a sepulchre or vault cut
out of solid rock. This vault had been cut out of the rock some time
before and belonged to a man of the name of Joseph. This Joseph
assisted in placing the body of Jesus in his new vault or tomb, and
then they placed a large stone at the mouth of the tomb, and the body
of Jesus was buried. As the pall of that night's darkness gently
settled on the grave of the crucified Jesus, the Jews felt relieved
that they had now, as they thought, put their enemy out of sight. But
on the morning of the third day after this some women came to the tomb
to anoint the body of Jesus, and, behold! it was not there; but a
bright and shining angel of glory was there, who said to those good
women: "He is not here; he is risen from the dead." They could hardly
believe for joy. Soon, however, they, with many others, saw the risen
Lord for themselves, with their own eyes, and never doubted any more.

All that I have said so far is intended as an introduction to my text.
My text says: "We were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ."
The Lord told his disciples, who were his loving friends, the reason
why he suffered the Jews to put him to death. It was, he told them,
that all the things written in the law of Moses and the prophets and
the psalms concerning him might be fulfilled. He also said to two of
them as they journeyed to Emmaus: "Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things, and to enter into his glory?" The blood he shed on the
cross was necessary to his glorification. Without it he could not have
been glorified. The blood of Christ is called the blood of the
covenant. Now what is a covenant? A covenant is a union of one mind
and heart with another. It is literally _a going together_, as a man
and woman join heart and hand in the _covenant_ of marriage. When God
and man enter into a covenant they unite and become as one. In this
union God loves man with unspeakable love, and man loves the Lord his
God with all his heart. Love is what unites. Love unites a husband and
wife. When this union is perfect, what the one loves the other
likewise loves; and when we are in covenant union with our glorified
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, what he loves we love, and what he hates
we also hate. As man enters into a covenant with the Lord he enters a
state of salvation from sin, death and hell. But all covenants between
God and men must be sealed or made with blood: and whereas a covenant
with the Lord Jesus Christ redeems and saves man from death and hell,
therefore the blood of Christ redeems and saves man because it is the
blood of the covenant between him and God.

But let us carry this thought a little further. Jesus said to the
Jews, "Except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man,
ye have no life in you." By blood here the Lord does not mean natural
blood: he means the blood of the covenant by which we are united with
him; the redeeming blood which Peter speaks of in the text. But we
must drink it: otherwise we have no life in us. Now how is it possible
for any one to drink the blood of Christ? I will tell you. Christ's
blood is his life, and he says: "My words are spirit, and they are
life." His blood, then, is his Word in its spirit and life. Now when
we believe what he tells us with our heart, and do what he commands us
because we love him, we are truly _drinking his blood_. When we
forsake our sins by turning unto the Lord from a heart-felt faith in
his Word and belief of the truth he tells us, _we are drinking his
blood_; his blood, which is his gospel truth, becomes our life. "And
because he lives, we shall live also." "I am the way, the truth, and
the life. My word is truth." All this and much more is signified by
eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus. "Whosoever looketh
into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not
a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed
in his deed." God's truth is called the law of liberty. Why? Because
it tells men how they may become free. It redeems them when they obey
it.

Peter calls this change from bondage to liberty a new birth. Notice
here in the chapter I read: "Born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever." We are naturally born unto sin, into the love of things that
please our natural sight, our natural appetites and inclinations.
Through these we love ourselves and the world to a degree that holds
us in bondage, a kind of slavery. This is meant by Paul in these
words: "To whomsoever ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness." Peter means about the same by these words: "Of whom a
man is overcome, by the same is he brought into bondage." And in the
book of Hebrews we read of such "who, through fear of death, were all
their lifetime subject to bondage." Being born again spiritually, into
a new state of heart and life, we are set free from our bondage to
sin. In this newborn state we love to do the will of God, and love the
company of good people, and desire to be in the church with the people
of God. The Lord Jesus says: "If the truth shall make you free, ye
shall be free indeed." It is by and through the truth that men are
redeemed. "Verily, verily, he that committeth sin is the servant of
sin." These are the Lord's own words.

But the worst state any one can be in is a state of bondage in sin,
with no desire, no wish or feeling of any kind, to get out of it. This
spirit of indifference stamps the seal of darkness deeper and deeper,
until the soul loses all desire for anything better. I am just now
reminded of what I read not long since. A family of the name of
Slocum, living in the State of Pennsylvania, if I mistake not, many
years ago, was visited by Indians for the purpose of plunder. With
other things they carried off one of the children of the family, a
girl several years old. The family was sorely distressed, and every
possible effort was made to rescue the child. But all in vain. Many
years after, when the poor little girl's father and mother were both
dead, her surviving brother and sister heard of her. They felt
satisfied they had been correctly informed, and resolved to go to see
her, and if possible try to get her back to live with them once more.
They went on horseback, and found her a long way off in what was then
an unsettled part of Ohio. I may be mistaken even here, as to the part
of the country they found her in. But they did find their sister
living among the Indians, and in fact the wife of one of the chiefs.
She still remembered some English words. They got her to understand
who they were, and they wished her to go back with them to their home.
But she would not go. She gave them to understand that she was
_satisfied_ to remain with the Indians, destitute and comfortless as
they were. The last trace of home feeling had left her heart, and with
it had departed every vestige of religious concern and love for social
life. Sad and sorrowing did her brother and sister return to their
homes; and to the time of their death they never ceased to mourn for
their lost sister. I have told you a true story; and if it causes the
eye of some tender-hearted mother to grow dim with a tear I say, _It
is well_. God's children are exhorted to be tender-hearted,
compassionate one for another, and to weep with the sorrowing.

But there is something that should touch our sympathies and bring our
tears from fountains far deeper than those opened by such stories as
the one I just related. And that is the condition which so many are in
with respect to the things of salvation. Like the poor woman I told
you about, they are deaf to all that is told them about a better life,
and dead to all that God and man are willing to do for them. It is
sometimes said of the sick that as long as there is life there is
hope. So let it be with us in behalf of such. If the lost sister could
have been made sensible of the great benefit it might have been to her
to go back and live in a civilized and religious way, at last she
might have consented to go. So let us hope that many, who are still in
the bondage of sin and the darkness of this world, may see the truth
that will set them free and give them light to repent and live.

SATURDAY, July 2. Cross the Cheat mountain to John Riley's in
Pocahontas County, Virginia.

SUNDAY, July 3. In the forenoon I attend a Methodist quarterly
meeting, at which they hold what they call a love feast; that is, they
take bread and water; and after preaching they take what they call the
Lord's Supper. They seem to be very sincere in what they do; but to my
mind they are not consistent in calling a morsel of bread and a sip of
wine, taken at the middle of the day, the Lord's Supper. I am sure we
have no right to depart from God's order in anything appertaining to
his church and worship.

In the afternoon I preach a funeral and baptize John Riley. Dine at
Jacob Yager's on top of the Alleghany mountain, and stay all night at
Adam Hevner's. Brother Kline got home Thursday, July 7.

SUNDAY, July 10. Baptize Samuel Bowman and wife. Brother and Sister
Bowman give proof of being a good tree by the fruit they bear.

Samuel Bowman lived and died on Linville Creek, not far from Brother
Kline's place. He raised a highly respectable family, very
intelligent, and some of his children became members of the church of
the Brethren.

SATURDAY, July 30. Meeting at Liberty, in Page County, Virginia. I
speak on FOREORDINATION and ELECTION. Much has been said and written
on these subjects. It is to be feared, however, that instead of light
being thrown upon them in the way they have been treated, darkness,
rather, has been added to darkness. No subjects wrongly viewed can
look darker; and none rightly viewed can look clearer. The word
FOREORDAIN means _to ordain beforehand_: and the word ELECT means _to
choose_. Some that I have met with, in speaking on these subjects,
particularly as they are given in the epistolary writings of the New
Testament, remind me of fish in a net; they flounder about in the net,
while every effort they make fastens them only the more tightly in its
meshes. They read: "Whom God foreknew, he also FOREORDAINED to be
conformed to the image of his Son, ... and whom he foreordained, them
he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom
he justified, them he also glorified." Rom. 8:29, 30. Likewise the
text before us: "ELECT ... according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit." 1 Peter 1:2.

These passages, with others of a somewhat similar import, do _not_
teach the foreordination and election of individuals independent of
character and fitness. A lack of perception of this comprehensive
truth accounts for the general misunderstanding of these and like
passages in the apostolic writings. The doctrine of _election_, as it
is called, opens out into a very large field for thought and
investigation. It takes in the whole way of salvation from beginning
to end.

"God is love," and the universe, with all its display of wonders and
apparent opposition of forces and their ends, was created and is
upheld by the eternal hand, for no other purpose than to make his love
be seen and felt by his intelligent creation. Any other view
challenges the divine love and reflects discredit upon the divine
wisdom. All that we know of God is revealed in the truth he has given
to save man from sin and its consequences. His love, wisdom and power
are all revealed in his great scheme to build up a heaven of eternal
glory and bliss for all who desire or are willing to share in its
blessedness. But God does not work out of order. He works in accord
with the love and wisdom which are his essence, and both infinite and
eternal with him. Before the heavens were made, or ever the
foundations of the earth were laid, it was the divine purpose to
create intelligent beings to be eternally happy. When God created the
heavens and the earth he made man in his own image and likeness. Man
was happy. But he fell. And God foresaw that man would fall; and to
remedy the loss and restore man to the divine image again, Christ was,
as a Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world. In the Divine
estimation Christ was slain before the foundation of the world; but to
us, visibly, not until four thousand years afterward. In the divine
foreknowledge the church was established before the world was made,
and God _foreordained_ who should compose it, basing this
foreordination, not on one in preference to another on any personal
ground, but on the ground of fitness as to quality. Foreordination and
election have nothing to do with man other than as pertains to quality
and fitness. The penitent, believing, loving and obeying, humble,
self-denying soul is _foreordained_ to be one of God's ELECT, now,
henceforth and forever.

I now repeat the text: "Elect ... according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit." What I have
said harmonizes with this, because the qualified fitness of the
_elect_ is through sanctification of the Spirit. Our Lord prays for
all in these words: "Father, sanctify them through thy truth: thy word
is truth." It is through the truth that men are sanctified, and the
sanctified the world over and through all time are God's elect,
according to his foreknowledge or foreordination, because no others
can be. The all-in-all of this great subject resolves itself into the
simple fact that men do not come into covenant union with God unto
salvation because God elected and foreordained it to be so in their
special behalf as individuals, unconditionally chosen beforehand,
whilst others no worse than they are left to go to destruction; but
they are elected _according to God's foreordination_ because they have
come into covenant union with him unto salvation; and have, therefore,
the fitness to be worthy of being so chosen or elected. Their election
and foreordination are not the cause but the result of the fitness. It
is foreordained that "of such is the kingdom of heaven," because it
cannot consist of any other kind.

But let us turn to Ezekiel's prophecy, 33:11, "As I live, saith the
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the
wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye, ... for why will
ye die; O house of Israel?" If the house of Israel was of the elect on
an unconditional basis of salvation, they surely would return at some
time, and why such concern? If not, all the calling after them that
could be done would not fetch them back, because they were not of the
elect. This is exactly where the doctrine of unconditional election
leads.

Again, 2 Peter 3:9, God is "not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance." If God is not willing that any
should perish, why did he not make provision and save all? If it is
possible for him to save some just because he chooses to do so without
any conditions, why not save all? I know what the advocates of this
doctrine which I am combatting teach: they say God makes his elect
willing to repent and turn to him in the day of his power. I ask, If
he is not willing that any should perish, why does he not save all? If
he wills that all should come to repentance, why does he not give
repentance to all and remission of sins? I mention these things merely
to show the contradictions and confusion involved in the doctrine of
unconditional elections.

I will here relate what I read somewhere not long ago. A very pious
African slave was employed in waiting on the guests at a public house
of entertainment. One of the guests, who was a man of some prominence
in the world, having been informed of the unaffected Christian piety
of this poor slave, thought to sport with him. Addressing him by name,
he said: "I want you to tell me whether I am one of the Lord's elect
or not." "Indeed, sir," said the poor slave, "I have never heard of
your being a candidate. If you want a place in the good Lord's service
you must go to him and tell him that you are a candidate, that you
will accept the lowest place that he is willing to give you, and that
you will do whatever he requires at your hands. If," continued he,
"you come out publicly in this way, I can then tell you what I think
as to whether you are one of the Lord's elect or not."

FRIDAY, August 5. Harvest meeting at our meetinghouse. Much good
singing, with thanksgiving and speaking suited to the occasion.

SUNDAY, August 28. Meeting at Edom, a village about six miles
northward from Harrisonburg, Virginia. I spoke from 1 Peter 3:18, 22.
The first part of this text should be handled with great caution.
Precisely what is meant is not very clear. I am told that a critical
examination of the Greek text does favor the doctrine that Christ went
from the cross to carry the news of his victorious death to the
spirits of those who perished in the flood. If it pleased the good
Lord to carry the news of salvation to this throng of prisoners and
release them from their prison, who can say aught against it? My heart
would rejoice to think that every being in the universe could and
would, sometime, in the course of the ages, be made sinless and happy.
But we should never concern ourselves about what God has not revealed.
It is our right and privilege to rejoice evermore in the free and full
salvation clearly set forth and freely offered in his Word. To the
unconverted and careless sinner, I here say to-day, as I love your
immortal soul, Do not rest your hope of salvation upon anything short
of a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. If our Father in heaven
has provided another way, as some would say, "by fire," I know not
that way.

History says that

  "Kings are men to glory known
  Who wade through fire to a throne;"

but a seared and blistered body is a great price to pay for an earthly
crown. So I think that "by fire," even if such a thing were possible,
would be a very undesirable way of getting into heaven, especially if
the fire means "hell fire." Martyrs, it is true, have gone to glory
through fire; but not the fire that burns and sears the soul. It was
only that elementary fire kindled by wicked hands around the stake. It
could kill the body, but after that there was no more that it could
do; and the purified and ransomed soul of the sainted being who thus
had suffered could look down from heights of glory upon the ashes of
his martyrdom and sing: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where
is thy victory?"

But to return to the text. We here note this remarkable language, that
"baptism doth also now save us." I suppose Peter uses the word
"baptism" here in its authorized acceptation, which is the immersion
of the body of a believer in water in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a properly authorized administrator
of the ordinance. But in what sense can baptism be said to save us? My
first answer is, It saves us just as the sevenfold washing in Jordan
on the part of Naaman saved that leprous nobleman from being consumed
by the leprosy.

I will extend my remarks somewhat concerning Naaman the Syrian. He
came to the Prophet Elisha to get cured of his leprosy. He was well
supplied with valuable presents for the man of God, to be given to him
in the event of his being healed by him. The prophet of God told him
to go and wash or bathe seven times in the Jordan. This appeared too
insignificant for such a great man as he was to submit to. Besides he
regarded the waters of Damascus as superior in virtue to the waters of
the Jordan, and he started off in a rage from disappointment. But as
he was leaving his servants said to him: "If the prophet had bid thee
do some great thing wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather
then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down and
dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the
man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little
child, and he was clean." Now, in my view, baptism saves us as this
sevenfold dipping in Jordan saved Naaman. Not the water, but the
spirit of obedience, is what saves. It saves us as going through the
door into the ark saved Noah and his family. It saves us as passing
through the Red Sea saved Israel from the host of Egyptians that were
in pursuit. This passage of Israel through the sea is called a
baptism.

And what shall I say more? For it looks as if this ought to be enough.
But I would like to send my voice around the globe laden with the
truth that "faith without works is dead," and that baptism is the very
first outward work of obedience the believer is required to do. This,
with the other ordinances of God's house, in connection with a good
life ornamented with the fruits of love and good will toward men,
gives life to faith and proves that it is a living reality in the
soul.

Saul of Tarsus was a believing convict;

  "Borne down beneath a load of sin;
    By Satan sorely pressed--"

for three days and nights, in which he did neither eat nor drink.
Ananias came to him with instructions direct from the Lord, saying:
"Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name
of the Lord." Can we suppose that Saul would have become the happy
convert that he was, had he refused to obey?

Some think that baptism is nothing, or so nearly nothing that it is
hardly worth taking into the account of Christian life. May it not as
truthfully be said that faith is nothing, and that repentance is
nothing, and that obedience is nothing? Where is the difference?

In all love, with my heart moved in good will toward every one in this
house, I do here say that for the life of me I cannot see how any one
can hope for salvation while living in open disobedience to the only
Savior, Jesus Christ. Can any plead ignorance? From this hour forth
you shall not bring that in as a plea for neglect of duty, for I now
repeat in your ears the words that fell from the lips of Jesus
himself: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Have I a
right to say that you will be saved without baptism? I claim no such
right. You may say the penitent thief on the cross was saved without
baptism. So he was; all things are possible with God; and
notwithstanding all that God has said in his Word about baptism and
its blessed followings, I boldly say to you that if you die knowing as
little about it as the thief on the cross did, with no better chance
to have it administered upon you and to you than he had, God will
never require it at your hands. But from this day on, if not before
this day, you are lifted out of the darkness that encompassed his
mind, and can nevermore plead ignorance. Besides, your hands and feet
are not nailed to a cross as his were. You are not reduced to the
extremity of calling for mercy with the last gasp of expiring life.
"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?"

Again: Hear what was said to the convicted multitude on the day of
Pentecost: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost." Have I a right, has any one a right, to say that
these promises would have been fulfilled without baptism? But they
were fulfilled, for the same day there were added to the brethren then
present, about three thousand souls. Would such addition have been
made without a compliance with the terms of admission? But those who
speak and think lightly of baptism, whilst they may not see it so, do
virtually dishonor the blessed Jesus by their implied belief that he
demands something of his people which is of little or no account. They
insult him by substantially saying they understand his business better
than he does himself. Are any ashamed to be baptized? If there be one
such here to-day, I warningly repeat in his or her ear this saying of
Jesus: "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall
the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in his own glory, and the
glory of the Father, and of the holy angels."

I have a clear conscience that I am attaching to this subject no more
importance than it justly claims in the scale of salvation. When I lay
me down to die, above all things I desire to feel assured that "I have
not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God." I submit these
remarks to your consideration, with a prayer for the divine blessing
upon us all to his glory. Amen!

TUESDAY, September 13. Perform the marriage ceremony of Michael Brake,
of Hardy County, Virginia, and Julia Ann Hevner, of Rockingham County,
at the home of her father, William Hevner.

THURSDAY, September 22. Attend a love feast at Abraham Huffman's in
Page County, and stay all night at Nathan Spitler's. These two
brethren give promise of great usefulness in the church.

SUNDAY, October 9. Brother Kline started to Maryland and Pennsylvania.
I here name the families he visited on this journey, in the order the
visits were made: Brother Waltman's, Jacob Saylor's, Widow Baer's,
Jacob Rees's, Jesse Royer's, Widow Rees's, Moomaw's, David Garber's,
Widow Bofamyer's, Joseph Pontz's, Minich's, Harnley's, Hartzler's, on
Tulpahocken, Daniel Zug's, John Gipple's, Abraham Gipe's, Isaac
Brubaker's. At this place he stayed the night of Monday, October 24.
He reports that a snow began to fall about three o'clock Monday
morning, which continued till evening, when it was over a foot in
depth. A remarkable occurrence for the time of year, October 24. It
will be remembered by many for a time to come. He then visited Abraham
Balsbach's, Moses Miller's, Allen Mohler's, William Etter's,
Sollenberger's, Engel's, Christian Keffer's.

I now name the places where he attended meetings: Jacob Saylor's
meetinghouse, October 13; Pipe Creek meetinghouse, October 14; Jacob
Rees's meetinghouse, October 15; Meadow Branch meetinghouse, October
16; Brother Moomaw's, October 17; Mount Joy, October 18; Widow
Bofamyer's, October 19; Joseph Pontz's morning, Brother Minich's
evening, October 20; Brother Harnley's morning, Shafferstown evening,
October 21; Brother Hartzler's on Tulpehocken, October 22; Milborough
morning, John Gipple's night, October 23; Isaac Brubaker's, October
24; Spring Creek morning, Abraham Balsbach's afternoon, October 25;
Mechanicsburg, October 26; Allen Mohler's, October 27; William
Etter's, October 28; Sellenberger's, October 29; Welsh Run
meetinghouse forenoon, Ridge meetinghouse night, October 30.

MONDAY, October 31. Start for home. Brother Kline arrived home safe
November 4. This report speaks for itself in behalf of his energy and
activity in the work of the ministry. Such instances of untiring
effort! Twenty-three meetings attended; and as many discourses
delivered, in seventeen consecutive days! Besides, he had considerable
traveling to do in reaching these appointments; and never stayed more
than one night at the same place! We involuntarily ask, When did he
sleep? or, Did he never get tired?

TUESDAY, November 15. Brother Samuel Bowman died this morning. I
rejoice to think he was a sincere follower of the Lord, and that he
has left a life record which he will not likely be ashamed to own in a
coming day.

SATURDAY, November 19. Night meeting at Prince's schoolhouse, near
Brother Abraham Huffman's, in Page County. Acts 8:12. TEXT.--"But when
they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of
God and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both
men and women."

The dispersion which followed the fiery persecution of the saints at
Jerusalem was productive of good. The scattered apostles, and the
overseers of the deacons as well, of whom Philip named in the text was
one, preached wherever they went, and many believed. The very steps
taken by the enemies of the cross to put an end to its power "turned
out unto the furtherance of the gospel." In this we can see the
overruling hand of Providence.

There is one point in this line of thought which I desire to make
specially prominent. This point is the readiness with which believers
in that day submitted to the ordinance of baptism, and the
consequences which were almost sure to follow. The duty of being
immersed seems to have pressed itself upon their hearts, and nothing
short of obedience to this command could give their consciences rest.
But how is it now! Error has done so much to rob this impressive
ordinance of its beauty and significance that many seem indifferent to
its claims, or ignore it entirely.

Thousands professing faith in Christ at the present day go away from
the _revival_ singing:

  "Nothing, either great or small;
    Nothing have I now to do:
  Jesus died and paid it all,
    Long time ago."

This would surely be getting salvation at a cheap rate. There is in
this no "trial of faith, more precious than gold," no "cleansing of
the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord."
This means receiving the crown without bearing the cross. But the
early Christians were never soothed with such sedatives. On the
contrary, they were admonished to count the cost. Some of the items in
this cost were "_self-denial, no certain dwelling place_," _the loss
of all things, persecutions, fiery trials, bonds, imprisonments,
death_. They were not taught to regard the church as a cradle in which
their spiritual infancy was to be rocked, but as being a camp for
soldiers, with stout hearts and strong sinews, ready to do battle for
the Lord. They were therefore exhorted to put on the whole armor of
God: and their baptismal vow was the act of putting this armor on
publicly, and their enrollment in the Lord's host, prepared for the
great conflict. They were expected from that hour forth to "fight the
good fight of faith," and the battle hymn that flowed out of the heart
of every baptized believer of that day was, in spirit if not in form,
the same that some of us are still ready to sing:

  "Sure I must fight, if I would reign;
    Increase my courage, Lord:
  I'll bear the cross, endure the pain,
    Supported by thy Word."

I would rejoice if I could here, this night, be the means of melting
the ice that binds the hearts of some halfway believers, and if the
angel would trouble the sluggish pool in others. May God help you,
friends, to feel a sense of your duty, and, like these honest
Samaritans named in the text, "believe the things spoken concerning
the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and be baptized, both
men and women."

Brother Kline was actively engaged in preaching and visiting the sick
professionally as a physician to the close of the year. He traveled in
the year 1853, 4,411 miles.

I find it impossible to trace all the visits to distant churches and
families made by Brother Kline, and keep this book within the limits
of a suitable size. I therefore omit much which might be of interest.

FRIDAY, March 3. Council at the old meetinghouse above Harrisonburg.

SATURDAY, March 4. Council closes. Night meeting in Dayton, Virginia.
I speak from Psalm 144:11, 12: "Rid me, and deliver me from the hand
of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand
is a right hand of falsehood: that our sons may be as plants grown up
in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished
after the similitude of a palace."

This is a wonderful prayer from the heart of one who was both priest
and king of his people. As a priest, David had the care of the
spiritual welfare of his people; and as a king, the civil prosperity
of Judah and Israel. The prayer of my text is offered in behalf of
both these interests, the spiritual and the temporal. Probably no man
ever felt more deeply the truth expressed in his own words, elsewhere
recorded, "Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah," than David did.
The lofty consciousness, which is the orderly outgrowth of correct
knowledge of God's love, wisdom and power, and man's utter lack of all
these attributes, accounts for the dependence and trust he reposed in
God. This called forth the prayer of my text. It contains three
petitions. The first is _for deliverance from strange children_; the
second, _that the sons may be as plants_ [olive trees] _grown up in
their youth_; the third, _that the daughters may be as corner stones,
polished after the similitude of a palace_.

David comes into the presence of the Lord-as the representative of his
kingdom. His watchful eye has seen the tracks and his listening ear
has heard the steps of strange feet. They are the feet of the
surrounding idolatrous nations. He calls them strange children, for
such they are; because in language, manners and dress they give proof
that they are not of Judah and Jerusalem, but of Sodom and Egypt. More
than this, these strange children are enemies. They would break up the
self-denying worship of the true God and rob the sanctuary of all its
sacred garniture. They would corrupt the morals, debase the manners,
and deprave the tastes of the young. "Their mouth speaketh vanity."
They boast of their liberty. Their sinful indulgences are not
restrained by law. They are _free_ to do whatever the lust of the
flesh and the eye may incline them to do. "Their right hand is the
right hand of falsehood." This figure is very strong. The _right hand_
in this place is figuratively put for knowledge, wisdom, power, and
whatever else they may vainly boast of having. But they are destitute
of all these. They have no knowledge of that which is good, because
they desire it not. They have no wisdom, because they have never
lifted their minds and hearts to the high plane of desire to do
justice and judgment. They have no power save that which is of the
natural man; and that power, unless properly restrained, is always to
be feared. No wonder that he says of these idolatrous, licentious
people that "their right hand is the right hand of falsehood."

But how is the Lord to rid him of and deliver him from the hand of
these strange children? By causing fire to fall from heaven and
consume them? By causing a flood of water to drown them? Or by making
the earth to open her jaws and devour them? No, no; in none of these
ways; for in such destruction of enemies there is no trial of the
faith of his people. Brethren, do you know that it is, has been and to
the end of time will be the pleasure of our heavenly Father to try the
faith of his children? This cannot be done independent of means. Do
you know that a tree standing in a stormy place takes deeper root than
one that grows up in a calm, sheltered spot? Do you know that a child
shielded from every trial, and kept out of the reach of all
temptation, will grow up with a very weak moral development? The back
that is never made to bear a load will forever stay weak. The hand and
arm unused to toil will lack strength and skill. God does not want a
kingdom made up of imbeciles. He wants a people strong in faith, who
can make a good fight, "the good fight of faith; lay hold of eternal
life;" and if needs be "take the kingdom of heaven by violence," the
violence that resists the devil and makes him leave tracks which point
away from where his people stand. The track always tells which way the
fox has gone.

This strength of faith, Brethren, is included in David's prayer for
his people, and he puts it in this shape: "That our sons may be as
plants [olive trees; see Psalm 128:4] grown up in their youth." We all
know that plants, including trees, make their best growth and yield
their best results in the open air, where they are exposed to the sun,
wind, rain, storm and drouth. And it is there they can receive the
tillage they need.

You see how readily this beautiful figure applies to the rearing and
education of children. "That our sons may be _grown up in their
youth_." Their manhood as to faith, virtue, obedience, wisdom,
intelligence and piety is largely developed while they are yet young.
How many mistakes are made by parents right here! They say of their
sons: "Ah, they are young. After awhile they will be through with
sowing their wild oats, and then I expect better things of them." The
better things may come, but David prayed otherwise. He wanted the
better things to grow up with their growth, and strengthen with their
strength, so as to be perfect men even while yet in their youth, as
lambs may be perfect in form and quality before they are fully
developed into sheep.

But more. He prays that "our daughters may be as corner stones,
polished after the similitude of a palace." Many of us, no doubt, have
seen palaces built of polished stones. David almost breaks me down
under the weight of his strong and significant figures. He wants the
sons of Judah and Jerusalem to be fruit-bearing trees with strong
roots struck deep into the ground. But the sphere in which the
daughters are to move, the part they are to act, the place they are to
hold in the social and religious life of the church and the world, is
different from that of the sons, and so he uses a very different
figure. They are to be corner stones, polished and set into a palace.
Corner stones, from the ground to the roof, are those upon which the
strength and beauty of a building greatly depend. A defect here mars
the appearance and detracts largely from the permanence and value of
the structure. David wants to see the daughters strong and solid as
corner stones, in faith, virtue, wisdom and all else that helps to
make a woman strong: and at the same time polished with all the
refinements of taste, modesty, beauty, gentleness, tender-heartedness
and love.

Since God has specially endowed woman with large capacities for
developing these powers and graces, let her look to it that they be
not suffered to lie buried in a napkin, or perverted to the idolatrous
worship of the goddess of fashion. The plastic and pliable temperament
of woman tends towards making her an easy prey for the tempter, when
he approaches her with smiles, bearing in his hands jewels of gold,
braided hair, and costly apparel. She is lured the same by the giddy
revel and the fashionable dance--trusting, thoughtless, happy child;
ready for almost any pleasure that makes the cheek to glow and the eye
to sparkle with delight!

Mothers, be patient, watchful and wise in training your daughters.
Withhold from them no good thing, but teach them to shun the ways that
are "the ways of hell." Fathers, be mild, but firm in training your
sons into habits of sobriety, temperance and abstemiousness from all
bad habits. Pray with them and for them, and if possible teach them to
feel that there is something better than the life and purer than the
love of this world. May God bless the young people of our land and
make them the pillars of his truth, is my prayer.

THURSDAY, April 13. Council meeting at the Mill Creek meetinghouse.
Brother Isaac Long is elected speaker, and Christian Hartman deacon.
Brother Isaac Long gives promise of great power in the Word. He has a
very good voice for both speaking and singing. I do not wish to attach
undue weight to this most wonderful gift of God, but when the head is
stored with knowledge and the heart with the love of truth, the human
voice is one of the great means by which God makes known the saving
virtue of his Word.

FRIDAY, April 14. Council meeting at the old meetinghouse. Brother
John Thomas is elected to the deaconship.

SUNDAY, April 30. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Samuel Wampler and wife
baptized.

THURSDAY, May 11. Perform the marriage ceremony of George Wine, son of
Samuel Wine, and Lydia Good, daughter of Jacob Good.

MONDAY, May 22. This day Brother Kline starts to the Annual Meeting.
He gets to Cumberland on the twenty-third, where he meets Brother E.K.
Beachley, who takes him to his home. The same evening he attends a
love feast at a meetinghouse near by.

FRIDAY, May 26. He attends a union meeting at the Middle Creek
meetinghouse, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

SATURDAY, May 27. He has meeting near Brother David Lichty's. I will
clothe the skeleton of this discourse as best I can. Acts 10:34, 35.
TEXT.--"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive
that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that
feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him."

It required a miracle to convince Peter that any besides Jews were to
be favored with the Gospel. But a man of his stamp of character, hard
to be convinced, resolute even to drawing the sword in defense of his
friend or faith, is not likely to be imposed upon by false
appearances, nor deceived by unreliable promises. Just such a man
Jesus needed, and just such a man Jesus chose to be foreman in his
little band of disciples. But when all doubt was removed from Peter's
mind, his faith became to be a part of himself. Its roots branched out
into every part of his nature, and permeated his entire self. Well
could Jesus say of the TRUTH which Peter so nobly confessed, and to
which he so nobly adhered in the later years of his life by a _faith_
that bore the test of fire: "Upon this rock will I build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Such faith ever
has been and ever will be the foundation on which his church stands.

But now Peter clearly sees that the Gentiles are "fellow heirs with
the Jews," and equally entitled to the right of becoming members of
"the household of faith." "God is no respecter of persons: but in
every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted of him." Neither social, moral nor political caste, nor age,
sex, color nor condition impose any barrier to God's acceptance. Peter
was taught this by his vision; and this is the meaning of the text.
But whilst God is thus impartial, we must not forget that his
acceptance of any and every one depends upon their acceptance of him.

"_He that feareth God._" I will say something on this. A
misunderstanding of this may do serious harm. Let me first say that
our heavenly Father, God, is not a despot or tyrant. There is no
element in his nature or essence that in the slightest degree savors
of despotism or tyranny. Jesus says: "He that seeth me seeth the
Father: the Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared
him. And from henceforth ye have both seen the Father and know him."
Jesus was also called Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is, "God
with us." Do we, then, desire a correct knowledge of God the Father?
Let us acquaint ourselves with his Son Jesus Christ, and we will have
it, for he came to do the will of the Father. This was his explicit
work; and he accomplished it, for he says in his last great prayer:
"And now, O Father, I come to thee, having finished the work thou
gavest me to do."

Now I ask, Did Jesus ever show anything else than good will toward
men? Is there not manifest love in every act of his recorded life? Did
he not go about doing good? Did he not say: "No man hath greater love
than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my
friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you"? God's love is seen in the
life work and words of Jesus.

Now, then, in what sense is Jesus Christ to be feared? In the very
sense in which his disciples feared him. But this was not in the sense
of being timid or fearful of his presence. On the contrary, they
desired to be with him and near him, for they felt secure in his
presence. They could take hold of his hands and see the nail prints,
and the spear mark in his side. John leaned on his breast at table,
and the women took hold of his feet. His word of comfort was: "Fear
not," and he often repeated this in their ears. "Be not afraid; it is
I." In all this we see the heart of our heavenly Father, for "the Son
is the express image of him." In what sense, then, are we to fear God?
Only in the sense of fear to go counter to his will. "Perfect love
casteth out fear." The redeemed saints and angels who stand before his
heavenly throne in perfect love know no fear of God, "for fear hath
torment." But we, who still grovel on earth battling with the world,
the flesh and the devil, have cause to fear offending his righteous
and holy will. But this only when we are tempted to leave some duty
undone or to commit some actual sin. As long as we walk in the good
way of love, faith and obedience we have nothing to fear. To all such
Jesus ever says: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good
pleasure [delight, joy] to give you the kingdom."

"_And worketh righteousness._" It is in order now to speak on this
point in the text. We know that God is just, "and there is no
unrighteousness in him." The prophet Daniel in his confession said: "O
Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee." To work righteousness, then,
is to do the righteous will of the Father. All works of righteousness
have their origin in supreme love to God and subordinate love to man.
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" covers the ground. It is
very much the same as that other saying of Jesus: "All things
whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto
them, for this is the law and the prophets." This command comprehends
all the possible relations of men with each other. It takes in the
social, moral, civil, commercial, national and religious relations of
the human family in all time; and when a man's conduct in these varied
relations is governed by the Lord's golden rule, he is working
righteousness in the eye of God and is accepted of him. "_He that
worketh righteousness_" takes in every human being that lives a good
life. But no one can live a good life without help from the Lord.
Jesus says: "Without me ye can do nothing." Cornelius had help from
God. He feared God. He worshiped God. He was a devout man himself, and
all his house had the same reverence for God. He had also heard of
Christ, especially of the witness borne by the Holy Spirit, at his
baptism, and that of the Father acknowledging his divine sonship.

But Cornelius needed instruction in matters pertaining to the
ordinances of God's house. His knowledge and faith were sufficient for
the purposes of living a good, righteous life. He was a man of prayer.
He also possessed that element of goodness which Paul says is greater
even than faith, and that element is _charity_. Notice, the angel said
to him: "Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up as a memorial before
God." The angel included nothing else. In our acknowledgments of
regard and favor in the behalf of any one we refer to one's character
and standing in the eyes of men. But the angel made no such reference.
From this we may learn what God loves most in his people, and that is
LOVE. The love of Cornelius for God was manifested by his prayers.
Loving, faithful, trustful prayers are the proof that we love God: and
kindness, gentleness and goodness toward others, the proof that we
love our neighbor. This was manifest in his alms.

But the Lord wanted Cornelius to arise and mount a higher plane in the
life of righteousness: a high plane of holy intelligence and knowledge
respecting himself and his people. The Holy Ghost falling upon him and
the rest brought with it the illuminating power, in verification of
the Lord's words: "The Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my
name, he shall teach you all things." This inflowing power, teaching,
quickening, regenerating the soul, is what Jesus means by a man's
being born of the Spirit: and in its order and connection "the washing
of regeneration," the water baptism, the water birth into the church,
follows. Cornelius was baptized, and all the devout members of his
family with him. This is the last mention that is made of him. Very
soon after this time that fearful persecution of the saints arose in
Jerusalem and Judea, which resulted in their dispersion to foreign
countries and places, so that Cornelius may never have enjoyed the
privilege of having the remaining ordinances of feet-washing, the
gospel salutation of the kiss, the love feast, and the holy Communion
of the bread and wine administered to him and his house. As no church
could be organized at the house of Cornelius at that time, these
ordinances had to be postponed. In truth, their introduction and
observance must always be guarded with care, lest they be abused and
perverted, as they were at Corinth some years later. But of this we
are sure: "If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted of a man
according to that which he hath, and not according to that which he
hath not."

I cannot close without a few reflections on what has been said. When
Cornelius was told what to do, he did not hesitate a moment. Forthwith
he sent for Peter. When Peter came he received him with joy, and would
have worshiped him in devout solemnity, had Peter not instantaneously
rejected his approach. When the inflowing baptism of the Holy Spirit
gave him and those with him the new birth of the Spirit, they were
ready to receive the water birth by baptism in water. The water was
not forbidden, because no opposition to the Gospel had as yet arisen
in Cesarea.

Now, friends, here is an example worthy of imitation. Let me prevail
in my appeal to you in behalf of your immortal souls. "To whom much is
given, of him they will require the more." Much is given you, my dear
friends who have so attentively listened to me to-day. "He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear." To hear is to obey. "He that knoweth to
do his master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many
stripes." "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul?" These "words are spirit and they are life." "Learn of me,"
says the best friend on earth, "and ye shall find rest unto your
souls."

SUNDAY, May 28. Love feast at Forney's. Christian Schmucker is
ordained to the full work of the ministry.

TUESDAY, May 30. Love feast at David Summers's. An election is held.
Brother David Royer is elected speaker; and Daniel Newcomer and David
Summers deacons.

THURSDAY, June 1. Love feast at Brother Joseph Royer's, nine miles
north of Canton.

SATURDAY, June 3. Stay all night at Brother Nathan Stern's.

SUNDAY, June 4. Come to place of Annual Meeting. Breakfast in the
shed. Six persons baptized.

MONDAY, June 5. Form committees, and begin to take in queries. Stay
all night on the ground.

TUESDAY, June 6. Begin the discussion of questions. Get through with
the slave question by noon. All night on the ground.

WEDNESDAY, June 7. Get through with business by eleven o'clock, and
the meeting breaks up.

SUNDAY, July 23. This day Joseph Miller and I start to the counties of
Pendleton, Hardy, Randolph, Pocahontas, and Highland. I ride Nell.

These two brethren were absent on this journey precisely three weeks
to the day. I fear it would be tedious to the reader to trace them day
by day and step by step through all the ways they went. Not a day
passed in which they did not fill one appointment for preaching, and
often two. Brother Kline felt at home among the mountains. He had a
lively appreciation of the sublime in nature; and more than once does
he note the grandeur of some mountain's lofty summit over which he
passed; the majestic power of some falling stream; or the awful
solitude of some deep forest. It was mainly a timbered country through
which they passed. The regions traversed by the Alleghany mountain
proper were in that day still in a state of nature; and the scattered
inhabitants very nearly in the same state. Many of them live very
remote from any railroad or other public highway.

At a private house, in Randolph County, he says: "Extensive forests of
very tall and straight timber which would be exceedingly valuable for
building and other purposes, could it be gotten to market, cover large
sections of Randolph, Pocahontas, Tucker and other counties further
west. But as time goes on population will increase; and after awhile
the urgent demands for the timber and other productions of these
regions will cause roads to be constructed for their transportation to
markets. We should not be backward in our efforts to secure permanent
foothold for the truth as we hold and practice it. Many here cannot
read for themselves; and it pains my heart to find how poorly they
have been instructed in the things pertaining to the way of salvation.
The small amount of preaching they hear is not often of an instructive
character. It appeals to the feelings, but does not inform the mind.
This I learn by conversing with them. They are told to believe, it is
true; but what their faith is to lay hold of, and what the Lord
requires them to do that they may serve him acceptably, is not made
clear to their minds. It is not to be inferred that all are on the low
plane of intelligence I have described. There is here and there an
exception. But the exceptions are rare. And in our preaching we aim to
speak, as did Paul, 'as to babes.' As to natural capacity, and their
capability of attaining to high intelligence in the things of men and
God, things human and divine, under the hand of adequate instruction,
I regard them as being equal to any people in our State."

The two brethren continued in the company of each other throughout
this journey. They got home Sunday, August 13.

FRIDAY, September 29. This day Brother Kline starts to the counties of
Hardy and Hampshire. He visits Isaac Dasher's, James Parks's, William
Michael's, Adam Cosner's, Henry Cosner's, Joseph Arnold's, John
Leatherman's, Samuel Arnold's, Adam Michael's, Michael Lyon's, Solomon
Michael's, Jacob Cosner's, Martain Lantz's, Enoch Hyre's, Isaac
Shobe's, Chlora Judy's, Peggy Dasher's, and James Fitzwater's. He got
home Thursday, Oct. 12, after an absence of two weeks. He rode Nell. I
beg the kind reader to pardon the entry of the foregoing list of
names.

The Editor will here tell a short story of what really took place very
recently. He happened to be at the house of one of his friends, and in
looking through his library he discovered a very old copy of the life
of Isaac N. Walter, who had been dead over forty years. He remarked to
the lady of the house: "I see you still have on hand a copy of the
life of Isaac N. Walter." "O, yes, and that is the most precious
volume to me in all the library. You see from its appearance that it
has been handled very freely. Mr. Walter used to come to our house,
and whilst papa was not a member of his church he and papa thought a
great deal of each other; and whilst I have but a childhood
recollection of him, reading that book carries me back in thought to
the old home place where I was raised, and calls up the thousand and
one pleasant memories of my early days." Thus she went on; and very
soon opened to the place where the date of one of Mr. Walter's visits
to her father's house was given. She could no longer restrain her
tears, but excused them by saying: "You know a woman never forgets her
first love, and that is the love of her childhood home."

On this trip Brother Kline baptized Josiah Simons and James Hilkey,
October 7.

SUNDAY, October 15. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize eleven
persons to-day. They are Noah Rhodes and wife; Frederic Kline and
wife; George Wine and wife; Susanna Showalter; Jacob Sanger; John
McKee; Catharine Fink, and Polly Wampler.

SUNDAY, October 22. Meeting at the Lost River meetinghouse. Matthew 28
is read. Philip Fitzwater and Catharine Sowder are baptized.

SUNDAY, October 29. Meeting at John Glick's, in Shenandoah County.
After meeting I baptize John Glick and wife. Stay all night at John
Neff's.

SUNDAY, November 12. Meeting at our meetinghouse. This day I baptize
John A. Showalter; Mary Kline; Mary Kesler; Anna Hoover, wife of
Emanuel Hoover, and Mrs. Fogel.

SUNDAY, November 26. This day John Bowman and I take a steamer at
Alexandria and attend a Methodist church in Washington City. After
looking around at the gorgeous displays of artistic ornamentation in
the structure and finish of the building itself, and being comfortably
seated in a pew cushioned with silk velvet, with my feet resting on a
Brussels carpet, I was ready to hear. The first thing I heard was a
sort of chant, with organ accompaniment. But I could only now and then
distinguish a word chanted; so I could not say amen to their giving of
thanks. Next came the reading of the twenty-fourth Psalm. Being a good
way back, I could not hear distinctly, but knowing the Psalm by heart,
memory served where hearing failed. This was more satisfactory. Next
came the musical interlude, and the opening prayer followed. I hardly
ever criticise a prayer; but when that prayer was through with it did
occur to my mind that if it were to be suddenly answered none would
probably be so much surprised as the preacher who offered it. A
familiar hymn was now sung, and many in the congregation joined their
voices in the song. This was very enjoyable. Next the sermon. The
preacher used fine language, and ornamented his discourse with flowery
similitudes and opposite figures. Such eloquence as flowed from his
lips to-day, other things being equal, does not fail to attract large
audiences. But when I took a view of the congregation, and beheld the
display of fashion everywhere visible, I could not suppress the
inquisitive reflection as to what John Wesley would think of that
being a congregation of Methodists, could he suddenly appear among
them. Would he own them? And would they own him in his plain dress and
old-fashioned ways? And then the thought--what if the next hundred
years bring on as great a change in our Brotherhood as the past
seventy-five years have unfolded in the Methodist society! But here I
let the curtain fall upon my thoughts, to hide them from my sight, for
I cannot endure the prospect of such a change.

I aim to cultivate a spirit of forbearance toward all denominations of
professing Christians; but I am forced to conclude that in this place
the sons of God have fallen in love with the daughters of men; that
the church and the world have shaken hands in a mutual agreement to
live together in peace.

MONDAY, November 27. At 5 o'clock we take the train for Baltimore,
where we arrive at 6:40 P.M. Stop at Globe hotel.

TUESDAY, November 28. Attend to business in the city, and in the
evening go to Michael B. Kline's.

WEDNESDAY, November 29. At 8 A.M. meet Brother D.P. Saylor at the
depot, and take cars for Philadelphia, where we arrive at 12:30 P.M.
Dine at Brother John Kagey's; then come to Morristown, and from there
to Brother John Umstead's, where we stay all night.

THURSDAY, November 30. Come to Brother Isaac Price's, and then to
Brother David Fricke's, where we stay all night.

FRIDAY, December 1. Come to Price's meetinghouse. Make arrangements;
take the voice of the church touching the grievance; close our
meeting; come to Brother Peter Hollowbush's; stay all night and
prepare our papers.

SATURDAY, December 2. Come to the meetinghouse again. Brother D.P.
Saylor speaks in the forenoon, and in the afternoon we present our
papers and try to settle, but great commotion follows, and we close
the meeting. Come to Brother John Price's; stay all night. Night
meeting. Speak on John 10:9.

SUNDAY, December 3. Meeting at the meetinghouse again. I speak on 1
Peter 1:22. TEXT.--"See that ye love one another with a pure heart
fervently."

Scientific moralists teach that man's _love_ is his _life_. They
support this statement by what they regard a self-evident truth, that
such as a man's love is, such is his life. The wide field for
investigation to which this line of thought leads, presents many
plausible arguments in favor of the doctrine they hold. For one, I can
and must confess that I have never been able to look deep enough into
the human soul to find out just what the principle of life is. Neither
is it important that I should know. But there is One that does know.
That One needs not that any should testify to him concerning man, for
he knows what is in man.

Brethren, you all know to whom my thought now turns. I mean our Lord
Jesus Christ. And let the life principle, the heart principle, the
love principle be one and the same or not, it is he who says of men:
"By their fruits shall ye KNOW them;" not doubtfully, but surely. The
life record of every man, written not with pen and ink on paper, but
with the finger of God on the tablet of his memory, will be the basis
of his adjudgment to hell or his acquittal to heaven. For "a good man
out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things;
likewise an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth
forth evil things." "And they that have done good shall come forth
unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation."

Man is created for society. He cannot be happy without it. If it would
be possible for us to conceive of a world inhabited by but one human
being, with all hope of society forever banished, if that human being
could ever think at all, it would only be to wish himself dead. All
our affections and thoughts are so intimately connected with the
affections and thoughts of others as to derive all the zest of their
enjoyment from this source alone. We enjoy the pleasures of the table
most when those we love enjoy them with us. This feeling is so
inwrought in the character that when any we specially love are absent,
who we may fear are not faring as well as we, the reflection mars the
relish of our food. This is what should be. But the length and breadth
of social enjoyment is exactly commensurate with the length and
breadth of social love. The man whose heart is so small as to be able
to take none but the members of his own family in the grasp of his
contracted regard can have a meager enjoyment of life. He is somewhat
above a brute, but very far beneath the dignity of a man; and, worst
of all, destitute of the spirit of Christ. "He that loveth not his
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
And this thought brings up my text: "See that ye love one another with
a pure heart fervently."

Brethren, if I could impress these words upon your hearts in a way and
to a degree that would be adequate to their importance, I would return
home in the happy reflection that I had been instrumental in doing a
work by which God is glorified and my Brethren saved. These words
encompass the whole ground of salvation. Inside this compass of
brotherly love is salvation, and nowhere else. Say what you please,
love is what saves man after all. Some say faith saves, and so it does
when it is quickened and filled with the warmth of brotherly love.
Otherwise, though it be strong enough to remove mountains, as Paul
says, it is nothing. Faith without love is a dead faith. Devils have
this kind, and tremble. This dead faith may be compared to ice which
is water as to substance, but worthless as to form. Frozen water may
bridge rivers; and a frozen faith may bridge some of the streams of
earthly life; but it will never bridge the stream of death and land us
safe in heaven.

But what is to be understood by brethren loving one another with a
pure heart fervently? I am afraid that if I attempt to tell what
brotherly love is, and how it is to be shown, I will only darken
counsel by words without wisdom. There is not a brother or sister in
this house who does not know what it is to love another with a pure
heart fervently. I will, however, venture to say a little under this
head, by way of drawing our minds to think more closely upon it. I
will say, first, that when one brother loves another with a pure heart
fervently, he tries in all ways and at all times _to do his brother
good, and no harm_. This love fills the mouth with good things and the
hands with blessings.

But the text implies that this love can be increased, that it may grow
ardent, burning, by the use of right means, or suffered to grow cold
by neglect. There can be no doubt of the truth of this. In all man's
relations to this life, experience shows that love may be fostered by
kindness, or frozen by unkindness. This last remark reminds me of a
conversation I had with a United Brethren preacher whom I chanced to
fall in with in one of the western counties of Virginia. Speaking of
his work, and the number of converts he reported at different meetings
he had held, led me to ask how they were doing since then. He replied
that a goodly number appeared to continue faithful; but he added that
some had burnt out by unholy fire, and that others had frozen out by
unholy frost. I afterward thought this to myself, that here was the
commingled fire and hail which John, in his apocalyptic vision, saw
falling from the same cloud. Ah, Brethren, let us beware of the unholy
fire of evil passion, anger, malice, wrath, strife, that would burn
and consume our love for one another; and on the other hand avoid all
feelings and expressions or other manifestations of contempt, or
neglect, or unkindness that would freeze it to death.

This brings me now to speak of forgiveness. You have read the story,
told by our Lord, of the debtor who owed the ten thousand talents, and
was forgiven the debt; and how he afterward treated a fellow-debtor
who owed him a hundred pence; and how the first debtor was delivered
to the tormentors because he would not forgive his fellow-servant. "So
shall also my heavenly Father do unto you,"--says our Lord--"if ye
forgive not every one his brother from your hearts." Brethren, you and
the Lord for it. I this day wash my hands clean of your blood as I
repeat in your ears these words of love and warning: "If ye forgive
men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But
if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses."

When I was yet a boy in Pennsylvania, before we moved to Virginia, my
father very strictly forbade me playing marbles on Sunday. I obeyed
his orders for some time; but one Sunday, when father was at church, a
neighbor's boy came to our house and persuaded me to play with him. I
did it reluctantly. The play did not amuse me as usual. But I
transgressed all the same; and in the very act my father saw me on his
return home. He called me to come to him. Expecting chastisement, I
went with trembling steps. I never had felt so unhappy in my life.
"What were you doing?" he asked. I burst into tears. "Are you very
sorry for what you have done?" I nodded and wept assent. "Come a
little nearer to me." I went; and he then drew a handkerchief from his
coat pocket and gently wiped away my tears, saying at the same time,
"I feel sure, Johnny, that you are very sorry for what you have done,
and I forgive you with a kiss." Ah, Brethren, if I had never known
sorrow before, I had never known joy till after that kiss. In itself
it was but the contact of lips; but its power went to my heart; and I
can say here solemnly that I had never loved my father before as I
loved him after that. Love is what conquers after all. Love is the
root and the offspring of happiness. There can be no happiness without
love. Therefore, Brethren, "see that ye love one another with a pure
heart fervently."

After meeting I go with Brother David B. Kline in his carriage, and
have night meeting in a schoolhouse near his place. Snows all this
day.

MONDAY, December 4. Travel thirty-five miles to-day in Brother George
Gipel's wagon to his house. Snowing and blowing all day. Snow
wonderfully drifted. Stay all night at Brother Gipel's.

TUESDAY, December 5. Get into Brother Gipel's sleigh and go to meeting
at Brother Brachtbil's. From there come to Brother Jacob Wanger's,
near Jonestown, to night meeting. Speak on Rev. 3:21. [This sublime
discourse is withheld for want of room.] Stay all night at Brother
Brachtbil's. Wonderful blowing of snow continues. Roads blockaded very
much.

WEDNESDAY, December 6. Brother John Kline near Millerstown takes me in
his sleigh to meeting near his house. Speak on John 14:6. Night
meeting at his house. Speak on Revelation 22. Stay with him all night.
Still cold and stormy.

THURSDAY, December 7. Write a letter home, and one to Michael B.
Kline, of Baltimore. Stop at Jacob Frantz's, and get to Samuel
Royer's, near Myerstown, for dinner. Afternoon meeting at the
meetinghouse. Stay at David Zug's all night. Snowing and blowing
continues. Very cold.

FRIDAY, December 8. Meeting at Brother George Bolinger's. John 10 is
read. In afternoon come to Brother Samuel Hilsman's. Visit and help to
anoint a sick sister. Come to Brother John Gipel's. Night meeting.
Speak of John 14:6.

SATURDAY, December 9. Come to David Zug's. Meeting. Speak from Hebrews
2.

SUNDAY, December 10. Meeting at Christian Longenacre's. Speak on Luke
1:77. Night meeting at the widow Eby's.

MONDAY, December 11. Visit Aunt Anna Hershey. She is very weak. Dine
at Abraham Hershey's. He takes me to Mount Joy, to Henry Kurtz's,
where we have night meeting. Sup at David Sharlocher's, and stay all
night with Brother Kurtz.

TUESDAY, December 12. Dine at Brother Jacob Rinehold's, and take the
eleven o'clock train in Lancaster for home, where I arrive Friday,
December 15.

In the year 1854 Brother Kline traveled 6,463 miles. I feel sure that
it is safe to say that every mile he traveled was in the direction of
some good object. Here is something for every one to think on: Do all
the steps of my life tend in the direction of some good object? Are
all my motives pure, sincere, honest, fit for the eyes of the world,
and, above all, fit for the eye of God?

SATURDAY, March 31, 1855. Attend council meeting at the Brick
meetinghouse in Augusta County. John Brower and Abraham Garber are
elected to the ministry, and Enoch Brower and Levi Garber to the
deaconship.

THURSDAY, April 5. Attend council meeting at the Beaver Creek
meetinghouse. Martain Miller is ordained; Daniel Thomas forwarded; and
Joseph Miller, of Thorny Branch, elected to the deaconship.

FRIDAY, April 6 and SATURDAY, April 7. On these two days I vaccinate
sixty-three persons.

THURSDAY, April 19. Attend council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse.
Jacob Spitzer is elected to the ministry, and Felix Senger to the
deaconship.

FRIDAY, April 20. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Abraham Knupp
is ordained; Christian Wine forwarded, and Martain Wampler elected to
the deaconship.

SATURDAY, April 21. Attend council meeting at the Flat Rock. Jonas
Early and Abraham Neff are elected to the deaconship.

SATURDAY, May 12. This day Brother Kline and Daniel Thomas, in company
of each other, start to the Annual Meeting on horseback. The meeting
opened Monday, May 28. They consequently had two weeks before them to
spend on the road, and this time they took up in traveling and
preaching by the way. They went first to Hardy County, where they
filled appointments at different places on the South Fork, South
Branch of the Potomac, and North Fork. They then crossed the Alleghany
mountains over into Randolph County, where they held a number of
meetings. The Diary reports Brother Daniel Thomas as taking the lead
in preaching at nearly all the appointments. And well was he worthy of
the honor. Few men are ever endowed with better natural abilities for
public speaking than was Brother Daniel Thomas. His voice had the rare
power of making every word he uttered to be distinctly heard all over
a large audience, without any apparent effort on his part. Besides, it
was musical. The hearer went away with its expressive inflections and
cadences still sounding in his ears. But his voice was not his only
forte. He had a mind as full of sanctified wit and quick perception as
an egg is full of food. A clear thinker, a cogent reasoner, and I may
add, full of love and the Holy Ghost, it is not a matter of wonder
that he excelled. What he might have achieved had he lived to an
advanced age, God only knows. His death was caused by an attack of
pneumonia. He left a comparatively young family. In the view of the
writer, who was intimately acquainted with him, the church of the
Brethren has never been called to give up a brighter or better man. He
is not _lost_. He has only moved away to the better land.

The following discourse was substantially preached by Brother Daniel
Thomas at the dwelling house of Elijah Judy in Hardy County, Virginia,
now West Virginia, on the evening of

MONDAY, May 14. _The parable of the sower_ is his subject. He said:
This parable, viewed in its natural or most obvious sense, is so
easily understood that it would be a suitable lesson for a primary
school reader. At the same time it holds within its grasp a fund of
spiritual instruction which, being received into the mind and heart,
fills both with light so clear as to illuminate many an otherwise dark
portion of Revealed Truth. To my mind this parable is the link
connecting the two ends of the great chain of God's work and man's
work in both the natural and spiritual life of man.

The Holy Land, as it is called, where our Lord was born, and where he
lived and died, comprised three small districts of country called
Judea, Samaria and Galilee. These districts, each about the size of
some of our Virginia counties, lay along the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean Sea. Their gusts of rain, with their lightning and
thunder, came from the west as ours do. The south winds came loaded
with warmth to them as ours do to us. On the eastern border of this
land was the river Jordan, a stream just about as large and swift as
your South Branch of the Potomac. Near the northeastern corner of this
land lay the beautiful Sea of Galilee, about three miles in breadth,
and from four to six miles in length. It was on this sea that our Lord
stilled the tempest. It was on the surface of this sea, that he was
seen walking as on a smooth pavement.

In our Savior's day the Holy Land was an agricultural country. The
farmers raised wheat and barley. These grains are often mentioned in
the Scriptures. But they had few fences in that country. The roads ran
through farms and fields with no sign of fence on either side. If
sheep or cattle were turned out to graze, they had to be watched by
men or boys called shepherds. I have been thus particular in my
description of this land to enable you the better to understand the
parable itself, and its higher or spiritual meaning. But farming has
ever been but poorly done in that country, and patches of briars and
other filth were suffered to grow. These were sown with the rest of
the field, and instead of being dug out were plowed and harrowed over.
No concern was felt about the seed likely to be wasted. The sower
opened his hand as freely in crossing the highway or the patch of
briery ground as anywhere else. Even those sections of the field which
showed no depth of soil on account of underlying rock were treated
like the rest. What a site for a parable! But what is a parable?

A parable is a statement of some fact literally or possibly true in
the natural world, and used to represent some spiritual truth. It is
the correspondence of the external or natural meaning with some
internal or spiritual meaning that makes any parable to be what it is.
The parable before us in its external or natural sense teaches nothing
beyond what we may learn by the sight of our eyes every year. If it
possessed no hidden meaning, no secret of life, it would be no holier
than a similar statement in an agricultural paper. This is just what
our Lord meant by these words: "It is the Spirit that quickeneth. The
flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you are spirit,
and are life."

I think you are now prepared to derive some benefit from the internal
sense of the parable before us. It has ever been a great question as
to what man is required _to do_ to be saved. If we were to go by what
is generally preached at what are called _revivals of religion_, we
would only need to say we believe in Jesus Christ, then manifest some
joy in the new experience, get up, perhaps, and tell how we feel, and
we are ready to be counted in the list of new converts in full
possession of eternal life. This experience corresponds with the
explanation given of the rocky places: "This is he that heareth the
word, and straightway with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in
himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution
ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth."

But here the query very naturally arises: "Are such to be lost? Is
there no hope for these rocky-ground, thorny-ground and wayside
hearers?" I say such need not be lost. There is salvation for such as
truly as for any, if they avail themselves of the proffered gifts. It
is wrong teaching, together with the influence of bad examples and bad
habits, that has made them to be the kind of ground they are. Here is
a lesson for all. Parents, if you desire your children to become good
ground, train them up in the way they should go: and when they are old
they will not depart from it.

There is another all-important truth bearing upon this connection of
my subject; and that truth is that "our Father, God, is the
husbandman." He is the great Farmer of souls, and "with God all things
are possible." It is a thing of very common occurrence, inside the
different denominations, for their members to backslide, as they call
it. This is not because they could not continue faithful, but it is
from a lack of the true knowledge of God, and a want of reliance upon
him, and looking in prayer to him. The divine teachings are very clear
on this point in the Christian's life. If an individual will repent,
believe the Gospel, and be baptized for the remission of sins, leave
off, that is, shun and forsake all evil ways and deeds as sins against
God, he has the blessed assurance that he will be led into all
necessary truth. Notice this: "If any man will do his will, he shall
KNOW of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of
myself." Again: David says: "Light is sown for the righteous, and
gladness for the upright in heart." And Solomon says: "The path of the
just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the
perfect day." And our Lord applies the prophecy of Isaiah: "The people
which sat in darkness saw a great light." He was the great Light which
they saw, but they saw him and heard him by going to him.

There can, I think, be no doubt that some have stronger temptations to
evil than others. Bad habits, encouraged by long indulgence and
fostered by strong natural appetences, are hard to get rid of. But the
faith that worketh by love, and purifieth the heart, gets strong
enough to remove these mountains of sin; yea, strong enough to enable
a man even to _hate_ his own sinful life.

I have known men to reason and conclude from this parable that God is
partial. They speak on this wise: "If the different kinds of ground
symbolize or represent the different natures and dispositions of men
with respect to believing and obeying the Word, then all have not an
equal chance for salvation. If a man (say they) has no better show for
bringing forth the fruits of righteousness in a good life than the
rocky or thorny ground has for bringing forth a crop of wheat or
barley, he can have no show for salvation at all." This argument
appears plausible at a first view. And in the estimation of those who
look only upon the surface of things it is convincing. The first point
of error with those who reason in this way is to be found in their
belief that God has made this difference among men. But the entire
history of man, as given in the Bible, shows that men bring upon
themselves these varied degrees of opposition to what is pure and
good. "God made men upright, but they have sought out many
inventions," says the prophet. Of course he means inventions of evil
things. An apostle says: "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and
worse, deceiving and being deceived." The natural tendency of man with
everything of earth is downward. The loveliest garden, by being
neglected, will get full of weeds. The most highly improved breeds of
domestic animals tend toward degeneracy and deterioration as to
quality, unless carefully guarded. Man is no exception to the rule. It
is only by watchful care that one generation of people becomes wiser
and better than the generation that preceded it. Our Lord would oft
repeat such expressions as these: "What I say unto one, I say unto
all, Watch." "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning." "He
that hath ears to hear, let him hear." "Watch and pray, lest ye enter
into temptation."

There is no heart so stubborn hard but that the softening power of
Divine love can mellow it; and there is no soul so full of the thorns
and briers of evil passions and bad habits, but that the sanctifying
power of the truth can cleanse it. Jesus came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. They that be whole need not the
physician, but they that are sick. God is able to do for all who look
to him for help, exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think;
and in Christ he is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto
God by him. No case of leprosy was ever beyond the power of the Lord
to cleanse. No blindness was ever too dark for him to remove. No palsy
was ever too dead for him to quicken into healthy life. No fever was
ever too burning for him to cool. No demoniac was ever so insane or
epileptic, under the power and in the possession of even a legion of
devils, but that he could have them all cast out and the possessed one
sit calmly, be clothed and in his right mind. Nothing is impossible
with God. The good-ground hearer brings forth fruit unto perfection
because he looks to the Lord, through his blessed Word, for help. This
help comes through his obedience to its holy precepts and commands.
God cannot help any one who continues to live regardless of and
indifferent to the precepts of his Holy Word.

In a modified sense the same laws govern in the spiritual world that
govern in the natural. As it is impossible for God, according to his
established order, to give you a rich and remunerative crop of corn or
wheat from a field covered with briers, thorns and weeds; just in the
same measure in a spiritual sense is he unable to give you happiness,
peace of mind and joy in the Holy Ghost while you continue in a life
of sin. "He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap
life everlasting."

Brethren and sisters, it may be that some of you fear, at times, that
your heart is no better than a bed of rock; or that it is full of
thorns; or that it is hard and poor as the beaten road. But such
self-examinations give evidence that the Holy Spirit is in your hearts
and that he is carrying on a glorious work of grace there. "Blessed are
the meek." "Blessed are the poor in spirit." "He that humbleth himself
shall be exalted." "God resisteth the proud; but giveth grace to the
humble." Be not discouraged. Our Father is the great husbandman, and
he knows just how to treat every kind of ground, just what to do in
every heart. Then let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season
we shall reap if we faint not.

The foregoing sermon was preached by Brother Daniel Thomas May 14.
Between this and the following Sunday he preached every day once or
twice. Brother Kline jotted down one other discourse which he
delivered on Saturday following, which I am compelled to omit for want
of room. On

SUNDAY, May 20, they had forenoon meeting at Josiah Simon's. This day
Brother Kline baptized Joseph Summerfield and wife, Mrs. Workman, and
Jane Hilkey. In his quaint way he adds: "God calls, and some still
answer. All glory to him."

SUNDAY, May 27, finds the two brethren at the place of Annual Meeting.
They attended meeting in Wine's barn; and also report meeting being
held at the same hour in the meetinghouse. He does not give the name
of the meetinghouse where the Annual Meeting was held this year, but
says that he and Brother Daniel had lodging at Brother Umbenhaver's
the first night.

MONDAY, May 28. Annual meeting begins. Take in questions, form
committees, and set them to work. We stay all night at Brother
Spanogle's.

TUESDAY, May 29. Go to place of meeting. Discuss and dispose of nearly
all the queries to-day. We stay at Brother Umbenhaver's.

WEDNESDAY, May 30. Go back to place of meeting and get through; preach
awhile; and after dinner we start from Brother Andrew Spanogle's
towards home. We get to Matthew Wineman's, where we stay all night.

THURSDAY, May 31. Stop awhile with brethren Michael and Jacob
Sollenberger; then by Mercersburg and Clear Spring to Sister Nipe's,
where we stay all night.

FRIDAY, June 1. Through Martinsburg and Winchester, Virginia, to
Brother James Tabler's where we stay all night.

SATURDAY, June 2. Get to Brother John Neff's, in Shenandoah County,
and on

SUNDAY, June 3, get home. On this journey Brother Daniel Thomas and I
traveled together on horseback 466 miles. Our horses became so
attached to each other that they could not bear separation. At any
time, when out of sight of each other, they showed almost
uncontrolable restlessness and dissatisfaction. I may add here that
_one_ of their riders at least was very similarly affected toward
_his_ companion by the way. The attachment of our horses was that of
mere instinct. It was generated through the sense of hearing, seeing
and smelling. But our attachment sprang from higher and more interior
causes, such as none but the people of God can understand and
appreciate. It has its place in "the hidden man of the heart," and
springs from the unity of our faith and the spirituality of our love.
Death ends the attachments of poor brutes; but the love of Christians
for each other rests on a foundation that death cannot destroy. Even
here, in our imperfect state, love fills life's cup with joy. How
ineffable, then, must be the joy of the redeemed in glory where love
is perfect and life is eternal!

From the last date given to the thirteenth day of September Brother
Kline was called to engage with considerable activity in the practice
of the medical profession. There was much sickness in his own and
adjoining neighborhoods. His death record was very small in proportion
to the number of his patients. This fact alone establishes his success
as a medical practitioner. The writer has been a careful and candid
observer of the different methods and medicines employed in the
treatment of the sick for a period of _fifty_ years, and he ventures
to give it as his impartial verdict that the course of treatment of
the sick, medically, pursued by Brother Kline and the other physicians
of his school, was attended by as small a death rate as that of any
school in the profession in his day or since. In addition to this,
convalescing and recovered patients were rarely heard to complain of
any _after_ effects of the disease or medicine. Brother Kline was
often heard to speak of this. He would say: "Our patients do not
complain of rheumatism, weak joints, broken down nerves,
rapidly-decaying teeth, impaired hearing or generally enfeebled
constitutions. We give no medicines which can leave any injurious
_after_ effects." But, after all, his heart was set on the ministry of
the Word. He regarded the life and health of the body as incalculably
subordinate to the life and health of the soul. This consideration
incited him to untiring activity in preaching, praying, exhorting,
singing, and to whatever else might instruct, comfort and encourage
the child of God, or warn the sinner of his danger and bring him to
Christ.

THURSDAY, September 13. This day Brother Kline, in company of Martain
Miller, starts on another journey to some of the western counties of
Virginia. He of late years begins to take company with him on these
trips. In the earlier part of his ministry he would often go alone, I
guess because no one volunteered to go with him. You remember Brother
Daniel Thomas was with him on his last trip before this. Now Brother
Martain Miller goes. Martain Miller was a brother of Daniel Miller,
near Greenmount, Virginia. He lived near the Beaver Creek
meetinghouse, in Rockingham County. His election to the ministry of
the Word, his subsequent advancement, and his ordination are given in
the Diary. Whilst he was not regarded as a minister of great power in
the stand, his influence in the councils of the church at home and
abroad was felt and acknowledged. A man like Elder Martain Miller, of
ready and deep perception, can quickly arrive at just and wise
decisions, which the man of ordinary mind might never be able to
reach. Hence the worth of such men as leaders in the realm of thought.

In the year 1862 W.C. Thurman began to preach the second advent of the
Lord as near. He subsequently became so bold in the expression of his
belief as to name the day on which that greatest of all events might
confidently be looked for to take place. As Thurman at that time was a
unit in the Brotherhood, and allowed to vent his soul breathings in
the church buildings of the Brethren, some, even among the thoughtful,
were deeply impressed with the probability of his conjectures being
well founded. The writer was present when the following little
incident took place, and remembers it with distinctness. It was at
Greenmount meetinghouse. Brother Martain Miller had led in preaching
that day, but had made no allusion to Thurman. After meeting broke up
some of the Brethren privately asked Brother Miller what he thought of
Thurman's doctrines. He shut his eyes, gave a very significant but
negative shake of the head, and after a brief pause said: "Do not
regard them. They will in due time prove their own fallacy. You cannot
convince Thurman that he is wild by any argument; but in a short while
he will be convinced without argument."

On the evening of the last given date, Brother Martain Miller spoke
from Matt. 7:13, at Zion church in Hardy County. From the outlines in
the Diary I give the substance of what he said, as nearly as I can.
The reader should know that none of the sermons herein given cover the
entire ground of the discourse. They only aim at the main points. It
is the purpose of the Editor to present these in spirit and word as
nearly like the same in which they were originally delivered, as can
possibly be done. His familiarity with the sermonic style, manner,
general lines of thought, doctrinal views, education and general
preaching power of nearly every minister represented in this work
enables him, as he thinks, to do this with at least some _approach_ to
justice. Without such knowledge, this work would never have been
undertaken by him.

    TEXT.--"_Enter ye in by the narrow gate._"

Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world with but one end in view.
That end is the raising of man to himself. This end is the burden of
his mediatorial work, the center of his mediatorial prayer. From his
heart on the eternal throne, wafted down to his people on the divine
breath, hourly comes and is felt the power of his prayer: "Father, I
will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory which thou hast given me." This brief prayer
comprehends the divine end of all things--_man's salvation and God's
glory_. The miracles wrought by our Lord, the parables spoken, the
truths uttered, the victories gained in temptation, the rich tokens of
his love given, all, all had as their great end man's salvation and
God's glory--"that they might be with him where he is."

The only answer to the great question why the Lord did all this for
man's salvation is found in his own words: "God so loved the world."
And he loves it no less to-day than when the Son was born and the
angels of glory were chanting their love song of "good will toward
men" in the ears of the shepherds and above the manger in Bethlehem.
But with all of God's good will to seek and save that which was lost
he is able to save only such, and no others, as desire to be saved by
him. If it were possible for him to save man and elevate him to heaven
independently of any cooeperation on man's part, then all would alike
be saved, for God is no respecter of persons. But it would be quite as
possible to compel or force any one to understand and love what he
naturally hates, or to follow with enjoyment and delight a way of life
he does not love, as it would be to save a human being without the
consent and cooeperation of his mind and heart.

The scribes and Pharisees gave evident proof of the truth of the old
maxim: "Convince a man against his will, he is of the same opinion
still." The Lord proved before their eyes his heavenly mission and
divine character; their minds must have been convinced. But their
wills did not favor the convictions of their minds; that is, they did
not love the truth that was forced upon their minds, and so they
rejected him. It is from this element in the constitution of man's
soul or spirit that he must become as a little child, or he cannot
enter the kingdom of heaven. Becoming as a little child is what is
meant by being born again, without which no man shall see the kingdom
of heaven. We all know a little child is innocent, teachable; because
it is not lifted up in the pride of its own intelligence, nor
confirmed in a belief of what is not true from a love of what is not
good. Every one who enters through the narrow gate, and pursues the
narrow way that leads to life, is willing to be led by the Lord. It
may not be clear to the mind of every one what is symbolized by the
_narrow gate_ and the _narrow way_. I will try to tell you.

_The divine truth of God's Word_ is the narrow gate. It admits of no
increase, and it allows no diminution. He that addeth to or taketh
from the words of the prophecy of this book (the Bible), God shall
take away his part out of the book of life. This is a fearful warning
to all who would seek to make the gate and the way of eternal life any
broader than it is laid and settled by the Word of Life; and a similar
warning to any who would desire to make the gate and the way appear so
narrow as to discourage and dissuade others from entering. I said the
narrow gate is the truth of God's Word. But what is the narrow way?
The narrow way is the daily life of every one who lives according to
that truth. This leads to life eternal, because it leads to God. But
the gate and the way will do no one any good unless it be entered and
the way followed. And God compels no one to enter in opposition to
one's own will. Entrance is not of compulsion, but of choice. Life and
death are set before the sinner's eyes. The Bread of Life and the
Water of Life are placed within his reach. The Lord calls, saying:
"Why do ye spend your money for that which is not bread; and your
labor for that which satisfieth not? Come ye to the waters: and
whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."

But some may ask: "What is it to enter in at the narrow gate, and how
is the sinner to know when he is entering?" I answer that when the
sinner obeys God's holy truth from the heart he is then entering in by
the narrow gate. His obedience must be to God's Word, not to man's
word. Obedience to man's word takes man through the wide gate into the
broad road that leads to destruction. Repentance towards God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ are the two steps that take us in spirit
through the narrow gate. But these two acts and exercises of the mind
and heart mean immensely more than is generally imagined. Many seem to
think that repentance means no more than simply to confess that one is
a sinner in a sort of general way, and that faith is simply a
confessed belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. But God's Word
teaches far otherwise. I will here quote some of our Lord's sayings
which apply to repentance: "Except ye be converted, and become as
little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." This
points to repentance. Again: "If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Self-denial is
repentance; and every true penitent goes through the narrow gate with
the cross on his shoulder, because the cross symbolizes the divine
truth upon which the love of self and the love of the world is
crucified. I am not afraid to repeat in your ears the words of Jesus.
He has left them on record, that all who will heed them in the meek
and teachable spirit of a little child may be lifted out of the mire
and filth and darkness of a sinful life into the glorious liberty of
the children of God.

If salvation is anything it is everything. This world, with all its
fleeting show and short-lived pleasures, is nothing in the comparison.
Salvation, or the life to which the narrow way conducts us, is so
glorious, so ineffably exalted above the loftiest conceptions of the
human mind, that the prophet Isaiah could justly say: "Since the
beginning of the world none have heard, nor perceived by the ear,
neither hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, what he hath prepared
for him that waiteth for him." Brethren, friends, we know not fully
what is prepared for all who wait upon the Lord, that is, who do his
will. But Jesus tells us that he is gone to prepare a place for us,
and that he will come again and receive us to himself, that where he
is there we may be also. We shall enter into his joy, the joy of the
Lord. He will come to every one of us at death. He will then raise our
redeemed souls into the life of heavenly bliss; for he is the
resurrection and the life of every one that loves him. It is the
privilege of every one to enter into life through the narrow gate. But
I cannot enter for you, nor tread the narrow way, nor obtain a crown
of glory for you. This is your own individual choice, your own
individual work--nay, it is the Lord's merciful, loving, gracious work
in you, for without him you can do nothing. But when you believe in
him and love him with all your heart, he finds a resting place in your
soul, and he then comes to be to you individually "the way, the truth,
and the life."

The next eight days were almost entirely occupied in filling
appointments previously made through letters from Brother Kline. We
have to wonder a little when he found time to write them. But he was
his own secretary on gratuitous service, and he never even so much as
presented a bill for stationery or postal expenditures.

FRIDAY, September 21. This day finds the two brethren at Union
meetinghouse, in the Barker settlement, in Barbour County, Virginia.
Brother Miller spoke at this meeting from John 3:7. Space alone
forbids the insertion of his plain, practical sermon to-day. They
found, as usual, a hearty welcome here; and in truth the same may be
said of every place they visited. And why not? Even these primitive
people were quick to perceive and appreciate the good will with which
they had come. Besides, they made themselves sociable and entertaining
in the families under whose roofs they found shelter. Brother Kline
had an inexhaustible fund of information gained by reading and
traveling, and he was not reserved in the way of keeping it all to
himself. Brother Kline was what may be called a good conversationalist.
He did not flood your attention with words, nor bore you with tiresome
narratives of great exploits in which he was the hero. He would tell
you of sights he had seen, and experiences he had had in traveling and
otherwise, in a way that would so absorb you in the _narrative_ that
you lost sight of the man. He always aimed to exalt his _subject_ and
not the speaker. This was true in his preaching as well as in his
conversations.

SATURDAY, September 22. They came to Brother Elias Ovel's for dinner.
In the afternoon preaching in the meetinghouse and love feast at
night. Brother Miller served.

TUESDAY, September 25. They had meeting at Brother Peter Feiga's. An
election was held in which Samuel Feiga was elected speaker, and
Tobias Moser deacon. They staid all night at Thomas Clark's.

Brother Kline got home from this journey Sunday evening, October 7.
Brother Miller got home the next day. They were gone three weeks and
four days.

MONDAY, December 31. At home. I have this year traveled, mostly on
horseback, 4,286 miles, and preached forty-two funeral sermons.

SATURDAY, January 5, 1856. At home. Cold; snows very fast all day.

SATURDAY, January 12. Snows all this day again, very fast. Sleighing
is likely to be fine for a while; a rare occurrence in our State.

SUNDAY, January 20. Snows all this day, again. The snow is now very
deep, and as it is not drifted sleighing will be surpassingly fine.

MONDAY, January 21. Brother John Zigler of Timberville dies very
suddenly this morning, at the age of sixty-nine years, two months and
twenty-seven days. This is county court day in Harrisonburg. I am told
this evening by some who were present, that there were hundreds of
sleighs of all shapes and sizes to be seen in the streets. So far as
my knowledge extends, a scene like that has never before been
witnessed in Harrisonburg. The roads in all directions are in a
surpassingly fine condition for sleighing. The roads are all paved
with crystals more valuable than all the diamonds that have ever shone
in the crowns of kings.

FRIDAY, February 29. Council meeting at the Brick church, in Augusta
County. To-day we discuss the question of the propriety of making a
move to more generally propagate the Gospel. Most of the brethren and
sisters present seemed to be heartily in favor of the move. One
brother, John Harshberger, said: "If the Gospel is _not_ true, let us
eat and drink like other beasts, for to-morrow we die; but if the
Gospel _be_ true--and thanks be unto God, for we know it is true--it
is worthy of all acceptation; for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth. But how can any one believe in
him of whom he has not heard? And how can any one hear without a
preacher? And how can any preach except he be sent? I am in favor of
trying to do more in every way than we have ever yet attempted, to
spread the good news of salvation.

  "'Salvation! let the echo fly
    The spacious earth around,
  Till all the nations 'neath the sky
    Conspire to raise the sound.'"

Brother Benjamin Moomaw, Brother Nininger, Brother John Harshberger
and myself were appointed a committee to draw up a memorial on the
subject, to place before the next Annual Meeting.

SATURDAY, March 1. Council continues. The subject of divorce and
adultery is considered to-day. It is decided to send it to the Annual
Meeting, as also a query on proposition to district the churches, and
have general council meetings in those Districts. It is also
unanimously passed to have lamps in our meetinghouses. Pass some other
minor questions, and council breaks up.

SUNDAY, March 2. Meeting at the same place. Brother Benjamin Moomaw
speaks on Heb. 5:8, 9. He is a man of great power in the Word. I
regret that I cannot recall to memory all that he said, but I will
here give a condensed outline of what I remember. These are the words
of his text: "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the
things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author
of eternal salvation to all them that obey him."

This is a remarkable passage of Scripture. It deals primarily with the
human nature of Christ. It is in this nature, the Divine humanity,
that God manifests himself to man. This humanity brought with it the
infirmities to which flesh is heir. This same apostle tells us that
Jesus Christ was "tempted in all points like as we are, yet without
sin." Innocence, freedom from all sin, is the orderly following of
obedience. In this happy consciousness he challenges the whole
Sanhedrim to convict him of sin. They could not do it; and Pilate
acknowledges before the infuriated mob: "I find no fault in this man."
From the part of the text, "yet learned he obedience by the things
which he suffered," we are rather to understand that he learned or
REALIZED _the blessedness of obedience_. In his own words: "He came
not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him." In his
last great prayer with his disciples he says: "And now, Father, I come
to thee, having finished the work thou didst give me to do." These
words portray his immaculate righteousness.

But let us look at some of the glorious testifications borne by the
Father to the honor of the Son. Let us turn to the first public act of
his manhood. I guess your minds all turn at once to the scene of his
baptism. Here are the pellucid waters of the Jordan coursing their way
to the Dead Sea. "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John
to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be
baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus said, Suffer it to
be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." This
righteousness is the righteousness of obedience. And notice, a few
moments later, the glory and honor with which it is crowned. The
opened heavens, the dove-like descent of the Spirit, the Father's
recognition, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," must
have thrilled his heart with joy unspeakable. In this instance he
realized the blessedness of obedience; and the hearts of many since
that time have been made to thrill as they have gone up out of the
waters of other Jordans, with kindred joy.

We now turn to his temptation in the wilderness. Here, our Lord,
during forty days and nights, suffered all the privations and all the
temptations arising therefrom, which man is capable of suffering. But
never for one moment did his heart or hand swerve a hair from the line
of perfect obedience to his Father's will, even in the darkest hour.
And how did it turn out? Why, he resisted the devil, and the devil
left him; and, behold! angels came and ministered unto him. Brethren,
have you ever thought of the precious food these angels brought to the
exhausted human nature of our Lord? He ate and drank with angels from
the skies. They poured the spiritual oil of joy and comfort into his
burdened soul. They brought fresh tokens of his Father's approval; and
we read of no more sore conflict with the powers of darkness until the
"last hour."

Some of us have, possibly, passed through trials, in a small way,
somewhat akin to those endured by the Lord. We all know our own
individual experiences best. For one, I can say right here that I am
no stranger to temptation. The adversary of God's people has never yet
counted me out of the number he seeks to seduce. I confess he does not
try me at all times alike; but he does seem to come every time when I
am the least prepared effectually and instantly to repel his assaults.
If in preaching I happen to get off a fine thought or good sentiment
dressed out in a becoming attire of words, he tries to flatter my
vanity by making me believe that I am a great somebody. Brethren in
the ministry, how is it with you? I see from the nods you give, that
you have had similar experiences. At such times Herod's awful doom
flashes over me--how that in the midst of a beautiful oration he fell
dead, and right away was alive with worms consuming his body, and all
because he gave not God the glory. This generally gets me rid of him
on such occasions. At other times he comes with promises of worldly
honors, saying to me that if I will enter the arena of politics I may
count it as sure that I will be lifted to offices of honor and rich
emoluments, for, says he, "the whole scheme with all its workings is
in my hands, and to whomsoever I will, I give it." At such times I
baffle him with this Scripture: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God;
_and him_ ONLY _shalt thou serve_."

Jesus is now glorified. He is exalted higher than the heavens, far
above all principality and power. He is invested with all power in
heaven and earth; so that in him all things hold together, and the
integrity of the universe is preserved. He is the head over all things
to the church and has become the Author of eternal salvation unto all
them that obey him. All things are now in his name and unto his glory,
so that now he that honoreth the Son, honoreth the Father.

Can it be that this is the same Jesus who but a few years ago humbled
himself to be baptized in the Jordan, suffered the temptation in the
wilderness, wept at the grave of Lazarus, went about doing good, being
homeless, with no place where to lay his head, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief? Only a little while ago, and the midnight
stillness of Gethsemane is gently broken by the words: "Father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done." The spirit of obedience abides with him in full
measure even in this trying hour; and if not uttered in words, it is
declared in act: "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness."

One more trial awaits him. It is his last and great conflict with the
"king of terrors" and the powers of darkness. Will his spirit of
obedience and his resistance of sin bear the strain of this final
test? Glory to his blessed name, it does. He says: "The prince of this
world cometh, and hath nothing in me." Ah, there is our salvation. The
prince of this world found no place in his sanctified heart.
Throughout his trial before the Jewish, as well as civil authorities,
he was the same. No change from that meekness and lowliness of heart
that characterized his whole life was visible now. He even bore his
own cross; and I sometimes think that he voluntarily laid himself down
upon it, placed his hands and adjusted his feet for the nails; for he
had said before: "I lay down my life of myself: no man taketh it from
me. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."
The nails are driven. The foot of the cross, with Jesus upon it, is
firmly fixed in the ground. The sun has veiled his face; and darkness
broods over the land. With a loud voice he cries: "It is finished,"
and he gave up his spirit. This is the consummation of the suffering
by which the Captain of our salvation was perfected, and by which he
obtained all power in heaven and earth.

I can imagine there was now a shout of joy and a high jubilee in
heaven, and a growl of disappointment and defeat in hell. His body is
taken from the cross. Not a bone of him is broken. Joseph's new tomb
becomes its receptacle. Not long does it remain there. The bands of
death are loosed, and the glorified Lord forsakes the tomb. "Ought not
the Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his
glory?"

Notice, further, the glory and honor with which his obedience is
rewarded. In addition to the declarations bearing upon this subject
already quoted, I here add what Paul says to the Philippians:
"Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name: that in the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father."

We have now before us in the person of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ an example of perfect obedience. We have also noticed some of
its rewards. But when we attempt to speak of the rewards of obedience,
thought and language both fail; for heavenly bliss is ineffable, and
celestial glory eternal. Christ's glorification is past comprehension.
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard. But let us rejoice greatly this day
in the excellency of this knowledge of Christ. "He is able to save to
the uttermost all who come unto God by him." "He has become the author
of eternal salvation to all them that obey him."

My brother, my sister, do you ever question your spiritual state,
doubting as to whether you are a child of God or not, wondering in the
obscurity of your mind as to how you stand in the sight of God? I do
not think any one need be in doubt as to this matter. Are you living a
life of obedience to Christ? Let us see. You surely have been
baptized. As baptism was his first public act, for you to follow his
example and walk in his steps it became you to submit to the same
ordinance expanded and illuminated as to its significance and use by
his subsequent teachings. This you did, and you did it in the true
spirit of obedience and love. You are no hypocrite, I am sure; for the
hypocrite never examines himself. He totally lacks the goodness and
sincerity and honesty that lead to self-examinations. The hypocrite
does not _love_ the house of God. He does not breathe freely in an
atmosphere of prayer. His highest ambition is to make a fair show in
the flesh, to secure some personal aggrandizement through his formal
professions.

You do not belong to this class. You feel in your heart that you love
Jesus, and often weep that you do not love him more. This very love
should assure your heart that you are a child of God, for "love is of
God, and God is love." You cheerfully, and in love for the Brethren,
stoop to follow his example and obey his command by taking part in the
ordinance of feet-washing. You eat the Lord's Supper as nearly after
his example as can be known, in honor of him, and partake of the
Communion of the bread and wine in remembrance of his broken body and
shed blood. In addition to all this you hate the inborn corruptions of
your fleshly mind. You sometimes sing from your heart's pure depth:

"I hate my own vain thoughts that rise, But love thy law, my God."

And to you one of the most pleasing contemplations of heaven is
founded upon the assurance that there will be no sin or sorrow for sin
there, nor sinful thoughts. You even here rejoice many times, in the
sweet foretastes of that happy state. When you meet the loving eyes
and friendly hands of brethren and sisters here assembled for worship,
you feel a delicious calm and a holy peace in your soul. It is at such
times and on such occasions that you realize just what the apostle
means by what he says of the experience of some heavenly-minded
Christian brethren and sisters who lived and felt eighteen hundred
years ago very much as you feel now. Identifying himself with them, he
says: "We have all been made to sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus." "Be thou faithful unto death, and God shall give thee
the crown of life."

At the close of this edifying discourse we sang the old hymn beginning:

  "How happy are they who their Savior obey--."

Prayer was offered, meeting broke up, and Brother Moomaw and I went to
Michael Whitmore's for dinner; then to Valley meetinghouse in
afternoon, where he spoke from Acts 26; and stayed all night at Daniel
Glick's.

MONDAY, March 3. We anoint Brother Daniel Glick this morning. He is
very low in sickness. Come to Dayton to afternoon appointment, where I
speak from John 1:29. Stay all night at Samuel Koontz's.

WEDNESDAY, March 19. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse.
Benjamin Miller, son of Daniel Miller, near the head of Linville
Creek, is elected to the deaconship. I feel that the right brother was
chosen, and entertain large hopes for his future.

FRIDAY, April 4. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Brother Samuel
Zigler is elected to the deaconship. We might have selected a man of
more words; but I am persuaded that one of purer mind and heart could
not have been found. Brother Benjamin Bowman stays all night with me.
This evening he related to me a remarkable dream he had had not very
long before. To use his own words, as nearly as I can give them, he
said: "I dreamed that I had died, but found myself consciously awake
in the land of departed spirits. My own father met me. I knew him. The
joy with which he received and welcomed me I cannot describe. My next
experience was along a stream of very clear water. It did not appear
to be a very large stream, but its remarkable character impressed me
as singular. It flowed gently. It was not swift, but glided smoothly
along, uphill and downhill the same. Its speed never varied, and this
unaccountable characteristic struck me with surprise that waked me.
This is my interpretation of my dream," said he: "The clear stream of
water represents what the Christian should be. Its transparency
symbolizes the clear thought and intelligent understanding that he
should have respecting himself and his life. Self-knowledge should
enable him to see himself in clear light. This knowledge leads to a
clear understanding of his relation to God and man, and reveals
whether that relation is what it should be, or otherwise. The uniform
flow of the stream uphill and down, which so surprised me, symbolizes
that inward peace of mind and gentle flow of heavenly affections which
constitute the Christian's happiness in life. Though he have his _ups_
and _downs_ in life, his inward peace gently glides along. 'In the
world ye shall have tribulation; but in me ye shall have peace.' One
more thought. It is not natural for water to run uphill. Nothing short
of divine power can make water run uphill in an open channel such as
this had. This symbolizes the love and mercy of the Lord in our being
kept by his hand in these inwardly calm and heavenly frames of
feeling. Brother John, I never felt better from a dream in all my
life."

SATURDAY, April 12. Council meeting at Shaver's meetinghouse, in
Shenandoah County. Brother John Brindle is advanced.

SUNDAY, May 4. Meeting at Nathan Spitler's schoolhouse, in Page
County. Hamilton Varner and wife, and John Huffman's wife are baptized
to-day.

MONDAY, May 5. This day I start to the Annual Meeting, which is
appointed to meet about fourteen miles from Freeport, in Stephenson
County, on the extreme north border of Illinois, and about three miles
from Brother Young's. After being exposed to many dangers and
detentions, and one wreck on the way, I arrived safe at the place of
meeting on

SATURDAY, May 10. Stay at Brother Young's first night. A great
concourse of people on the ground.

SUNDAY, May 11. We have a very fine day. Preaching at several points.
An immense assembly to-day.

MONDAY, May 12. Meeting is organized. Committees formed. Go to rooms
and take in queries. Stay all night on the meeting grounds. Rain all
day and cold.

TUESDAY, May 13. Begin to discuss questions. Rain all day and night,
and unpleasant. Stay all night on the meeting grounds.

WEDNESDAY, May 14. Continue the discussion of questions. Close at half
past five o'clock. Stay again on meeting grounds. Although we have
some differences of opinion among us on minor points of order and
usages, I am happy to know that in all great matters of doctrine and
practice we are one. Whilst the meeting was in progress I was made to
think of what Solomon says in the book of Proverbs about the locusts.
"The locusts," says he, "have no king, yet go they forth, all of them,
together in bands." We have no human king over us as pope, cardinal or
bishop, with self-assumed authority and dignity; yet we hold together.
We acknowledge allegiance to but one king, and he is out of human
sight. He is the King of glory. But of him we can say with an apostle:
"Whom having not seen we love; in whom, though now we see him not, yet
believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

On my way home from the meeting I visited Peter Fesler's, Jacob
Miller's, Samuel Freys's, Allen White's, Absalom Painter's, William
Mason's, John Strough's, John Miller's, Joseph Funk's, George
Hoover's, and John Snideman's, all in Indiana. I also preached at a
number of points in Indiana and Ohio.

SATURDAY, May 24. This evening David Bowman and I get to Abraham
Aerbach's in Ohio.

SUNDAY, May 25. Go to Bowman's meetinghouse, where I speak from
Hebrews 12. Dine at David Miller's, and stay all night at Isaac
Miller's.

TUESDAY, May 27. Night meeting at the meetinghouse near Peter Nead's.
Stay with Brother Nead.

WEDNESDAY, May 28. Meeting at the same place. Sup with John Varner.
Stay with Isaac Miller.

THURSDAY, May 29. Meeting at Reipsam's meetinghouse. Love feast this
evening. Stay with Philip Grabil till one o'clock in the night, when
we start for Springfield to take cars for home. Stop over a few days
in Hampshire County, Virginia, and arrive home safe on Thursday, June
5.

TUESDAY, June 17. This day I am fifty-nine years of age. When I was
young my ambition led me to hope that I might some day attain to
distinction in the world, and leave an imperishable name. I own with
shame before my God, that my heart was full of vanity. I now thank him
that he has led me to know and feel myself but a poor sinner redeemed.
I am wholly dependent upon him for all that I am or ever shall be.
Lord Jesus, may I live to glorify thee, and thee only. I believe thy
truth. I trust thy love. May thy glory be the end of all my efforts in
life, and thy love the propelling power in all I do. Hallowed be _thy_
name, not my name. _Thy will_ be done, not my will. Give me grace thus
ever to pray and to walk humbly before thee.

FRIDAY, August 22. This day Brother Kline left home for another
journey to the counties of Hardy and Randolph. He spent several days
in Hardy County, preaching among the Brethren and friends on the South
Fork, South Branch and beyond.

SUNDAY, August 24. Meeting at Bethel in forenoon; in afternoon at
Jacob Cosner's. TEXT.--3 John seventh verse. He has given us but a
touch of what he said here. I imagine his heart somewhat overflowed
with gratitude to these kind-hearted people in return for the love
they showed him. He read this third epistle of John to them; and I
here append the substance of part of his comment on it:

"There are great blessings in store for those who through love to the
Lord lodge and feed his ministers. The love of Gaius in this regard,
was spoken of in the church. This letter was written to him. In the
apostle's days as now, many went forth bearing the precious seed of
God's Word, almost wholly dependent upon the charity of brethren and
friends to the cause, for food and shelter. They were encouraged to go
in this humble and trustful way by the recorded words of the Lord,
that 'the laborer is worthy of his hire.' We learn from the context,
sustained also by the other evangelists, that food and lodging is the
hire the Lord had in view. To encourage all to the duty as well as
privilege of kindly receiving his ministers and even his righteous
brethren who might not be ministers, he left on record these words:
'He that receiveth a prophet (minister) in the name of a prophet,
shall receive a prophet's reward. And he that receiveth a righteous
man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's
reward.' And he sublimely crowns all those who tender their love in
this way with the words: 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least
of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' How faithfully these
tokens of love for the Lord and the Brethren were kept by the early
Christians, Paul with others abundantly testifies. However, to avoid
slanderous accusations which might be hurled at him by the adversaries
of the cross, he did not always avail himself of the proffered good.
Blessed are they who watch for and lay hold of opportunities to do
good in this way."

MONDAY, August 25. Meeting at Greenland. Thomas Lion baptizes one
person to-day. Stay all night at Thomas Clark's.

TUESDAY, August 26. This day, after meeting, I baptize James Abernathy
and wife.

WEDNESDAY, August 27. Meeting at David Feige's on the pike. Afternoon
meeting at West Union. Stay at Benjamin Beachley's.

THURSDAY, August 28. Ride twenty-nine miles to-day. Dine at Peter
Bolyard's and stay all night at Henry Wilson's.

FRIDAY, August 29. Meeting at meetinghouse. I baptize W. Oval and
wife. Water is two miles distant. Afternoon meeting at same place.
Speak from last chapter of Revelation.

SATURDAY, August 30. Come into Randolph County. Dine at Samuel
Perkeypine's, and stay at Brother John Skidmore's.

SUNDAY, August 31. Meeting at Josiah Simon's. After preaching have a
church council. Brother Charles Burke is forwarded to baptize; and
Brother Josiah Simon is elected to the Word. Brother John Skidmore is
elected to the deaconship, Stay all night at Brother Burke's.

MONDAY, September 1. Meeting at Levi Wilmot's. Speak from Matt. 7:21.
As I have time this afternoon will outline my discourse for future
reference.

The Editor gives these outlines in the best shape he can put them as
follows:

    TEXT.--"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
    the kingdom; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
    heaven."

This passage of Scripture means a great deal. It draws a sharp line
between the false and the true in religious professions; between empty
formality on the one hand, and loving obedience on the other. It is a
very easy thing, and requires no previous preparation of heart by
self-examination, for very wicked and thoughtless people to call upon
the Lord in times of great danger, or in seasons of distress. Some
years ago a very thoughtless and irreligious family near my home lived
on the bank of a certain stream. Suddenly, after a great rain, their
house was surrounded by a flood of water that threatened its
destruction. They knew not what to do; and in their fright and
consternation they began to call on the Lord for help. He may have
heard them, for the house did not go. When the flood had passed away,
and they felt that they were again secure, they had no further need of
the Lord, and continued to live just as they had lived before.

Often have I heard of wicked people, when thrown prostrate upon beds
of affliction, calling upon the Lord, and even promising that if he
would raise them up again they would do better. But how often does it
turn out that such promises are either wantonly disregarded or
thoughtlessly broken! But why is this so? What is the cause? I will
tell you. Such prayers and promises do not proceed from a right
motive, and they do not aim at a right end. Self is the beginning and
the end of all such prayers and promises. And when self is again made
to feel easy by escape from danger, or recovery from sickness, there
is an end of prayer, and promises are forgotten. But such as I have
named are not the only class included in our Lord's meaning. If we
read carefully we may see that some who desire to make a fair show in
the flesh love to stand on the corners of the streets that they may be
heard calling on the Lord, making long prayers, that they may be seen
of men. Of such our Lord says: "Verily, they have their reward." Here
again the love of self and the world is the beginning and the end.

There is one more class justly belonging to the number of those
already described. This is a sad class indeed, although probably no
worse off than some others. I hope no one here will ever be found in
their number. You may read about them in the twenty-fifth chapter of
Matthew's Gospel. They are called the "foolish virgins." We all know
that a virgin is an unmarried woman who has kept the integrity of her
virtue unbroken. The ten spoken of in the chapter are virgins in a
figurative sense. They are so called because in appearance and
profession they were not defiled with the world. They all had lamps.
David says: "Thy word is a LAMP unto my feet, and a light unto my
path." Each one had this _lamp_ according to their understanding and
use of the Word. All denominations of Christians claim the Word as
their lamp or guide through the darkness of this world. But lamps
differ greatly in almost every imaginable way,--in form, size,
material and illuminating capacity. Much also depends upon the sight.
If the sight be diseased, not good, the same lamp that shines brightly
to one may be darkness to another. "If thine eye be single, thy whole
body shall be full of light; but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body
shall be darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
how great is the darkness!"

The foolish virgins had lamps, that is, they professed faith in God's
Word, but their faith lacked the oil of love; it was not made perfect
by works in life proceeding from love to God and their neighbor. Oil
in the Scriptures stands for love. Priests and kings had to be
anointed with oil as a sign or emblem that they were to perform their
official duties from love. Hence the light that is fed by pure oil
beautifully symbolizes the truth that shines in the Christian's life,
warm with the love of God; but the light that comes from a wick in a
lamp destitute of oil symbolizes the life of the hypocrite, the vain
professor. It may burn for a little; but it will soon go out and leave
him in eternal darkness. The wise virgins represent those who make a
profession of faith in the light of truth and in the love of it. These
go in with the Lord to the marriage feast. But the foolish virgins
find the door shut. They call, "Lord, Lord, open to us." But he
answers by saying: "I know you not." "Not every one that saith unto me
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven."

I recently heard of a preacher who had attended one of our meetings.
If I remember rightly, a good deal had that day been said on the
importance and value of good works. I think that one who had spoken
that day went so far as to quote these words of the Lord: "Every good
tree bringeth forth good fruit." Good works are good fruit, he had
also said. He had quoted this passage too: "Every tree that bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Evil works
are evil fruit, he had also said. And I feel sure he had quoted these
words of the Lord: "They that have done good shall come unto the
resurrection of life: but they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation." The friend who told me had ridden a part
of the way home with the preacher before referred to, and in speaking
to this friend he said: "These Dunkards are odd people. I occasionally
go to their meetings, and every time I _do_ go I am sure to hear of
_works_! WORKS! as if works were necessary to salvation." In answer to
the friend who communicated this to me, I said: "I hope the _Dunkards_,
as he called us, will always be odd people in this regard, so long as
it is written: 'He that doeth good is of God; but he that doeth evil
hath not seen God.' 'A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit:
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. By their fruits ye
shall KNOW them.'"

Brethren, let us think closely upon the closing words of my text: "He
that DOETH the will of my Father which is in heaven." An apostle says:
"This is the will of God, even your sanctification." Sanctification
means _holiness_, and holiness means conformity of heart and life to
God's Revealed Truth. The heart cannot be conformed to God's Revealed
Truth when the life is conformed to the world and sin. "No man can
serve two masters.... Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Jesus prays for
all that believe on him through the Word: "Sanctify them in thy truth.
Thy word is truth." We occasionally hear of some "_professing
sanctification_." From what I have been told, those making this
profession mean by it that they have attained to a state of sinless
perfection. This is a state to be devoutly wished, for it is the state
of the spirits of just men made perfect. Nothing shall enter that holy
city where they dwell "that defileth, or worketh abomination, or
maketh a lie." In this city of light and love no sin is found.

  "Those holy gates forever bar
    Pollution, sin and shame:
  For none shall have admittance there
    But followers of the Lamb."

All the descriptions and references to heaven found in the divine Word
imply that it is a place and a state where the will of God is the
supreme law of life. "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the
footstool of my feet." "Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is
God's throne." As heaven is God's throne, his will is the universal
law for all, and that law is love. I can think of no state so blessed
and happy as that where every one of the "multitude which no man can
number" "loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and his
neighbor"--every one of the assembly--"as he loves himself." And from
the Lord's Prayer it is to be inferred that his people on earth should
aim at the same state of perfection.

Let us examine this for a moment. Notice the very first petition after
the address: "Thy kingdom come." Is the significance of this petition
to be limited merely to the introduction of the kingdom of heaven into
places of this world where it has not yet been established? It includes
this, of course; but is this all? I think not. Now the next petition:
"Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon earth." Whilst these two
petitions have a general significance, they have a most personal
application to the heart and life of every one offering them. We
sometimes wonder why the Lord's Prayer is so short. It is so because
the all of heaven, and the church on earth, is comprehended in doing
the will of our Father who is in heaven as subjects of his kingdom.
And the aim and end of Revealed Truth from Genesis to Revelation is to
teach man how to acquire the power to do this, and how to do it,
together with the promises of eternal rewards for doing it. And until
our understandings are so filled with the knowledge of the glorious
truths of God's kingdom, and our hearts with the love of doing his
will that we can make no further progress in knowledge and wisdom, and
no additions to the warmth and measure of our love by reason of our
_sinless perfection_, we have daily need to offer this prayer.

Gospel and church ordinances are all important. In my view they hold a
relation to every true Christian in the lines of example, power and
use somewhat like that which the harness has to a draught horse. The
horse has to be first trained to the draught by means of the harness;
and when trained he draws by the same means. Entering the church in
the Lord's appointed way--inwardly, through repentance towards God and
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; outwardly, by a threefold immersion of
the body in pure water, the beautiful emblem of truth, in token of our
belief in the blessed trinity of God--is simply putting on the harness
for work in the Lord's vineyard. It is also the act of putting on the
Christian soldier's armor and entering the service. But of what use is
a helmet, sword and shield to an idler in the camp? Of what account is
harness, unless the horse that carries it is trained and made willing
to use it?

The apostles all speak much of _charity_, which is love to others
filled with a desire to do them good. This love is of God; for our
Lord was filled with it as "he went about doing good." It is this same
love or charity in God that has brought salvation to man. Paul and
Peter often call it _grace_, but it means the same thing. Moses and
the prophets mostly use the word _mercy_; but it also means the same.
These three words, _love, grace, mercy_, in their true sense, are
comprehended in the word CHARITY, which, as an attribute of God or a
conscious feeling in man, is the love of doing good in the desire to
make others good and happy. If _charity_ were made the life and spring
of man's love universally, peace and happiness would be the universal
order of man's life on earth. Millennial glory would crown humanity,
and the knowledge of the Lord would be its princely attire. Then the
wolf of worldly rapacity, having lost its power, would dwell with the
lamb. The leopard of crouching deceit, having been deprived of its
teeth and claws, would lie down with the kid. The young lion, tamed,
but his courage and strength reserved by being regenerated, would feed
with the calf; and the little child of innocent will and teachable
understanding would lead them.

But "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now." We can not know fully all the blessedness to be realized by
doing the will of our Father in heaven. But this we may be assured of;
it will prepare us for that higher life whose brightest glory and most
exalted happiness is comprehended in the welcome that all such as do
his will are sure to receive: "Well done, good and faithful servant;
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

After dinner Brother Joseph Arnold and Michael Lion come with me, over
a very rough track, to Abraham Summerfield's, where we stay all night.

TUESDAY, September 2. In the forenoon preach the funeral of old Mrs.
Summerfield; and in connection with it that of the child of Washington
Summerfield. In the afternoon we have meeting at old man Summerfield's
on the Dry Fork of Cheat river. Washington Summerfield and his wife
and soldier White's wife are baptized to-day. Stay all night at John
Pennington's.

WEDNESDAY, September 3. Dine at Widow Cooper's on the Alleghany
mountain, and stay all night at Isaac Carr's on the North Fork.

THURSDAY, September 4. Meeting at Carr's. Come to Enoch Hyre's and
stay all night.

FRIDAY, September 5. Meeting at Hyre's. German W. Deadenborn is
baptized to-day. Come to Sister Mary Judy's; stay all night.

SATURDAY, September 6. Meeting at Sister Judy's. Brother Thomas Lion
is with me. Come to Peggy Dasher's; night meeting at Zion.

SUNDAY, September 7. Meeting at Henry Moyers's, in the Gap. In evening
get home.

THURSDAY, September 11. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Decide
the question as to what the churches here in the slaveholding States
should require of any slaveowner desiring to come into the church. A
very delicate matter to act upon in the present sensitive condition of
public feeling on slavery. But it is the aim of the Brethren here not
to offend popular feeling, so long as that feeling does not attempt
any interference with what they regard and hold sacred as their line
of Christian duty. Should such opposition arise, which I greatly fear
will be the case at no distant day, it will then be seen that it is
the fixed purpose and resolve of the Brotherhood to "obey God rather
than men." It was decided in council that every slaveholder coming
into the church must give up his or her slaves as property; and yet
not turn them off houseless and homeless, but allow them to remain,
and labor, and be fed and clothed as usual, until suitable and lawful
provisions can be made for their complete emancipation.

THURSDAY, September 18. This day Brother Kline started on a journey up
the Valley of Virginia, to the counties of Augusta, Rockbridge,
Botetourt, Roanoke and Franklin. As usual, he was mounted on faithful
Nell's back. The reader need not be surprised to be told what the
writer heard Brother Kline tell about the somewhat remarkable sagacity
of Nell. She not only had her favorite places to stop at, but she had
her favorite roads to travel on. And it was not uncommon for her rider
to be forced into a mild but resolute contention with her, when he
wished to leave a road she had repeatedly traveled before.

Brother John Brower accompanied him from Augusta. Saturday, the
twenty-eighth, they crossed the Natural Bridge and got to Sister Sarah
Grabil's, where they met Brother Crumbaker. Sunday, the 21st, they
attended a love feast at the Valley meetinghouse, and stayed all night
at Brother Nininger's. Monday, the 22nd, they attended meeting again,
and stayed all night at Brother Benjamin Moomaw's. Next day they dined
at Brother Daniel Kiser's, and stayed all night at John Brubaker's in
Roanoke County. On this trip they visited or stayed over night with
Peter Crumbaker's, James Hayden's, Joseph Howard's, Joseph Weddell's,
Christian Bowman's, Daniel Neff's, Abraham Flory's, Abraham
Barnhart's, Jacob Miley's, Wendell Sites's, and Jacob Stover's. He got
home Friday, October 10.

On this journey Brother Kline attended nine meetings for ordinary
services, and six love feasts.

From this time on to the close of the year Brother Kline was actively
employed either at home or abroad. He made one trip to Page County. He
and Brother Solomon Garber took a journey through the counties of
Pendleton, Randolph, Upshur, Highland, and returned through Augusta.
They held eleven meetings in the eleven days they spent on this trip.
Several were baptized; and they met with kind receptions everywhere
they went.

WEDNESDAY, December 31. This year I have traveled six thousand miles.
May God forgive all I have said and done amiss, and accept to his own
glory all that I have done well. Amen!

SATURDAY, January 17. A snowstorm sets in this evening.

SUNDAY, January 18. A terrific and very cold snowstorm has been raging
all day and all last night. Thermometer down to zero all day.

MONDAY, January 19. Terrible snowstorm continues till evening. Snow
considerably drifted; but probably enough snow on the ground if evenly
distributed over its surface to make a depth of over two feet. Get
through reading "The Prince of the House of David."

MONDAY, February 2. Very cold to-night. Thermometer ten degrees below
zero.

FRIDAY, February 5. A general thaw.

SATURDAY, February 6. Go to Broadway to see the river. Tremendous
breaking up of the ice--tearing almost everything before it.

SATURDAY, April 4. Brother Jacob Wine and I attend a visit council
meeting in Page County. Elections are also held. Brother Nathan
Spitler is elected to preach the Word; and John Huffman is advanced to
baptize and perform the ceremony of marriage. Gideon Toben is elected
to the deaconship.

SATURDAY, April 18. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Jacob Wine is
ordained. John Neff is advanced to the second grade; and Abraham Neff
is elected to preach the Word.

SUNDAY, April 26. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Romans 6 is read.
Philip Emswiler and John Toppen and his wife are baptized by myself.

WEDNESDAY, May 13. Go to John Lowry's to converse with him and his
wife on the subject of religion.

TUESDAY, May 19. Considerable snow to-day; but on low-lying sections
of country it melts almost as fast as it falls.

WEDNESDAY, May 20. The Blue Ridge, and the mountains on the west side
of the valley are all white with snow.

THURSDAY, May 21. This morning the tops of the western mountains are
still white with snow. The oldest weather records I have heard from
contain no account of snow so late in the spring as this anywhere in
Virginia.

FRIDAY, May 22. Peter Fesler and wife are with us here at my home. We
are all made to feel glad by their company.

FRIDAY, June 5. Go to John Lowry's to discuss some of our doctrines
with Jacob Stirewalt and Socrates Henkel, Lutheran preachers from New
Market, Virginia. It was no part of my aim in this private talk with
those preachers to work any change in their settled opinions regarding
the subjects of our controversy. I long ago learned that the
conversion of a theological sinner from the error of his ways is
hardly to be hoped for in any case. When the truth is loved for its
own sake it is not hard to find; and it is readily perceived when
found. It is then the pearl of great price for which a man will sell
all that he has to obtain it as his own. Luther was no doubt sincere
in much that he taught: but men may be sincere in holding very
erroneous dogmas, because of their being so deeply rooted in their
minds and their minds being so confirmed in them that it would be
almost like parting soul and body to give them up. It was said of
Luther, by one of the later reformers, that he cut a large piece out
of the Pope's pontifical robe as he left the Vatican, and kept it all
his life as a sacred relic. This is of course highly figurative, and
not to be understood literally; but to mean that he incorporated many
papal errors in his subsequent teachings. My object in meeting these
preachers at this place was to comply with the request of the family
for me to do so. Friend Lowry and his wife did not appear to see the
lines of truth and duty very clearly; and as they seemed desirous of
learning the way I thought it important for some one to present the
truth on one side, to oppose the error that was likely to be poured in
from the other side. The whole thing reminded me of what I often
do--give medicine to counteract disease.

SATURDAY, July 25. Visit, medically, George, and Noah Shoemaker's,
Joseph Shoemaker's, William Miller's; and am hurriedly called to James
Fitzwater's. He has been bitten by a copperhead snake. I succeed in
relieving urgent symptoms; and by evening he is almost free from pain.

SATURDAY, August 1. Go to Orkney Springs.

SUNDAY, August 2. Have preaching at the hotel. My subject is
"Righteousness, Temperance, and a Judgment to Come." My audience was
composed of hearers from far and near; and almost all classes, as to
intelligence and social standing, were represented. A man like myself,
who only occasionally strikes such a crowd, hardly knows how to adapt
himself to the situation. If he lets himself down to the comprehension
of the illiterate, the highbred city folks may say: "He is beneath his
calling." And if he lifts himself up to their standard of
appreciation, the unlearned go away without being able to say amen to
what they have heard. I decided, however, to follow the example of
Paul before Felix and Drusilla. He _reasoned_ of righteousness, _etc._

In the forty-fifth Psalm David says: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever: the scepter of thy kingdom is a scepter of righteousness.
Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness." A scepter is a kind
of staff borne by kings as an emblem of their authority. It is a
comfort to know that the scepter of Jehovah, as King of the universe,
is a scepter of righteousness. We could never know that God is
righteous, and that he loves righteousness, except by being told in
his Word of Truth. This world does not give unequivocal testimony to
the righteousness of God. The wicked bear rule, and the nations
tremble. Evil often overcomes good, and wrong triumphs over right.
Disease or accident lays the good man low in death; while the wicked
near by is left to exult in the strength of his arm. I say it is
comforting to know, in the midst of these apparent contradictory
evidences of the just government of the world, that God is
nevertheless righteous: and although iniquity largely bears rule and
carries the day, God still hates wickedness. God does not acquiesce in
the injustice and wrong that is being perpetrated in the world. He
merely permits it; and he permits it for the reason that he can not
arrest and put an end to it without destroying man's freedom. Man is
free as to his will and understanding--free to believe what is false
and to do what is wrong. But he is just as free to believe what is
true and to will what is good. This freedom is what makes him capable
of being reformed and saved.

It is self-evident that righteousness, which is right doing from right
willing, is the basis of all true order and happiness in earth and
heaven. "God is love," and he therefore loves righteousness because it
is good, and hates wickedness because it is evil. But man has fallen
from his primeval state of righteousness, and therefore he is not in a
condition of mind and heart fit for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
nor capable of enjoying the divine presence in the society of the pure
and good. Righteousness and holiness are related to each other very
much as the fruit is related to the tree that bears it. Holiness
corresponds with the sap, fiber, life and whatever else makes the tree
good; and righteousness corresponds with the fruit the good tree
bears; and "without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

But probably no subject in the line of human thought has given rise to
so many different opinions as the subject of how righteousness is to
be attained. The Jewish leaders and representatives in our Lord's day
upon earth were very exact in their outward lives. They kept clean the
_outside_ of the cup and of the platter. Their external conduct was
ordered to a rigid conformity to divine law. They endeavored to
establish a righteousness of their own; and to all human appearance
they succeeded; for the Lord himself said to them: "Ye make clean the
_outside_"--as vessels may appear clean _externally_. He also compared
them to beautiful monuments of marble sculptured after the highest
style of art and polished to shining perfection, set up over the dead.
But of this very class of men he said: "Except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall
in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven." This proves that the
righteousness which they had was not the righteousness of the kingdom
of heaven.

Self-respect, or self-love, inclines almost every one, except the very
abandoned, to make a show of righteousness; that is, they want others
to think they are living right lives. No man who holds himself up to
respectability is willing to be called a thief, or a liar, or an
adulterer, or any other thing that is vile. He may be any or all of
these, yet he is not willing that it should be known, or even
suspected. Even _he_ desires to make a fair show in the flesh.

Others, again, who make no profession of religion, but who yet believe
in a supreme God and a future state of existence, desire to be
righteous before God and man. They are not like the scribes and
Pharisees, who attached virtue and merit to their rigid observance of
the ceremonial law of ordinances in their religion. These that I now
speak of are simply good moral men, who are honest in their dealings
and careful of the conduct of their lives generally. These do not
really desire to make any display of their righteousness. They wish
rather to be esteemed for their real worth; and not for any fancied or
spurious excellencies. They desire to live _above_ the just reproaches
of men, and the condemnation of God. They persuade themselves to think
that their righteousness is all that God can require.

But the most numerous of all the classes that seek after righteousness
is composed of those who trust in the righteousness of faith.
Righteousness or justification by faith was the password of the
Reformation. Martin Luther, misapplying Paul's utterance that "a man
is justified or made righteous by faith without the deeds of the law,"
set a large part of Europe going with the impression that salvation,
in the highest sense, is attainable on the easy terms of merely
assenting to the statement that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Many
passages can be adduced from the epistolary writings in plausible
support of this theory of salvation. Although it is incomprehensible
how the righteousness of Christ can be applied to each individual
sinner on the bare ground of his merely giving assent to the doctrine
of the atonement through the merit of Christ's death upon the cross,
still it is the leading dogma of what is popularly called orthodoxy.
But I must confess before all present this day that I have "not so
learned Christ," nor Paul either. "Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom, but he that DOETH the will of my
Father which is in heaven." At the close of his sermon on the Mount,
in which is given all necessary instruction and encouragement for
living a righteous life from holy love in the heart, the Lord Jesus
says: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and DOETH them, I will
liken him to a wise man who built his house upon a rock." And he said
to Peter: "Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it." The rock is the great TRUTH that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This truth involves every good
affection and thought and work of man. It takes in and requires
obedience to every divine command, and compliance with every divine
precept. When any one complies with these conditions of salvation
through the faith that sees and knows that God's Word is true because
it is understood and must be so, he is righteous in the sight of the
Lord, and necessarily in a state of salvation. He is then to "let his
light shine before men, that others seeing his GOOD WORKS may glorify
our Father in heaven."

For want of time I must pass over the subject of _temperance_, to say
something about "a judgment to come." And right here there are all
sorts of ideas and conjectures. But of all the subjects in the
universe, that involving the judgment is the most momentous to man;
because it is there that his eternal destiny will be disclosed to him,
as to whether he shall be an angel of heaven or a demon in hell. And
we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. It is not to be
wondered at that Felix trembled under the weight of this great truth.
God's Word will be the basis of judgment. Says our Lord: "He that
rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him:
the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day." As
"man liveth by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," so
does every word of his truth point to that great day for which all
other days were made. All the parables and miracles of our Lord, full
of instruction as to heart and life, point, like so many guideposts,
to this great central truth of man's experience and existence.

But, friends, let us imbibe no erroneous views and impressions
regarding the judgment to come. Let us not regard it as being an
occasion for the display of God's wrath; but let us rather look upon
it as the sublimest manifestation of his love. Draw a comparison here.
Good human laws are not a terror to the good. A jury is impaneled. A
criminal is arraigned before it. Testimony is received and evidence
drawn from it respecting the innocence or guilt of the accused. The
balance of testimony is altogether in his favor. He is acquitted. That
trial is a joy to that criminal, because it sets him right as to
character before the world. But suppose he is found guilty. Is it a
joy then? It is not. It is a grief. Why? Because his sin has found him
out. His real character is laid bare. But in their consignment of him
to the punishment prescribed by law, do the jury and the judge act
from wrath? They do not, but from a love of good will to all. The law
that condemns may have the appearance of wrath to the condemned; but
never to the innocent.

Judgment and reward will be according to works, and never according to
professions of faith, except where the professions are genuine, and
lead to good works from the love of doing good. I have met with some
who have manifested dread in contemplating the majesty of that great
day, the day of "a judgment to come." I feel warranted in making the
assertion that no one whose purpose in life is to do the will of our
Father in heaven has any just ground whatever to dread the coming of
that day. Justice never condemns the innocent. Just and wise laws are
never a terror to the good, and such are all the laws of God. In the
book of Revelation we read of those "who had gotten the victory over
the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number
of his name, saying: Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God
Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." These all
exulted in the prospect of a judgment to come, because they had gotten
the victory over the adversary of their souls and were ready for trial
before the King of saints whose ways are all _just_ and _true_. I once
read of a criminal who was deeply distressed at the near approach of
his trial. A friend endeavored to soothe his agitated feelings by
telling him that justice would be done him, and that he consequently
had no cause for fear. But the criminal was honest enough to confess
to his friend that JUSTICE was the very thing he was afraid of. I have
no doubt that this very same fear was what made Felix tremble before
Paul.

The Son of man, on the judgment seat, will be the very same in every
particular that he is now on the mercy seat. "Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, and to-day, and forevermore." "The heavens shall depart as
a scroll; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up; but thou art the
same." By viewing him now as he is on the mercy seat we may see what
he will be on the judgment seat. The trembling waters of Galilee
became a pavement under his feet, and his disciples were thrown into
consternation by this miraculous approach of the Lord. But he
instantly dispelled their fears by the assurance: "It is I; BE NOT
AFRAID." Peter, James and John on the holy mount feared as they
entered the cloud and saw his glory; but he most tenderly said to
them: "FEAR NOT." John, on the isle of Patmos, beholding the glory of
his unveiled face, "fell at his feet as dead." But he laid his right
hand upon him and said: "FEAR NOT. I am he that liveth and was dead;
and, behold! I am alive forevermore."

These thoughts lead to the further consideration that there will be no
arbitrary or despotic power exercised in "the judgment to come." "My
words shall judge you in the last day" is given by our Lord as the
standard of judgment. Is there one here who desires to know how he
will bear the searching ordeal of that day? If there is, let me say to
such a one, you can decide that question here in this world for
yourself. You have the Lord's word for this. "Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me,
hath eternal life, _and cometh not into judgment_, but hath passed out
of death into life." To hear is to hearken, and to hearken is to obey,
from a right faith in God. If you believe that this book which I hold
in my hand, called the Bible, is the revealed truth of God, and from
the heart are willing to obey its precepts under a sense of love and
duty to do the will of your Father in heaven therein revealed, and
continue faithful unto death, you have the assurance therein given
that the judgment to come will be a day of triumphant joy to your
soul. But if you come short of this you can have no such assurance:
and I am compelled to repeat in your ears these terrific words of an
apostle: "If we sin willfully, after that we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins;
but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversary." To sin willfully is to refuse to do
what we know to be the will of God our Father in heaven.

I said awhile ago that judgment and reward will be according to works.
Let us now turn to some of the proofs in confirmation of this
assertion. They drop from the lips of our Lord without the least show
of any design in him to _establish_ a great principle. The principle
had been established as an element of divine order before the Son of
man came into the world. It is a truth so simple that even little
children comprehend it. If a little child that has been taught any
correct ideas about salvation and heaven be asked a question like
this: "Who go to heaven?" it will at once answer with childlike
simplicity: "Good people go to heaven." If further interrogated as to
who good people are, it will say: "People who love one another and do
good." It is a truth intuitively known that good people are saved and
happy, and bad people lost and miserable.

"This is the judgment, that light is come into the world, but men
loved darkness rather than light, because THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL. Every
one that doeth evil hateth the light ... lest HIS DEEDS should be
reproved. But he who DOETH TRUTH cometh to the light, that his deeds
may be made manifest, because THEY ARE WROUGHT IN GOD. If ye know
these things, HAPPY ARE YE IF YE DO THEM. He that hath my commandments
AND DOETH THEM, he it is that loveth me ... and I will love him, and
will manifest myself to him; ... and will come to him, and make my
abode with him. He that loveth me not KEEPETH NOT MY WORDS. Ye are my
friends, IF YE DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU.... I have chosen you, ...
that ye should bring forth fruit, AND THAT YOUR FRUIT SHOULD REMAIN."
I must drop a word of comment upon this last quotation. By fruit
remaining it is to be understood that it goes with the child of God
through the judgment into heaven, and remains to eternity. In
Revelation we read these words: "Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from
their labors; AND THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW WITH THEM. A book was opened,
which is the book of life: and the dead were judged according to those
things which were written in the book, EVERY ONE ACCORDING TO THEIR
WORKS."

I might continue this multiplication of scripture passages to a much
greater number, but time forbids. Every passage I have quoted bears
either directly or indirectly upon the judgment to come. It remains a
thing of choice with every intelligent human being, whether he will be
prepared to face the shining judgment throne with joy, or quail before
it in terror. The Lord says to all: "Seek ye my face." What a blessed
response it would be for each one to answer as did the young Prophet
Samuel: "Thy face, Lord, will I seek."

TUESDAY, August 18. Brother Kline and Jacob Wine have night meeting at
Nimrod Judy's, in Hardy County. The conversion of Saul is their
subject. Acts 9.

WEDNESDAY, August 19. They have meeting at John Judy's on South Mill
Creek. TEXT.--"God is a Spirit." John 4:24. They speak on the
spiritual nature of true worship, and prove that ordinances in
connection with all the externals of worship, to be acceptable to God,
must be but the outward evidences of internal realities. They stay all
night at John Judy's.

THURSDAY, August 20. This day they have two meetings: forenoon at
Isaac Judy's; afternoon at Michael Mallow's. Stay at Adam Mallow's.

FRIDAY, August 21. Two meetings to-day. Forenoon at Bethel
church--dine at Peter Warnstaff's; afternoon at Warnstaff's tanyard.
Stay at John Davis's in Hardy.

SATURDAY, August 22. Meeting at Zion church on the South Fork. In the
afternoon cross the Shenandoah mountain into Brock's Gap.

SUNDAY, August 23. Meeting at Keplinger's chapel, where they meet
Benjamin Bowman and Solomon Garber. A joyful surprise. Brother
Benjamin Bowman speaks from Luke 8. He speaks mostly from these words
of the eighteenth verse: "Take heed how ye hear." From the outlines I
gather that he followed very closely the lines of thought here briefly
expressed.

He said: Hearing may be that of mere sound. Brutes hear in this way. A
horse, near the stand, may hear a sermon, but it will be that of mere
sound to him. I have known of _people_ hearing somewhat after the same
manner. They can tell nothing, and seem to remember nothing of what
they have heard. Some hear to criticise the preacher's style of
expression, including his language, modulation of his voice, and
gestures. Others hear as the Pharisees and Herodians tried to hear
Christ, "that they might catch him in his talk;" and like the scribes
and Pharisees, "laying in wait for him, to catch something out of his
mouth" with which to accuse him. But these are not the only profitless
hearings which the God-loving and soul-loving minister of the Gospel
has to mourn over. The lives of some _prove_ that they hear mainly
from a desire to make others think that they have great respect for
religion and the Word of God. They go to church and hear, but heed
nothing. "By their fruits shall ye KNOW them." If people were rightly
to obey the injunction of my text, all such heedless and profitless
hearing would be at an end.

But how is the injunction of the text to be obeyed? And how is one to
know when he is obeying it? The command means that the hearer shall
_take heed_. This means "WATCH." What must he watch? "HOW HE HEARS."
The text has relation, not to WHAT ye hear, but HOW ye hear. It does
not point to the subject matter or the manner of the address, but to
the end _for_ which and to the spirit _in_ which it is heard. If the
heartfelt desire of the hearer is to learn truth, that he may be
enlightened and given to see the way of eternal life, he may feel
assured that his hearing is acceptable to God. He will then not be a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, and such a one shall be
blessed in his deed.

It is enjoined upon all to hear _intelligently_, for this belongs to
the _manner_ of hearing. No one can hear a sermon understandingly
without some previous knowledge of the subject matter of the
discourse. To acquire this knowledge every one should read and study
the Word of Divine Truth. It is able to make all "wise unto
salvation." Intelligent knowledge of the Scriptures can be acquired
only by patient study of them: but when they are studied to the
illumination of the understanding, the truth, like water in a well,
rises up into the understanding and meets you. We sometimes hear it
said of one who listens attentively and intelligently, "He seemed to
drink in every word spoken." This, I think, is what the Lord means by
these words to the woman at the well: "He that drinketh of this water
shall thirst again: but he that drinketh of the water that I shall
give him, shall never thirst; but it shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life." To hear the truth attentively and
understandingly is to drink it in, as we drink water when we are
thirsty.

What I have said, however important it may be to know, does not cover
the entire ground comprehended in the text. I must show you another
element which must exist in the _manner_ of all right hearing. That
element is _discrimination_. Without this, how is the hearer to know
whether the truth or its opposite is being preached? The comparison
may lack adaptability in some of its points, but I have heard it said
that some hearers are like young birds in their nest, ready to swallow
down anything put into their mouths. Such as hear in this way lack
_discrimination_; that is, they do not discern the difference between
what is true and what is false. This is particularly the case with
such as have been trained to regard what their own denominational
ministers preach as being the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth. I am aware that some may just now be saying in their minds:
"You Dunkard people are the very ones to whom your words most justly
apply; for I know of no people who take so great pains to instil this
very belief into the minds of the young as you do." I can truthfully
say that such charges are not strange to me. But with all due respect
for such as differ from us in religious faith and practice, I do say
that we, as a denomination of Christian brethren, acknowledging no
teacher but Christ, no authority but his Word, have no will, wish or
desire to lead the truth and thus pervert, ignore or misapply any part
of it; but our will, wish and desire is to be led by the truth. And I
do not in my heart believe there is one member of our Brotherhood who
would desire to instill into the mind of his or her child any belief
or practice not sustained by a plain "_thus saith the Lord_." In this
very way the power of _discrimination_ is developed in the minds of
our young people, so that when they hear or read they do not question
whether this or that that they hear or read has for its authority the
Methodist Discipline, the Episcopal Prayer Book, or Lutheran
Catechism; but they at once perceive that it either has or has not the
sanction of God's Word. We are taught that in a spiritual sense no one
is to be called rabbi. "Be not ye called rabbi; for One is your
teacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the
earth; for one is your Father in heaven." How the mind might expatiate
here in making historic disclosures of the times and ways in which
this plain command of our Lord has been violated! Hearing the Word
preached, and the hearer not able to discern truth from falsehood, has
given to priestcraft nearly all of its power; because priestcraft,
unsupported by the common people, could never have risen into power.
If the common people had been wise enough to take heed _how_ they
hear, they never would have suffered themselves to be imposed upon as
they have been.

I now take up the last but not the least element in the _manner_ of
hearing. That element is _sincerity_; which I define to be a heartfelt
love for the truth. Paul puts it "Receiving the truth in the love of
it." The person who hears the truth lightly, thoughtlessly, carelessly
is not instructed by it. The same is true of one who hears with
prejudice against the truth. He refuses to be instructed, because he
does not love the truth he hears. Let me use an illustration here. Two
men once happened to meet at my house, one a Presbyterian and the
other a member of no church. After dinner the subject of feet-washing
was broached. After we had all talked awhile about it one of the men
asked me whereabouts in the Bible it was to be found. I turned to the
thirteenth chapter of John's Gospel, and he then asked me to read it
aloud. I did so. These two men listened attentively, so, at least,
they appeared to me. The Presbyterian friend very modestly gave it as
his opinion that the command is fully met by acts of hospitality, and
referred to the reception which Abraham gave the three angels who came
to his tent as proof of the correctness of his conclusion. Very little
more was said about it at that time. The two men, soon after, went
away together; and I had little or no conversation with either of them
for probably nearly a year afterward. But it so turned out that the
one who was not a professor of religion came to my house again, and
showed a desire to talk on the subject of feet-washing. I was ready to
answer such questions as he proposed; and he very soon expressed a
wish to know if I remembered having once read the thirteenth chapter
of John's Gospel to him when on a call at my house. I told him I did
remember it. "Your reading of that chapter," said he, "struck my mind
with so much force that I could not rid myself of the impression it
made. I never, until then, knew there was anything so plain in the
Scriptures, and so easy to understand. I had always thought the Bible
was a book of dark sayings, unintelligible to any but the learned; and
even in their hands doubtful as to its true interpretation. Since then
I have been reading it, especially the New Testament part of it, and
find so much that I can understand that I begin to love it." I have
only to add that this man soon applied for membership in our church,
was baptized, and manifested enthusiastic delight in obeying the
command, "So ought ye also to wash one another's feet," at the first
love feast he ever attended.

In connection with the case I have just described, the two men spoken
of heard with different ears. The ear of the first was so modified by
previous indoctrinations that it could almost shut itself in and
become deaf or callous when the plain truth was read: the ear of the
last was open to take in the truth; and the mind, being free from
prejudice, received the truth from the love of it. "Blessed are the
poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The Lord
includes all such hearers as the one I have just described, in the
promised blessing.

"Take heed HOW ye hear." In speaking on this text so much comes before
my mind that it is difficult for me to stop. I must say something to
the unconverted sinner. The Lord says to you: "Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand." This means that you should turn away from your
sins and enter the kingdom of heaven. "Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return unto the Lord,
for he will have mercy upon him; and unto our God, for he will
abundantly pardon." And Jesus says: "Whosoever cometh unto me, I will
in no wise cast out." To come unto the Lord is to hear his Word with
full purpose of heart to understand it, see its truth, believe it and
obey it. I beg every unconverted person in this house to ask himself
just now: "How do I hear what the preacher has just now said? Do I
hear it with a thoughtless, careless ear? If I do, what is to become
of me? Can I bear to hear the voice from the judgment throne say:
'Depart, ye workers of iniquity, into everlasting fire'? Would I not
better 'seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while
he is near'?" O, that all might hear aright, repent and live, for with
the Lord there is plenteous redemption; and he is able to save to the
uttermost all who come unto God by him.

SUNDAY, September 6. Meeting at Turner's schoolhouse. William Miller
and wife, and Andrew Lamb's wife are baptized.

THURSDAY, September 24. This day finds Brother Kline and Solomon
Garber in Randolph County, Virginia, nearly one hundred miles from
home, holding a meeting. Both have come on horseback. They hold a
council meeting with the Brethren assembled. Joseph Houser is elected
to the deaconship. After meeting Brother Solomon Garber baptizes Mrs.
Houser and Diana Bainbridge.

SATURDAY, September 26. They have meeting in meetinghouse near Josiah
Simon's. Matt. 5:13 is the text. Brother Solomon Garber spoke first;
and the Diary notes are so suggestive of original thought that I give
them in a somewhat expanded form. TEXT.--"_Ye are the salt of the
earth._"

Jesus spoke by parables: and we are told that without a parable spoke
he not. My text is a parable. But what is a parable? A parable is a
way of teaching in which natural objects are used to represent or
symbolize spiritual realities. It is a way of comparing natural things
with spiritual things. This way of teaching is based upon the
correspondence existing between natural things and spiritual or
heavenly things. Thus: a natural birth corresponds to a spiritual
birth; natural water, to spiritual water, which is divine or heavenly
truth. Wind, which is air in motion, corresponds to the presence and
power of the Holy Spirit. Now notice, Jesus said to Nicodemus: "If I
have told you earthly things, and you believe or understand not, how
shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?" Nicodemus could
not understand how earthly things could symbolize or represent
spiritual things. Hence he asked: "How can these things be?"

I have tried to find out as nearly as possible what the word SALT is
used to represent, as found in my text. I have searched many books for
this one thing alone. But after all my investigations I am compelled
to rely upon my own judgment, and decide the matter for myself. I
notice, however, that salt is often spoken of in the Bible. All the
priestly offerings had to be salted with salt. There must, then, be a
high and holy significance in its use in this way.

Elisha succeeded Elijah in the prophetic office. Elijah had been
carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire, and Elisha had just
returned from the scene and sight of his master's glorification, and
was at the city of Jericho. And the men of the city said unto Elisha:
"Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, ... but
the water is naught"--worthless, not fit to drink. And Elisha "went
forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast salt in there, and said,
Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters." To my mind these
bitter waters of Jericho symbolize the truths of God's Word, as these
truths appear to the mind and affect the taste of the unconverted man.
Read the Bible to the man who has no relish, no love for its truth. Is
it not to his soul like the waters of Jericho--"naught," or nothing?
These men of Jericho are all around us, and you may find opportunities
to prove what I have said. I have repeatedly tried it. I have read
chapter after chapter of the divine Word to unconverted men, sometimes
to my own work hands who I knew cared nothing for religion, and whilst
they would not tell me to my face that they cared nothing for it, I
could find out by others, and by their own after lives that what they
heard was to their souls as the waters of Jericho were to the men of
that city. But when the salt of pure love for the Lord, and the desire
to leave off and forsake all sinful indulgences and worldly pleasures
by leading a new life in doing the Lord's will, enters a man the Word
becomes sweet and precious to his soul. _The waters are healed,
because the man is healed._

The twelve disciples, particularly, were, at the time our Lord spoke
the words of my text, the very embodiment of all the virtues of heart
and life which make the Word of the Lord sweet to the soul. To such
these beautiful words in the Song of Solomon apply: "He brought me to
the banqueting house: he stayed me with flagons of wine: he comforted
me with apples: his banner over me was love: yea, and HIS FRUIT _was
sweet to my taste_."

Now, to bring my text to something like a practical head, I must say
to every unconverted soul here: You must put the salt into the water
of God's Word for yourself. If you look to the Lord, and ask him to
give you eyes that you may see, and ears that you may hear, and a
heart that you may understand, you will also receive all the salt you
need to heal the Word and make it healing to your soul. But if you
neglect and despise or reject the offers of God's love, the very thing
that he has prepared for your eternal joy will be everlasting
bitterness to your soul. For one to know his duty and not at the same
time do it exposes him to the danger of being converted into a pillar
of bitter salt as Lot's wife was. She could not give up her love for
the world. She knew that she must not look back with longings for the
Sodom of the sinful life she had left; but she did look back, and her
awful fate is brought to mind by our Lord as a warning to all:
"Remember Lot's wife."

By the words of my text, then, the Lord meant that the disciples
represented the charity and faith that sweeten and give to every word
of Divine Truth a gracious reception into the heart and life. In this
happy love the Christian sings of the Word of Life in the beautiful
sentiment of an old hymn:

  "Yes, thou art precious to my soul;
    My transport and my trust:
  Jewels to thee are gaudy toys,
    And gold is sordid dust."

And when the disembodied soul shall awake to the full realization of
the truth which shone so dimly here, the love for that truth will be
sevenfold as the light of seven days all in one, which means fullness
of joy and pleasures forevermore.

SUNDAY, September 27. This day Brother Solomon Garber leaves
me after meeting, to attend to some appointments ahead. I stay to
debate with a Methodist preacher. In the afternoon I baptize Sister
Houser. Stay all night at Brother Pirkey's.

TUESDAY, September 29. In the afternoon meet the Methodist
preacher at Israel Methodist church. But I am sorry to say that
instead of going into a discussion with me on baptism and other
ordinances of God's house he suffered himself to run into an absurd
abuse of us, as if we might be doing much harm by our close adherence
to the teachings and examples of Christ and his apostles. I can pray
the Lord to have mercy upon him, and to open his eyes; for I was led
to believe, from what he said, that he had never read or thought much
outside of the Methodist Discipline.

WEDNESDAY, September 30. Meeting again in meetinghouse near
Brother Simon's. Speak on John 3:7. I baptize Brother Samuel Channel.

THURSDAY, October 1. Get Nell shod. Come to the Barker
settlement. Night meeting at Wilson's.

FRIDAY, October 2. Night meeting at Enoch Johnson's.

SATURDAY, October 3. Meeting and love feast at Brother Henry
Wilson's. Stay all night at Brother Elias Oval's.

SUNDAY, October 4. Meeting at the meetinghouse. Take the
voice of the church. Brother Henry Wilson is established. Brother
Elias Oval is advanced; and Brother William Oval is elected to the
Word.

MONDAY, October 5. Visit Elijah Skidmore; dine at Brother
Burke's; visit Joseph Workman; and come to Brother Simon's in the
evening. Brother Michael Lion, Brother Thomas Clark, and Brother
Martain Cosner are there when I arrive. I probably will never forget
the pleasure of meeting those brethren there and spending the night
and next day with them. Our love for each other here is a sweet
foretaste of the joy of heaven.

TUESDAY, October 6. Come to Brother Levi Wilmot's. Preach the
funeral of Brother Powers's wife.

WEDNESDAY, October 7. Dine at Abraham Summerfield's. Then to
William Adamson's at the mouth of Seneca Creek, where I stay all
night.

THURSDAY, October 8. Dine at Daniel Judy's. Stay all night at
Adam Ketterman's on top of the South Fork mountain.

FRIDAY, October 9. Get home.

SUNDAY, October 25. Meeting at Hoover's schoolhouse. I
baptize John Lamb and wife, and Mary Hoover.

SUNDAY, November 1. This day Brother Kline and Jacob Miller
are together at a meeting in a place called Powell's Fort. This is a
very singular conformation of country. It is entirely surrounded by
high mountain walls, with the exception of one notch or outlet for
drainage and a road. It is about twenty miles south of Winchester,
Virginia. Some well-to-do people live in this secluded abode. It is
likewise the point to which it is said that Washington had resolved to
retreat, with his army, rather than surrender to the British, in one
of the dark periods of the Revolutionary War. On this visit to the
Fort Brother Jacob Miller baptized three persons.

From this time to the close of the year, Brother Kline was mostly
employed in writing his "Apology and Defense of Baptism." He finished
the work on the thirty-first day of December. In the year 1857 he
traveled 3,967 miles.

FRIDAY, February 5, 1858. Attend council meeting at the Old
meetinghouse. Brother John Thomas is forwarded; Joseph Early is
elected to preach the Word; and Benjamin Byerly is elected to the
deaconship.

SATURDAY, February 27. Council meeting at our meetinghouse.
Brother Samuel Zigler is elected to preach the Word.

MONDAY, March 8. This day a snow falls about one foot in
depth.

WEDNESDAY, March 10. This day completes the fortieth year of
my married life.

FRIDAY, March 26. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse.
George Wine, son of Samuel Wine, and John B. Kline are each elected to
the deaconship.

MONDAY, May 10. Brother Kline and Martain Miller, in company
of each other, start to the Annual Meeting. On the following Friday
they arrived at Brother J.P. Ebersole's, Ohio.

Between Saturday, May 15, and Friday, May 21, the two brethren in
company of each other attended four meetings, and visited families as
follows: Abraham Ebersole's, Daniel Rosenberger's, Jacob Leedy's,
Jonathan Dickey's, Michael Baserman's, Jacob Miller's, Samuel
Miller's, Daniel Miller's, Abraham Miller's.

FRIDAY, May 21, after dinner, they go to Lima and wait for
the train, which does not come in till ten o'clock at night. It had
run off the track near a place called Forest. The Diary note says: A
man was killed here by the western train while we were waiting. He got
between the woodpile and the cars. Death overtook him without a
moment's warning. If unprepared to die, how sad the thought of his
being launched into the "eternal deeps" of misery and despair! My eyes
often turn with sorrow to the hopeless condition of those who live
without God in the world. How men and women of common sense can be
satisfied to live year in and year out, on the verge of ruin, is a
mystery to me. A glow of enthusiasm often enters my soul, in which I
feel as if it would be an ineffable joy to me could I send my voice
all over the land in tones of thunder repeating:

  "Stop, poor sinners, stop and think,
    Before ye further go!
  How can ye sport upon the brink
    Of everlasting woe?
  On the verge of ruin, stop!
    Now, the friendly warning take:
  Stay your footsteps ere ye drop
    Into the burning lake."

And to those whose attention might be arrested by such a call, as they
would turn their ears to hear, would I love to say, pointing
heavenward: "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world." "Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved."
"For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
"Even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on
him may have everlasting life."

We arrive at Fort Wayne quarter past one A.M. After breakfast take
train to Delphi; then go in hack ten miles to place of Annual Meeting.
Preaching in afternoon. Revelation 5 is read. Brother J. Quinter
speaks on the chapter. We take supper on the meeting grounds and then
go to Brother John Flory's to stay all night.

SUNDAY, May 23. A very great concourse of people on the
grounds. I speak from Revelation 5, the same chapter spoken from
yesterday. Some rain to-day. Stay all night at Brother John Flory's
again.

MONDAY, May 24. This morning much rain. Committees are
formed. Take in questions. Form subcommittees. Go to Brother Young's.

TUESDAY, May 25. Discuss questions. Much rain. Waters high.
Stay all night at Brother Flory's again.

WEDNESDAY, May 26. Discuss questions. Get through about two
o'clock. Come to Delphi on a wagon. The sky partially clears up
to-day. We have night meeting in Delphi. Brethren John Wise, George
Hoover and myself speak on Romans, first chapter.

THURSDAY, May 27. Get back to Jacob Miller's near Lima. Clear
to-day.

FRIDAY, May 28. Meeting and love feast at meetinghouse.
Ephesians 2 is read. Stay at Daniel Miller's.

SATURDAY, May 29. Get to Brother John P. Ebersole's.

SUNDAY, May 30. Meeting in meetinghouse near J.P. Ebersole's.
Brother Quinter speaks from Hebrews 6. In afternoon I speak from
Hebrews 2. Stay all night at Brother Daniel Rosenberger's.

MONDAY, May 31. Meeting and love feast at same place. Matthew
19 is read. Rain in morning; clear in evening. Stay at Brother
Ebersole's.

TUESDAY, June 1. A beautiful morning. Take breakfast at the
meetinghouse. Have service. Read a farewell address, which I here
copy:

Brethren and sisters in the Lord, dearly beloved: Our greetings for
this time have been exchanged, and the atmosphere of love in which we
all have so freely breathed and moved since our first meeting together
must soon be exchanged for the atmosphere of the world. Our blessed
Lord meant a great deal when he said: "I am the door: by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved; and shall go in and go out, and find
pasture." In meetings like this, and others we have for some while
been attending we feel that our spirits and souls and bodies are
visibly and experimentally in the fold, with the Great Shepherd in our
midst. We are "made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus," warmed and cheered by "the Sun of Righteousness."

But the duties of life lay upon us the necessity of breaking up and
departing to our business and our homes. We must "go out," out among
the elements of the world, and do our part valiantly in the great
conflict of life--the conflict that forms our character and decides
forever whether we shall reign with saints in glory, or be captives
of hell. Let us, brethren and sisters, be cheered with the Lord's
promise, that even _out_ of the fold we shall find _pasture_,
something to increase our love for the Lord and for one another, and
strengthen our faith. How tenderly the Lord speaks to us, as though he
regarded us as his little children! "I will not leave you comfortless:
I will come to you." "And lo, I am with you to the end of the world,
... until I receive you unto myself, for where I am, there shall ye be
also." "In the world ye shall have tribulations; ... but be of good
cheer, ... in me ye shall have peace." In giving to each other the
parting hand and the holy kiss tears and good wishes are not out of
place. Connected with these a word of comfort to the feeble-minded, a
word of encouragement to the brother or sister of weak faith, a word
of gentle admonition whispered into the ear of the erring, a word of
caution to the rich, lest they be exalted and trust in their uncertain
riches, a word of approval and commendation to those who, like
Barnabas, are full of good works, may do an amount of good which
eternity alone can reveal.

And now, brethren and sisters, farewell. Be steadfast, unmovable;
always abounding in the work of the Lord; inasmuch as ye know that
your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Come to Carey for two o'clock meeting. Sup at Dr. Joseph Myers's. At
one A.M. take train for Columbiana. Sup with Brother Quinter. Stay
with Brother Henry Kurtz. Fine weather yesterday and to-day.

SUNDAY, June 6. Get home.

From this time on to the first of August Brother Kline was mostly
around home. He wrote many letters to prominent brethren in nearly all
of the States in which the Brethren had, at that time, representative
men. He also preached some funerals, for people die even in summer;
and death claims all seasons for his own.

FRIDAY, August 6. This day he and Brother John Wine start to
the northwestern counties of Virginia, and cross over into Maryland
and Pennsylvania. _Regularly_, they have meetings every day. They
visit Nicholas Leatherman's, John Leatherman's, and Samuel Arnold's in
Hampshire County, Virginia. They visit David Beachley's, John C.
Lichty's, and Elias K. Beachley's; also Jonathan Kelso's, David
Livengood's and Franklin O. Livengood's, all in Maryland. We next find
them at Brother Flanigan's, on Hughs's river, where they stay all
night.

SUNDAY, August 15. Meeting. Speak on the Great Commission.
Roger Davis and wife baptized. Meeting in the afternoon. Continue on
the same text. Stay all night with Brother Martain Cochran. Fine
weather.

MONDAY, August 16. Meeting at Slab meetinghouse. Speak on
John 4: 29. Dine at Brother Cochran's. Sup at Brother Roger Davis's,
and have meeting at early candlelight. Brother John Wine speaks from
Rom. 1: 16.

TUESDAY, August 17. Get back to Oakland.

WEDNESDAY, August 18. Meeting at Thomas Clark's. Speak from
Matthew 12. Meeting in afternoon at Isaac Hays's. Martha and Mary, or
the _one thing needful_, was our subject. Stay at Brother Lee's.

THURSDAY, August 19. Meeting at Greenland, in Hardy County,
Virginia. A woman from Germany, in Europe, is baptized to-day. Dine at
Samuel Barbee's, and stay at James Parks's. The two brethren had
several other meetings by the way, and on

MONDAY, August 23, they reached home.

FRIDAY, September 24. Meeting and love feast at our
meetinghouse. Andrew Crist and wife, Silas Turner, and Catharine
Showalter were baptized to-day.

SUNDAY, October 17. This day Christian Shoemaker, George
Rodecap and his mother, and William Ford and his wife were baptized.

MONDAY, October 18. Brother Kline started on another trip to
Maryland. Among the names of those whom he called on, or passed a
night with, we notice Samuel Zimmerman, Jacob Saylor, Sister Jordan,
Philip Boyle, John Roop, John Bowman, D.P. Saylor, William Nipe, Peter
Grassnicker, Daniel Rickerd, Jacob Wolf, and Mrs. Nipe.

WEDNESDAY, October 20. Love feast at Beaver Dam. Fine
weather, and a large gathering of people. Much brotherly love, and
general good order.

THURSDAY, October 21. Meeting at the Pipe Creek meetinghouse,
and one at night at New Vinson.

FRIDAY, October 22. Meeting at the Meadow Branch
meetinghouse.

SUNDAY, October 24. Love feast at the meetinghouse, near
Brother William Nipe's. Large gathering and fine weather.

Brother Kline attended several other meetings on this trip; and on

SUNDAY, October 31, he reports himself at the Flat Rock
meetinghouse, in Shenandoah County, Virginia, replying to a discourse
on feet-washing delivered shortly before by J.P. Cline, a Lutheran
preacher of the same county. In his reply Brother Kline proves himself
"a master of his bow: his arrows never miss." I here present some
points in this reply:

Friend J.P. Cline made feet-washing "a household or hospitable rite."
Brother John Kline's main point in reply to this was, that bathing or
washing of the whole body in water, as also the setting out of bread
and wine before guests, was likewise included among the rites of
hospitality in the East and also in southern Europe. If feet-washing
is to be discarded from the list of church ordinances on this ground,
what becomes of baptism and the Communion? Can they, logically, fare
better?

Friend Cline's next point was, "that feet-washing has a spiritual
significance, that the example given by the Lord is complied with and
obeyed when we, in humility and love, do works of charity." In reply
to this, Brother John Kline merely asked the question: "What
denominations of professing Christians exhibit the deepest sense of
humility, and show the warmest affections of charity, those that
observe feet-washing as an ordinance of the church, or those that
reject it as such?" "It is not for me," said he, "to answer this
question. I leave it to the consideration of all."

"What I do, thou knowest not now." "This declaration of our Lord,"
said friend Cline, "clearly discards feet-washing from being a church
ordinance." In reply to this Brother Kline said: "I would like to ask
friend Cline if he claims to understand all the meaning and
significance of water baptism and the Communion. If he does lay claim
to such attainments in the knowledge of what God has not clearly
revealed in his Word, he must have had access to information from
which all other honest men have been debarred. Before friend Cline's
argument against feet-washing as a church ordinance can have any
weight, on the score that we do not clearly see all that is intended
to be signified by it, consistency does require him to show the full
meaning and significance of baptism and the Communion of the bread and
wine. It is self-evident that the argument which rejects feet-washing
from the list of church ordinances, on the ground of its not being
fully understood as to its entire significance, with equal power
rejects and discards baptism and the Communion from being ordinances
of the house of God."

In this brief report of Brother John Kline's sermon on this occasion I
have but touched some of the points in his argument, gathered from the
Diary, and from a personal conversation with him afterwards. He wound
up with the Fable of the Clock and the Sundial, as follows:

"The Town Clock claimed that it ought to be highly respected. 'Look,'
said the Clock, 'at my beautiful face, and the exquisite delicacy of
my hands. My head, too, internally and externally, is a perfect model
of scientific exactness and mechanical skill. You should depend upon
what I say. I run with regular steps, and strike the hours of the day
as I run. You should hear ME. Look at that broad-faced,
flat-headed sundial away down there. It has not a word to say.
_I_ am going to strike now. One--two--three! There--how musical!'
But when this bombastic speech was ended, the sun broke forth, and the
Dial only smiled to show that the boasting clock had not told the
_truth_ by some hours. The thirteenth chapter of John is the
Lord's sundial on feet-washing. Probably, after all, the best way to
discuss this question with any one would be just to read in his
hearing the thirteenth chapter of John."

SUNDAY, November 21. To-day we have our first meeting in the
new meetinghouse at the Plains. Hebrews twelfth chapter is read.

FRIDAY, November 26. Start for Pendleton and Hardy Counties.
Stay all night with Brother Jack Ratchford and his son Hugh Ratchford,
on top of the Shenandoah mountain, where we have an evening meeting
for prayer and exhortation. Cloudy and cold.

SATURDAY, November 27. Come to Peter Warnstaff's. No meeting
appointed. Clean John Pope's clock. Fix Mrs. Warnstaff's clocks, and
stay there all night. Snows to-night.

SUNDAY, November 28. Meeting at Warnstaff's tanyard. Speak on
1 Cor. 1:30. Dine at Peter Warnstaff's. I am always refreshed by
visiting this worthy and intelligent family, composed of Peter
Warnstaff, his sister Susanna, and their widowed mother. I can never
depart from their house without breathing a prayer for blessings upon
them. Night meeting at Lough's church. Speak on John 14:6. Stay all
night at Joel Siple's near the top of the South Fork mountain. Joel
Siple is raising an intelligent and industrious family.

MONDAY, November 29. Come to John Borer's on the South Mill
Creek. Preach his wife's funeral. Meet Brother Michael Lion and
Brother Martain Cosner there. We all stay over night at Brother John
Judy's.

TUESDAY, November 30. Meeting at John Judy's. The two
brethren Cosner and Lion speak to good acceptance, on John 3:14. Come
to Isaac Judy's, and stay all night.

WEDNESDAY, December 1. Dine at Manasseh Judy's. Manasseh Judy
always meets me with a pleasant face, such as makes me feel at home in
his house. After dinner, fix his clock, and cross the mountain to John
Davis's, in Hardy County. Night meeting at Zion church. Stay at
Davis's all night.

THURSDAY, December 2. Spend most of the day at the widow
Peggy Dasher's. In evening go to Nimrod Judy's, where we have night
meeting, and spend the night.

FRIDAY, December 3. Get home.

THURSDAY, December 23. Perform the marriage ceremony of John
Driver and Rebecca Kline, at the house of her father, David Kline, at
half past three P.M.

FRIDAY, December 31. I have traveled this year 5,674 miles. I
am at home, at the home of my life in the body; but I am not at home
as to the life of my spirit.

  As on the verge of life I stand,
  And view the scene on either hand,
  My soul would here no longer stay.
  I long to wing my flight away.

  Where Jesus dwells I long to be:
  I long my much loved Lord to see:
  Earth, twine no more about my heart:
  It is far better to depart.

SATURDAY, January 15, 1859. Get Howell's "Evils of Infant Baptism." I
regard this as a very instructive work on the subject indicated by the
title.

SUNDAY, February 13. Attend the burial of Christian Kratzer. Age,
eighty-six years, three months and twelve days.

SATURDAY, February 26. Attend a meeting which was held to-day, to
elect directors for the establishment of an academy, to be known by
the name of "Cedar Grove Academy," near my place. John J. Bowman, John
Zigler and Daniel Miller are elected.

SUNDAY, March 6. Attend meeting in Sangersville, Augusta County,
Virginia. Brother Daniel Thomas replies to Soule's sermon on "the
modes and subjects of baptism." Friend Soule is a Methodist preacher
in high standing with his denomination. He argued on the ground that
"whilst the New Testament does allow immersion in water, and favor the
baptism of adults, it does not cancel the validity of the rite when
properly performed by pouring or sprinkling, either in the case of
adults or infants."

Brother Daniel Thomas, on this occasion, exalted the truth by
appealing "_to the law and the testimony_." He proved _baptism_ to be
a positive term as to its signification; that the word BAPTISM, with
its derivatives, has a specific and not a variable sense. He likewise
established the great truth that all the good of obedience consists in
doing what one is commanded to do. He showed that "to obey is better
than sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams." Any
departure from the command vitiates the obedience, no matter how
professedly honest the steps of that departure may be. He here quoted
Peter's words: "Baptism is not the putting away of the filth of the
flesh." It does us no more good physically, said he, than would be
derived from bathing or immersing the body in water without any
religious motive connected with it. It is one's conscious obedience in
submitting to the rite, that gives "the answer of a good conscience
toward God." Can little infants realize this? These premises being
established, and after clearly stating the duty of all who desire to
obey to find out what they are required by the Lord to do, he brushed
away the mass of "wood, hay and stubble" which his antagonist had
piled together, and erected an impregnable turret of "gold, silver and
precious stones" on the solid rampart of Divine Truth. Brother Daniel
Thomas carries a heart as pure and kind as I have ever found within
the breast of any man, and a head as clear as I have ever seen upon
the shoulders of any man.

After meeting Brother Daniel Thomas and I dine at Brother John
Sanger's, and have evening meeting at Pudding Springs meetinghouse. I
speak from Heb. 12:25. Stay all night at Brother John Driver's. Fine
day.

MONDAY, March 7. Dine at Jacob Zigler's, and have night meeting in
Jennings's Gap. Stay all night at David Adams's.

TUESDAY, March 8. Morning meeting at same place. Speak on Jude third
verse, "the faith that was once delivered to the saints." I have
somewhere read that the faith, or rather the doctrines, upon which the
faith of the saints reposes, has never _but once_ been delivered to
the saints, that since Jude's day it has been so much perverted, and
so much mixed up with the opinions and doctrines of men that the
saints never more have it declared unto them exactly as Jude
understood and believed it. But I do not think exactly with that man.
Church history does disclose lamentable departures from the true
faith; and we witness the same, with their evil results, in our own
times; still God has had, even in the darkest hours of the Christian
era, "a people prepared for the Lord." I believe that what he said to
Elijah he might have said at any time since: "I have yet left unto me
seven thousand in Israel; all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal,
nor worshiped his image." We still have "the sure word of prophecy
unto which we do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a
dark place;" and that word of prophecy is the Bible.

Something like this was the introduction to my discourse this morning.

Night meeting in Churchville. Speak on John 1:11, "He came unto his
own, and his own received him not." His coming was not to their minds,
nor according to their expectation. If earthly glory had been the goal
of Christ's ambition, and he had promised them a large amount of stock
in it, his welcome, on the part of the Jews, would have been sounded
and sung from Dan to Beer-sheba. Jerusalem would have been illuminated
in honor of him, and banners would have waved in praise of him. But
how different from all this were the surroundings of his coming! Born
in a stable--and if a certain poet _has_ beautifully and truthfully
sung,

  "The manger of Bethlehem cradled a King:"

still is his "kingdom not of this world;" and the King, instead of
having the "right royal part," is "meek and lowly in heart; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief." And no wonder. The cross stands
between him and the crown. "His own" could not understand this; and
once he was rebuked by one of his disciples for making mention of the
fact. They could not comprehend the spiritual character of his
kingdom--that love was the throne and righteousness the scepter. The
Jewish race, which are meant in the text by "his own," were not
prepared for the kingdom of heaven, and on that account they "received
him not." May there not be some in this house to-night who feel toward
Jesus as these Jews felt? If he would confer upon them a large share
of wealth, honor and power, would they not willingly accept him? I
imagine he would be the very sort of King they would like to govern
them. He would be the man for them. When such are told that worldly
wealth, honor and power are not the foundation of the Lord's reign on
earth and the glory of the heavens, and that these must be forsaken in
heart as the chief good by all who would follow him, they shrug their
shoulders, shake their heads with a down look and a half-suppressed
smile of unbelief, and say: "Not yet awhile." Self-denial is the exact
opposite of self-gratification. But our Lord declares that "except a
man deny himself, he cannot be my disciple."

But you want to know something further about _self-denial_. First, I
will say that it does not require any one to give up anything that is
for his present or future good. Love is at the bottom of all the Lord
says respecting it. He requires man to give up nothing but what is
opposed to man's present and eternal good. But I find it very
difficult to get people to realize that the only way to be happy is to
be good. And the only way to be good is to love the Lord our God with
all the heart, and our neighbor as ourself.

In the second place, self-denial is the giving up of all bad habits
and the suppression and removal of those evil states of mind and heart
out of which bad habits grow. When one is tempted to do evil, that
means to take strong drink that causes drunkenness, or to take God's
name in vain, or to steal something, or defraud someone, or to kill,
or to commit adultery, or to wish evil to some one, or to tell for the
truth what one knows is not true, self-denial for Christ's sake, stays
the hand from doing the evil and restrains the heart from desiring to
do the evil. This is the self-denial taught by our Lord, and this is
the cause of the Jews not receiving him.

But self-denial with the enlightened Christian goes still further and
suppresses all sense of pride or desire to appear above others. This
feeling was often checked by our Lord. He told his disciples always to
take the lowest seat when invited to a feast; that to be his disciples
in the true sense and become prepared for the kingdom of heaven, they
must have the meek and teachable spirit of a little child. With all
this and more, the enlightened Christian is not desirous of being
conformed to the world. True self-denial forbids all conformity to the
vain and useless styles in dress which are ever changing in the
circles of fashionable society. I will here relate what I once heard a
preacher tell from the stand. He gave it as a fact that really
occurred; but it appears plain to my mind that the incident proceeded
more from a desire to amuse than to reform; nevertheless it does show
that fashions, long ago, were probably subject to as frequent changes
as at the present time. This is it: A man who had several grown-up
daughters in his family was going home, apparently in a great hurry,
with a fashionable headdress or hat for each one, which he had just
purchased at a shop in the city. On his way he met a friend who seemed
inclined to exchange courtesies and a few words with him. But he
apologized for being in a hurry by holding up the hats he had bought
for his girls, saying as he went: "I must hurry home, or they will go
out of style before my daughters get to try them on."

Friends, the Lord claims you for his own--all of you. "Ye are his
people, ye his care; your souls and all your mortal frame." Ye are his
by creation and providence. Say, will ye be his by salvation and
redemption? He comes to you. Will the next century write the same sad
history of your case that stands recorded of the Jews: "He came unto
his own, and his own received him not"? Will this be the story? I hope
and pray that it may not be. But it remains for you to decide this
question. It remains for you to reject or to accept. If you receive
him not, what then will your portion be! Think of it. But if you
receive him, he will put you on the side of eternal salvation and give
you power to become the sons of God, being born of God. God himself
can do no greater thing for any one than to make him his son. What he
offers you here this night exceeds all the wealth and pleasures of
this world, as far as the light of the sun exceeds the light of that
lamp; nay, more, for the sun itself shall be darkened, but the soul
born of God, washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, shall be
eternally safe in the possession and enjoyment of an inheritance which
is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. Repent,
therefore, and believe the Gospel, that your sins may be blotted out
in this season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.

WEDNESDAY, March 9. Meeting again at Churchville. "The Great Prophet"
is my subject to-day. Dine at Brother Props's, and stay all night at
Brother Zeyk's.

THURSDAY, March 10. Morning meeting at Mt. Pisgah and night meeting at
White Hall. Stay at Brother Joseph Harshbarger's.

FRIDAY, March 11. Our District Council begins at the Valley
meetinghouse. Business is disposed of very satisfactorily and
pleasantly.

SATURDAY, March 12. Get through. Dine at David Wampler's, and stay all
night at Isaac Long's.

SUNDAY, March 13. Meeting in meetinghouse morning and night. A
beautiful day and night. Stay at Samuel Kline's.

MONDAY, March 14. Stop awhile at Noah Bowman's. Dine at Joseph Wine's.
Call at Joseph Good's. Get home in evening.

SUNDAY, April 3. Meeting at Ritchey's schoolhouse, in the Gap. Dine at
Brother Philip Ritchey's. Stay at Adam Baker's.

The writer will here relate a conversation he had with Sister
Catharine Frank, who was a daughter of Philip Ritchey, who lived very
high up among the mountains of Brock's Gap. Brother Ritchey's was a
favorite stopping place with Brother Kline and other ministering
brethren traveling that way. Sister Catharine Frank was buried on
Wednesday, February 4, 1891. While on her deathbed the above-mentioned
conversation took place. In this conversation she expressed herself
ready and eager to depart. At the mention of Brother Kline's name her
countenance and voice gave evidence of deep interest. "Ah," said she,
"I never will forget that man. He was as dear to me as my own father.
He first led me to think about my soul and my Savior. Often and often
did I hear him preach, and pray, and sing in our old schoolhouse. And
I do not think," continued she, "that I ever saw him leave that house
without first taking all of the young people in reach by the hand one
by one, and saying something in a low voice to each one. I do not know
what he said to others; but I know, as if but yesterday, what he
whispered to me. It was this: 'Do not neglect the salvation of your
soul: _it is the_ ONE THING _needful_.'"

THURSDAY, April 14. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse. Brother
Jacob Miller is ordained.

SATURDAY, April 16. Dine at Michael Wine's; call at Noah Lamb's; then
have council meeting in Hoover's schoolhouse. Stay all night at Isaac
Shoemaker's.

SUNDAY, April 17. Meeting in Hoover's schoolhouse. Emmanuel Rodecap is
baptized.

SUNDAY, June 5. This morning I am at Manasseh Judy's, in Hardy County,
Virginia, on South Mill Creek. My eyes behold what they have never
before witnessed, viz, a killing frost in June. The corn which, up to
day before yesterday, was vigorous in its growth and generally over a
foot high, is this morning frozen to the ground. The heading wheat is
frozen stiff. Forward grass is greatly damaged. Vegetable gardens will
all have to be reset. What may be the effect of this frost upon the
living of the people, or how far it may extend, I know not. It may be
that the Lord is pleased to make this an occasion by which his people,
in more favored parts of our land, can add greatly to their "crowns of
rejoicing" by ministering out of their abundance to the necessities of
this blighted region.

From Manasseh Judy's I go fourteen miles down Mill Creek and across to
Enoch Hyre's on the South Branch of the Potomac, and all the wheat
fields and corn fields in sight of the road look very much as if they
might have had a shower of boiling hot rain. So nearly alike are the
effects of extreme cold and extreme heat upon vegetation.

MONDAY, June 6. Meeting at Enoch Hyre's. I speak with a weight upon my
mind. If all had strong faith it would be different. But the faith of
some is weak, and many have very little or no faith at all. When
calamities come, like the one that now broods over the land, it is
somewhat difficult to make those of weak faith still feel that God is
love, and that he makes all things work together for good to them that
love him. I can do no more in the way of comforting these people than
to point them to the promises of the divine Word. These are man's only
assurance that God is supremely just and good and that he can do _no
evil_. The Psalmist David said: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not
want." He likewise says: "I have been young, and now I am old, yet
have I never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."
But it is only the eye of faith that can see the light behind the
cloud. If necessary, God can make the barrel of meal and the cruse of
oil as unfailing now as in the days of Elijah the Tishbite. My faith
in him is sealed with a seal that I hope will never be broken.

Attend an afternoon meeting at old man Parks's. Stay all night at
James Parks's.

TUESDAY, June 7. Meeting at Bethel. Speak from Mark 4:24. Afternoon
meeting at Jacob Cosner's. Speak from Hebrews 6:4, 5, 6, 7.

These words have a fearful sound, and much thought should be given to
their interpretation; and they should be well considered and due
self-examination gone through before any one presumes to apply their
terrific meaning to himself. After much study and research, I am led
to believe that they apply specifically to the apostate Jews. The
rejection and crucifixion of Christ was their great sin. "His blood be
on us and on our children," they cried. They invoked and accepted the
guilt of his cruel death. But God, in that mercy which endureth
forever, was willing to forgive even this sin upon their repentance
and faith. The veil was removed from the eyes of some. They "were
enlightened; they tasted of the heavenly gift," which is the Lord's
pardoning mercy. They were made partakers of the Holy Ghost; they
tasted of the good Word of God; they felt the powers of the world to
come; that is, they were impressed with a belief in a future state:
and all these expressions summed up together mean that they became
Christians.

But some of these Christians departed from the faith. They stumbled
and fell. In this act they rejected the Christ the second time, and
put him to an open shame. This, in God's sight, was just the same as
crucifying him afresh. They had crucified him once, and were forgiven,
because they did it ignorantly in unbelief. But now these that have
been enlightened to the extent described in the text cannot be excused
on the ground of ignorance, because they were enlightened to know what
they were doing. Their rejecting him must therefore be a deliberate,
willful act. Can any one ever repent of what he has done deliberately,
understandingly, premeditatedly, and with clear knowledge of all the
facts in the case? Paul, at least here in the text, says that it is
impossible to renew these apostate Jews to repentance.

But let none of us, brethren and sisters, be unnecessarily alarmed at
the text; but let us rather repent, if we have sinned, and draw near
and yet nearer to our blessed Jesus and only Savior in a loving and
faithfully obedient life. We need not fear that he will ever cast us
off. "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast off." The
Christian's only danger lies in his casting the Lord off: not in that
he will reject us, but in that we reject him. But, beloved Brethren,
take courage. Ye do not feel, I know ye feel not, to cast off your
Lord and say to him: "Depart from me, for I desire not the knowledge
of thy ways!" Ye rather say: "Come, Lord Jesus." Come into my soul.
Fill me with thyself:

  "Take my body, spirit, soul;
  Only Thou possess the whole."

This is just the way he wants you to feel. He wants you to give
yourself wholly to him. He also says: "Rejoice evermore: pray without
ceasing: in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God
respecting you."

WEDNESDAY, June 8. Meeting at Greenland. Speak on the "Great Supper."
Dine at Solomon Michael's; visit Michael and Thomas Lion's; stay all
night at James Hilkey's.

THURSDAY, June 9. Come to the Pine Swamp. Dine at William Abernathy's,
and stay all night at John Abernathy's. Fine day.

FRIDAY, June 10. Meeting at William Abernathy's. In afternoon pass
through Bloomington, and on to William Broadwater's, where I stay all
night. Cold and cloudy day.

SATURDAY, June 11. Frost again this morning. Come to David Beachley's
for dinner; then walk to meeting and back. Meeting at Miller's barn.

SUNDAY, June 12. Meeting in three places: in the Elk Creek
meetinghouse, and in Miller's two barns. In the house I speak on
Exodus 14:13. I here give the text, and some of the leading thoughts
in my discourse: TEXT.--"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not,
stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to
you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see
them again no more forever."

No father, in seeking to quell the needless fears of his child, could
ever use words more tender and pathetic than these. They flow right
from the heart, even from the heart of our Father in heaven. I often
think how appropriately they might be addressed to a dying saint.
These Egyptians, the temptations from our old nature, which, like
hounds upon our track, are constantly trying to overtake us, will all
be left behind as soon as the eyes are closed in death. "Fear not;
stand still; and see the salvation which the Lord will show to you
to-day: for the Egyptians whom you see to-day, you shall see them
again no more forever." Precious words would these be to one sick at
heart of sin and suffering, and longing to be freed from their power.
But these words may instruct us who are still healthy and strong, and
hold our places in the ranks to perform our part in the battle of
life.

This text has been criticised by some as being opposed to progress.
The command to "stand still" is the mark at which the criticism has
been aimed. But those who talk and think in this way fail to observe
that the Lord did not say this to the hosts of Israel until after they
had done all they could do, and gone as far as they could go. And when
they then became fearful, and in great danger of being seized by a
panic, and scattered to the four winds, he gave them the wise counsel
and glorious promise found in the text. Its great lesson to us is
implied rather than expressed.

FIRST. _We are to do what God commands, and go where he leads the
way._ This should be our aim at this our Annual Meeting. I sometimes
fear that we do not think and act with an eye to spreading the Gospel
as we should. It is not the way for us to stand still before our part
is done. In this and adjoining States, many, in various sections, have
never heard a genuinely true gospel sermon. Why could not these be
converted to a true faith and life as well as others? To be saved,
they need the same Gospel that we have. I am daily encouraged in my
travels by finding some in every section who have already received,
and others who are ready to receive our doctrines and practices where
they have been faithfully preached by us. And how can they help it!
The straight line of truth is easily followed. Truth, when rightly
presented, is not hard to see, because it lights up everything. It is
like the pillar of fire that illuminated the whole camp of Israel
throughout the darkest night. But error is never bright like truth. It
is like a cloud before the sun. And I am not sure but that the
apocalyptic vision of hail and fire mingled with blood was a symbol of
the perverted doctrines that are now being showered upon the people
from the clouds of error that float over the land. We may be too
slack. The Lord expects us to do our part. It is only when we have
done this that we have a right to stand still. I sometimes stand still
by the bedside of the sick, when I feel that I have done all that I
can do. Sometimes, after having exhausted all arguments and
inducements at my command to lead a sinner to repent and turn to the
Lord, I stand still. But I have no right to stand still so long as
there is one afflicted body capable of receiving help, or one unsaved
soul within my reach. "There is a sin unto death: I do not say that
you shall pray for it."

SECOND. After having done all we can do, we are quietly and calmly to
leave results with God. All our fear, and chafing, and anxiety pass
for worse than nothing. When our nearest and dearest ones are at the
point of death no amount of agony and tears, with wringing of hands,
or convulsions even, can avail anything. The very best we can do in
such cases is to stand still.

But one thought more. Let us, dear brethren and sisters, stand on safe
ground. We may stand, and "_stand still_," on very dangerous ground.
The only place where it is ever safe to stand is on the Rock of Ages,
the Rock which is Christ. Poised on this Rock, we need not fear. No
earthquake will ever shake the Rock of our salvation.

Very fine weather to-day. Stay at Daniel Miller's.

MONDAY, June 13. This morning organize the Standing Committee, and
take in queries. Get through forming subcommittees by three o'clock.
Stay at Daniel Miller's. Rain to-day.

TUESDAY, June 14. Subcommittees get through reporting to-day. Very
pleasant weather to-day. Stay at Miller's again.

WEDNESDAY, June 15. Work through by quarter past two o'clock. Go back
to David Beachley's; get Nell, and Brother Daniel Thomas and I come to
Brother Broadwater's and stay all night. Some rain to-day.

THURSDAY, June 16. Dine at Brother Samuel Arnold's, and have night
meeting at Susanna Arnold's. Brother Daniel Thomas speaks from the
first Psalm. As a propagator and defender of our faith he has few
equals in the Virginia arms of the church. We stay all night at
Benjamin Leatherman's. Fine day.

FRIDAY, June 17. Dine and feed our horses in Moorefield, and get to
Nimrod Judy's, where we stay all night.

SATURDAY, June 18. Get home.

SUNDAY, July 24. Go to Ritchey's schoolhouse, in the Gap. Isaac
Rodecap's wife is baptized. Dine at Philip Ritchey's, and have evening
meeting at Addison Harper's. A few references to the life of Brother
Addison Harper may not be out of place here. The Editor was intimately
acquainted with him. Brother Harper's early life was largely passed on
the Atlantic ocean as a sailor. He settled in Rockingham County,
Virginia, in the later years of his life, and openly avowed his
disbelief of holy revelation. A few years prior to the date above
given he was honored by the people of his county with a seat in the
Virginia State legislature. When the Rebellion broke out in 1861 he
raised a company of Confederate volunteers and served as their captain
through the war. Very soon after the surrender, when worldly ambition
had succumbed to the direful state of the Southern people, his mind
seems to have sought for something more enduring than aught the world
could offer. He turned to religion with the honest purpose of seeking
to learn if _that_ might have in it such proofs of its genuineness and
reliability as would give better hopes to his soul than those which
had so sadly disappointed him in life. One day as he and I were riding
together to attend a meeting in which we both took part, I asked him
to tell me the secret of the power that had made him a minister in the
church of the Brethren. Said he, "It is all traceable to two great
facts: first, the humble, peaceful, moral and charitable lives of the
members; last, the simple and unperverted truths they teach." "Without
the first," continued he, "the last would have made no impression on
my heart; but the proofs they gave of their _honesty_ in the _first_
led me to believe there must be _truth_ in the _last_; and the more I
learn about it, the more I am convinced that I was right. Johnny Kline
repeatedly preached at my house before the war, but I paid very little
attention to what he said. I always admired his earnestness, and the
simplicity of his manner, but beyond these I paid him but little
respect outside of the civilities of common decency. But now it is
different. I would willingly part with all I have to enjoy but one
hour's conversation with him, to but tell him how I now feel toward
him in my _new life_, and how much I now appreciate what I then could
not understand."

SATURDAY, August 6. Love feast at Michael Wine's, in the Gap. Absalom
Rodecap and wife are baptized by Jacob Miller. Fine day and evening. I
officiate at love feast. Brother Martain Miller is with us, and his
feelings are very deeply moved as he proceeds in his discourse.

The Editor will here add what a very dear sister, now gone to heaven,
told him shortly before her death. He read to her the above note in
the Diary, and all at once her face beamed with the happy recollection
and she exclaimed: "I was there at that love feast, and Brother
Martain Miller grew so warm and so happy in his theme that he got from
behind the table, came out into the middle of the room, and spoke as
if talking to each one personally."

We stay all night at Andrew Turner's.

SUNDAY, August 7. Meeting at Hoover's schoolhouse. I baptize David
Hoover.

MONDAY, August 29. Last night the sky presented a very wonderful
appearance. It was luminous with a scarlet light nearly throughout the
entire night. What it may portend I know not. People may brand me
superstitious, but I can not resist the impression that this, with
other signs, betokens the shedding of blood in our land.

WEDNESDAY, August 31. Daniel Thomas and I start on a journey to the
western counties of Virginia. Stay first night at Nimrod Judy's, and
have night meeting at Zion. TEXT.--John 15:3.

THURSDAY, September 1. Meeting and love feast at John Judy's on South
Mill Creek. Speak on John 14:6.

FRIDAY, September 2. Meeting at Martain Wise's, near the Upper Track.
Psalm 19:7, 8.

SATURDAY, September 3. Cross the Branch mountain to William Adamson's
at the mouth of Seneca. Seneca is a small stream from the east side of
the Alleghany mountain falling into the North Fork of the South Branch
of the Potomac. The scenery at the mouth of Seneca is probably
unsurpassed by any in Virginia. The perpendicular walls of solid rock
hundreds of feet high present a scene of surpassing grandeur. Night
meeting at the meetinghouse on Seneca. Subject, Luke 24:46, 47. Stay
all night at the widow Cooper's. Brother Daniel Thomas is very much
impressed with the sublime sights we witnessed to-day.

SUNDAY, September 4. Meeting at 10 o'clock. Subject, 1 Cor. 1:18.
Council in the afternoon. Asa Jarman is elected speaker, and
Washington Summerfield deacon.

MONDAY, September 5. Meeting at Abraham Summerfield's. Stay all night
at Brother Levi Wilmot's.

TUESDAY, September 6. Cross the Alleghany mountain; dine at Brother J.
Simon's; call at Samuel Pirkey's; and stay at Charles W. Burk's in
Randolph. We passed through extensive forests to-day of beautiful and
majestic timber, comprising wild cherry, tamarack, sugar-maple and
other kinds of trees which invite the woodman's axe. The means for
transportation alone are wanting to make this an immensely profitable
lumber region.

WEDNESDAY, September 7. Go back to Brother Simon's for dinner and have
night meeting in the meetinghouse. John 15 is read. Heavy fog this
morning, but a fair day follows.

THURSDAY, September 8. Meeting again at the same place. Same subject
we spoke on yesterday continued to-day. Brother Daniel Thomas is a
host. He possesses the rare ability to adapt his words and thoughts to
the mental states of these plain-minded people. "Milk for babes;
strong food for men," seems to be his rule. And a wise rule it is. I
have to guard against "inordinate affection" for him.

FRIDAY, September 9. Still in Randolph County. Dine at John Simon's,
and stay all right at Henry Wilson's. Pleasant weather.

SATURDAY, September 10. Meeting begins at one o'clock. Love feast at
night. Fine day and evening. Jacob Nickolas is elected to the
deaconship.

It may interest the reader to be informed that the two brethren are
now, and for some days have been, in a sparsely settled region. High
mountains separated the habitable valleys. Great progress has been
made, and is still going on, in the upbuilding of the social state of
these people, as well as the improvement of the country. Those living
in the highly cultivated States of our Union can hardly bring their
minds to realize the conditions in which these people lived at the
time that Brother Kline and Brother Thomas were laboring so faithfully
among them. Let me sketch a picture of the average house, its
surroundings, and its occupants: It is a log house, built up by
notching the ends of the logs so as to fit together at the corners,
and rises high enough to make one full story below and a half story
above. A huge chimney of stone is built up on the outside, with the
wide fireplace inside. The chinks between the logs are filled up with
a mortar composed of clay and straw. The chimney is supplied with one
extra small flue at the side of the large flue, and at the bottom of
this small flue, about four feet above the hearth, is a small opening
for light. This light is produced from the burning of small pieces of
rich pine knots placed in the small opening, and as one piece burns
out another is inserted, the smoke from the pine, the meanwhile, being
all carried off through the small flue. Above the door of entrance
antlers in pairs may be seen carefully fastened to the side of the
house, as evidences of success in deer hunting. And more than once did
the two brethren ministers feast on venison in the present journey,
for it was the chosen season for deer hunting. When the house is
approached by a stranger, the father, if present, stands near the door
with a doubtful look, as much as to ask within himself: "Who can that
be, and what is fetching him here?" He has, however, a kind heart
under a rough exterior. His wife is diffident at first introduction,
but gain her confidence by true Christian behavior, and you find the
heart of the true woman in her. The children retire upon a stranger's
first entering the house: but let him show a love for them; let him
learn their names and ages as one by one they make their appearance,
ranging in this respect according to the different degrees of
backwardness and modesty with them; let him notice them with loving
looks and gentle words, and they will soon play with his watch-chain,
and ask him what it is for.

I have now given an outline sketch of many a family in these
mountainous regions, in whose hearts Brother Kline never failed to
find a welcome, and in whose house a home. He loved the people and the
people loved him. But all this has passed into history. The church has
never had but one Johnny Kline, and it can never have another. Even if
born, the conditions for his development, and the sphere for his
labors, have both passed away. The Editor is happy to feel that he, by
a wonderful providence, has been made the humble instrument by which
the life-work of a great and good man has been snatched from the jaws
of oblivion.

SUNDAY, September 11. Meeting at Brother Henry Wilson's. Luke 13 is
read. Night meeting at Brother Jacob Nickolas's, in his house.
Subject, Rom. 13:11, 12. Stay there all night. Very pleasant weather.

MONDAY, September 12. Come to Philippa, in Barbour County. Stop at
David Kline's. Dine at Peter Reid's. Afternoon meeting at Peck's Run
meetinghouse. Acts 3 is read. Stay all night at Philip Dupoy's. Fine
day.

TUESDAY, September 13. Come to Brother Joseph Houser's, two miles from
Buckhannon. Meeting and love feast. Matthew 20 is read. Fine day and
evening.

WEDNESDAY, September 14. Meeting. Subject, Acts 2:37, 38. One man
baptized. In council Jacob Houser was elected speaker, and Brother
Hess deacon.

THURSDAY, September 15. Come to Wilson Osborn's on Middle Fork river.
After dinner, cross the mountain to Valley river; stop and stay all
night at William Kern's.

FRIDAY, September 16. Cross Cheat mountain, thirty-five miles, and get
to Brother John Riley's, where we stay all night.

SATURDAY, September 17. Wonderful rain last night. Waters higher than
they have been in a long time. Meeting at Liberty meetinghouse.
Subject, Luke 24:46, 47. Stay all night at Adam Hevner's. Cloudy and
misty, but waters partly run off.

SUNDAY, September 18. Sky almost clear this morning. Promise of a fair
day. Meeting again at Liberty meetinghouse. Subject, "The Great
Commission," Matt. 28:18, 19, 20. Come to John Riley's, where we stay
all night. Clears up beautifully to-day. Our congregations have not
been large, but they have appeared to pay attention to what has been
said. A preacher of Brother Daniel Thomas's power cannot fail to
impress an audience. He enjoys the rare ability of analyzing and
arranging his subject matter in a way that makes its presentation easy
to be understood. I have observed a very important truth, and I am
learning its lessons more and more every day, that people can be
interested only in what they understand. Uneducated people, and
children even, will listen with attention to what they understand.
Paul perceived this truth. Hence he said: "I would rather speak five
words with the understanding, than ten thousand in an unknown tongue."
Paul got at the very root of the truth, for his remarks imply that no
man can make a thought clear to the mind of another unless it be first
clear to his own mind. "If the blind lead the blind, both will fall
into the ditch together."

MONDAY, September 19. Dine at Adam Hevner's; come to Greenbank, to
Dunmore post office; then to Shenaberger's, but we cannot get across
the river. We then go five miles down the river and cross on a bridge
over to Knapp's Creek, and stay all night at William Harper's.

TUESDAY, September 20. Afternoon meeting near Harper's. Subject, Heb.
12:12. Stay all night at the widow Harper's.

WEDNESDAY, September 21. The widow Harper and Abraham Rankin are
married this morning. Meeting at Andrew Harold's in Mt. Vernon.
Subject, Matt. 7:21. After dinner we cross the Alleghany mountain to
Alexander Gilmore's, on Back Creek. Night meeting at Green Hill. John
1 is read. Stay all night at John Divner's. Much rain this morning.

THURSDAY, September 22. We return to Gilmore's and get our horses,
having walked from there to Green Hill and back to Divner's. From
Gilmore's we cross over to Jackson's river, and have meeting at Valley
Chapel. Brother Daniel Thomas preached to-day. His subject was 1 Cor.
1:8. Go with James Terry and take dinner with him. Night meeting at
Valley Chapel. Subject, "The Conversion of Saul." Stay all night at
James Terry's.

FRIDAY, September 23. Come to new meetinghouse on Stony Run. Preach
the funeral of Robert Gwynn. Subject, Heb. 9:28. Dine at David
Stephenson's. Come to Godlove Hindgartner's; night meeting; subject,
Matthew 11, three last verses. Fine day.

SATURDAY, September 24. Morning meeting at Hindgartner's. Subject,
Matthew 7, last paragraph. After dinner preach the funeral of old man
Robinson's wife. Subject, 1 Peter 1, last three verses.

SUNDAY, September 25. Meeting again at Hindgartner's. Subject, Heb.
12:14. I could wish that thousands could have heard Brother Daniel
Thomas to-day. As he spoke of the holiness without which no man shall
see the Lord, setting forth in strong and clear light what it is to
live a holy life, tears of penitence fell from many eyes.

MONDAY, September 26. Come across to Liberty meetinghouse, on the Bull
Pasture river in Highland County, Virginia. Subject, Luke 8:18. Dine
at Dr. Pullen's; then come to Amos Deahl's on the Cow Pasture river in
the same county and stay all night.

TUESDAY, September 27. Come by way of the Calf Pasture river, in
Augusta County, to the pleasant home of Brother Daniel Thomas, who
seems very well pleased to find himself at home again and all well,
after an absence with me of four weeks to the day. In Isaiah 52:7 we
read these words: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of
him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth
good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion,
Thy God reigneth." These words prophetically set forth the Lord in the
beauty of his holy life and good will toward men. His feet symbolize
his outward life. This was beautiful in the highest degree. No angry
word, no impure thought, no covetous feeling, no revengeful motive, no
unholy desire ever found a place in his heart; but, instead of these,
gentleness, goodness, meekness, kindness, temperance, mercy,
forgiveness, and charity, or universal and unvarying good will toward
men, characterized the whole of his good life as the outflow of his
good heart. In respect to these graces of our Lord, Brother Daniel
Thomas sets an example worthy of imitation. In the four weeks we have
spent together I have not heard a word from his lips that I thought
unwise, or seen an act of his body or hands that I thought not good.
This is my testimony of him in secret before God.

WEDNESDAY, September 28. Get home.

SUNDAY, October 2. Meeting and love feast at the Lost River
meetinghouse. Acts 3 is read. Brother John Harshberger officiates at
love feast. Stay all night at Jacob Mathias's. Pleasant day and
evening. Brother Daniel Thomas and Brother John Harshberger in their
relation to the work of the church remind me of the relation which the
lead-horse bears to the off-wheel horse in a team of four. Each has
his place: the one as much needed as the other; varied in talent and
usefulness, yet working together, the load goes on beautifully, and
the roughness of the way is forgotten.

WEDNESDAY, October 5. Meeting and love feast at our meetinghouse.
Great concourse of people present. Christian Keffer, of Maryland, and
David Long are with us. Fine day and night.

SATURDAY, October 15. Brother Kline and Brother John Harshberger
started in company of each other to the Piedmont counties on the east
side of the Blue Ridge mountain. How long they contemplated staying
there, the Diary does not say. The first appointment they expected to
fill was met without a congregation. It had either not been properly
given out and circulated, or the people did not wish to come.

Brother Kline preached one sermon on this trip, at a place called Good
Hope, in the county of Madison, Virginia. But from the spirit of the
Diary more than from its direct letter the inference is clear that the
name belied the character of the place, and that instead of Good Hope
it should be Bad Despair. His subject was Rev. 14:6, "I saw another
angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and
kindred, and tongue, and people."

The selection of this text shows a lofty sense of propriety in Brother
Kline. He was here among a people largely opposed to the views and
feelings of the Brethren on the slave question which was, at this
particular time, fearfully agitating the public mind. But the above
text was at once a passport in his hand to go "with the everlasting
gospel" in his mouth to preach to every nation, and kindred, and
tongue, and people. It showed at once that his mission was love, and
the end peace. Many preachers in the South about this time adopted the
following motto: "Keep politics out of religion; but put all the
religion you can into politics." This means: Pour the pure water of
Life into the cesspools of wickedness and deceit to cleanse them. This
is worse, if possible, than giving what is holy to dogs, or casting
pearls before swine. It is as "the sons of God going in unto the
daughters of men, and bringing forth _giants_--" giants of iniquity.
If every man and every woman in our land were filled with godliness,
politics, in its popular sense, would vanish. Governments would
continue, it is true, but the spirit of their administration would
make duty their joy, and love their law.

Finding little encouragement in these parts, the two brethren soon
started homeward through Page County, stopping one night at Brother
Hamilton Varner's, and one night at Brother Isaac Spitler's, where, at
either place, they could again enjoy the breath of love and the
heartbeat of peace.

SATURDAY, December 31. At home. In this year I traveled 3,929 miles,
mostly on Nell's back. Good, patient Nell!

WEDNESDAY, February 29, 1860. Up to this date there is nothing of
special interest in the Diary. It is mainly a record of visits in the
way of medical attendance upon the sick; matters relating to the
church; meetings attended, and neighborhood items of business looked
after and settled. Brother Kline assisted Brother John J. Bowman in
surveying lands. He also wrote wills and deeds, making himself useful
in almost every way in which an active man of eminently practical good
sense can serve his neighborhood and country. I here give his entry in
the Diary for this day exactly as it stands, word for word:

    "WEDNESDAY, February 29. Go to Benjamin Miller's. Old Sister
    Miller is buried; seventy-four years, five months and ten days
    old; buried at Myers's graveyard. Preach at Green Mount; dine
    at Jacob Miller's; then come by Strine's home; rain in the
    afternoon."

The Editor was present at this funeral, and very well remembers some
of Brother Kline's words. He said that instead of being distressed or
grieved at the departure of one whose measure of life was so full of
the good works of faith and love, thereby showing eminent fitness for
heaven, we should rather rejoice. He spoke of the wisdom and fortitude
with which she had borne her separation from her husband, the dearly
remembered Elder Daniel Miller, years before. It is true, said he, her
children cared for her with all the tender assiduities that love could
suggest; they still could not completely fill the place of the one who
she had fondly hoped would be the earthly comforter of her declining
years. She lived and died with her youngest son, Benjamin Miller, who,
at this time [1899], has the oversight of the Green Mount church. She
was the mother of eighteen children. Sixteen of these grew up to
manhood and womanhood. Six of her sons, viz, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph, Benjamin and Frederick, were put into the ministry, and all
served the church acceptably. Most of these are now fallen asleep. But
their children are filling their places; and how long this remarkable
sister may continue to work in the vineyard of the Lord, through her
children and children's children, time only can tell.

I well remember that Brother Kline, on this occasion, was the first to
rise. After a few brief but appropriate remarks, he lined out that
joyful old hymn:

  "There is a land of pure delight;
  Where saints immortal reign...."

At the close of the singing he led in prayer, and the burden of his
prayer was thanksgiving for the glorious hope set before us in the
Gospel. He then delivered a brief but feeling address suited to the
occasion; and Brother Benjamin Bowman, after giving some interesting
facts connected with the Miller family, closed the church services.

THURSDAY, March 15. This day Brother Kline spends in Washington City.
He visits the Representatives' chamber, the Senate chamber, the Patent
office, and other places of public interest. His business, however, is
at Alexandria, in connection with the Manassas Gap Railroad Company.
He is in attendance at a meeting of the officers and stockholders of
said company in the city of Alexandria to-night; makes his report of
the amount of stock in said company which Rockingham County is willing
to take; hears it accepted, and next day returns home. Brother Kline
was deeply interested in this company's road. It is the same which now
passes close along by his place; but he did not live to see its
completion.

THURSDAY, March 22. Council meeting at the old meetinghouse above
Harrisonburg. Brother John Flory is elected to the Word, and Joseph
Good to the deaconship. Dine at William Byrd's and at night attend a
lecture on feet-washing in Dayton, Virginia. Stay all night at Brother
Solomon Garber's.

FRIDAY, March 23. This day Brother Kline, in company of Brother
Solomon Garber, starts up the Valley of Virginia, on horseback, to
the District Conference appointed to meet at the Valley meetinghouse,
in Botetourt County, on Friday, March 30; distant from Brother Kline's
home somewhat over one hundred miles.

SATURDAY, March 24. Dine and feed at Brother Samuel Zink's; then on to
Brother James Sprous's, five miles beyond; and from there to meeting
at Chestnut Grove, two miles distant. Subject, 1 Thess. 5:9.

Brother Daniel Brower, of Augusta County, joined company with them
about this time. On

SUNDAY, March 25, they have meeting at Carr's Creek meetinghouse, and
stay all night at Brother Danner's.

MONDAY, March 26. They stay at Brother William Runnell's.

TUESDAY, March 27. They have meeting in Hampton schoolhouse; dine at
Jonas Hill's, and have night meeting at Rapp's church. They stay all
night at Mathias Rapp's.

WEDNESDAY, March 28. Stay all night at John Pursley's.

THURSDAY, March 29. Dine at Sister Sarah Grabeil's, and stay at
Brother Peter Nininger's.

FRIDAY, March 30 and SATURDAY, March 31. They attend conference at the
Valley meetinghouse. On

SUNDAY, April 1, they attend meeting at the church, and dividing out
go to other appointments in reach.

MONDAY, April 2. They start homeward.

SUNDAY, April 15. Brother James Turner is very sick. I wait on him
to-day.

SUNDAY, May 13. Meeting at Ritchey's schoolhouse. Hebrews 4 is read.
Stay with James Turner all night. He seems a little better.

This is the last night that Brother Kline ever stayed with Brother
James Turner. On

MONDAY, May 14, he took leave of him and started on his way to the
Annual Meeting in Tennessee, never to see Brother Turner's face again
in this world, for in his absence Brother Turner died.

TUESDAY, May 15. Arrive at Brother Benjamin Moomaw's, where I stay all
night.

WEDNESDAY, May 16. Call at Brother David Plain's; then to meeting at
Bethel. Subject, John 14:24. Dine at Brother Moomaw's. Sup at Jacob
Bonsack's: then to night meeting. Brother Jacob Miller speaks. His
subject is the General Epistle of Jude, his discourse being made up of
remarks upon the spirit and general scope of the epistle. Stay all
night at Daniel Kiser's. Fine weather.

THURSDAY, May 17. Arrive at Brother John Lear's, who meets us at the
Union depot. Stay all night with him.

FRIDAY, May 18. Meeting at Knapp's Creek meetinghouse. Matthew 5 is
read. Dine at young Benjamin Basehore's. Then to meetinghouse again.
Subject, "The Pure River of the Water of Life." Revelation 22. Stay
all night at Peter Basehore's.

SATURDAY, May 19. Come to Joseph Bowman's; then go to Jonesborough,
Washington County, Tennessee. Dr. Alpheus Dove is located here, and I
spend the day and night with him.

SUNDAY, May 20. Stop at Conrad Basehore's. Forenoon meeting at the
Valley meetinghouse. Matthew 11 is read. Dine at Brother Conrad
Basehore's. Meeting in afternoon. John 3:7 is my subject. Sup at
Brother Joseph Bowman's and stay there all night.

MONDAY, May 21. Visit David Bowman's, Daniel Bowman's, Sears's, and
get back to Joseph Bowman's for dinner. Toward evening go to Brother
Daniel Crouse's, where I stay all night. Fine weather.

TUESDAY, May 22. Meeting in Brother Henry Swadley's barn. I give a
general talk on the fifteenth chapter of John. Stay all night at
Brother David Garst's.

WEDNESDAY, May 23. Come to Henry Linaweaver's; dine at Brother Samuel
Miller's, and in afternoon have meeting at the Seceder's meetinghouse.
Subject, "The Great Prophet." Stay all night at Brother John Nead's.
Fine day.

THURSDAY, May 24. Afternoon meeting at Brother Benjamin Basehore's. My
subject, Matthew 11, last three verses. Stay there all night.

FRIDAY, May 25. Stop at Emmanuel Arnold's. Meeting in the Limestone
meetinghouse. After meeting, deliberate in committee on the best ways
and means for a more extended and general spread of the Gospel. All
the members of the committee seemed to be impressed with the
importance of the matter under consideration. All agreed that it is
not contrary to gospel order for the church to help such preachers as
are not able, from poverty, to do what their ability as ministers
would enable them to do, if they could spare the time from their work
at home to go more. Many fields are still white unto the harvest. The
Lord may be to-day saying: "I have much people in this city," or in
this place. By this he means, ready to accept salvation and become his
people whenever the door of the church is fairly opened up to them.
Stay all night at Brother David Clepper's.

SATURDAY, May 26. Meeting at the meetinghouse. D.P. Saylor, H. Koontz,
and James Quinter all speak. Ephesians 2 was read. In the afternoon
Peter Nead spoke to a very large and attentive audience.

SUNDAY, May 27. A very heavy rain comes up to-day about meeting time.
We nevertheless have forenoon and afternoon services in the
meetinghouse. Stay all night at Brother Michael Basehore's.

MONDAY, May 28. Gather at the meetinghouse. Organize. Take in
questions: discuss some of them. Fine, delightful day. Stay at Brother
Emmanuel Arnold's.

TUESDAY, May 29. Get through with the business at three o'clock.
Brother Quinter and I come to Jonesborough, where he delivers a sermon
in the Presbyterian church. Subject, Rom. 1:17. TEXT.--"_The just
shall live by faith._"

This text was Luther's sword. With it he slew more of the enemies of
the Reformation than Samson slew of the Philistines with the jawbone
of an ass. The text readily suggests two questions.

 _I. Who are the just?_

_II. What is faith?_

These two questions being clearly answered, the grand copula, upon
which the meaning and force of the text depends, is readily understood
as to the quality of the life which it involves. It evidently means a
good life, a holy life, an obedient life, a humble life, a pure life
out of a pure heart. It means that the just or righteous shall live a
life conformed in all respects to the character of that state of heart
in which love to God holds dominant rule, and subordinate love to man
prompts to a life of vital charity.

I. _Who are the just?_ The just, in the sense of the text, are those
who are righteous, and who desire to grow more and more righteous in
God's sight. Men may be righteous in their own sight, and very
unrighteous in God's sight. And precisely the reverse of this: they
may be great sinners in their own sight, and just or righteous in
God's sight. This last state was Paul's experience when he pronounced
himself "the chief of sinners." He felt that he was righteous or just
in God's eye; but in his own eye, enlightened by the Word and Spirit
of the Lord, he was vile. This consciousness gave vent to many
exclamations such as these: "O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?" Again: "For I know that in
me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing." On the other
hand, the Pharisee, who stood praying in the temple was righteous in
his own view of himself, and "thanked God that he was not as other
men"--a sinner like unto them, he meant, of course. This line of
thought suggests another question:

_How are men to become righteous or just?_ "For the scripture hath
concluded all under sin." This same apostle tells us that "we are
justified [made righteous] by faith; ... for with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness." Probably no passage of Scripture has
been subject to worse misconstructions than this one. It has been made
to teach that a mere declaration of faith in Christ procures the
instantaneous forgiveness of all sin, passes the sinner out of death
into life, makes him a regenerate child of God, and gives him an
inalienable title to citizenship in heaven. But I have not so learned
Christ, nor do I understand Paul to teach anything like this. I do not
deny that a sincere and heart confession of Christ is a step, the
first step, to these heavenly blessings; but I do deny that Christian
perfection rests upon a naked confession of him by the mouth. The
thoughtless sinner does not know Christ. He has never in heart so much
as asked the question: "Who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him?"
God has never been in all his thoughts. "The world knew him not," and
the world knows him not now. When one, then, is suddenly wrought upon
by some influence as was the Philippian jailer, by which, in his
distress, he cries out, "What must I do to be saved?" the answer that
Paul gave is exactly the right answer. "Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved." And this leads to my second and last
question:

_What is faith?_ I will here give Paul's definition. We come to God by
faith. "And he that cometh unto God"--or to Christ the same--"must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him." Faith must, then, be the very first step in the direction
of receiving good from the Lord. We see striking examples of this in
the life of Jesus on earth. What brought the throng from all
directions that attended and even pressed him? It was faith, the
belief that he could do them good. But it was not spiritual or
heavenly good they sought so much as bodily good. Jesus reminded them
of this in the words: "Ye seek me, not because of the miracles,--" not
because you desire proofs of my divine power to save your souls from
eternal death,--"but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled."
But true faith, the faith that saves the soul, the faith by which the
just shall live, is _a loving acceptance of the Word of God; every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; for by this doth man
live_. And how does man live by it? By obeying it, by making its
precepts the rule and guide of his life. By faith the Word becomes "a
lamp unto his path." "It is as the light that shineth more and more
unto the perfect day." All who believe the Lord's words, as contained
in our New Testament, because they love their truth, and from the
heart desire to live,--this means, order their lives and conduct by
them,--believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And these have the promise of
eternal life: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life."

These were the leading thoughts in Brother Quinter's discourse to-day.
We stay all night in Jonesborough with Dr. Alpheus Dove.

WEDNESDAY, May 30. Go back to the meetinghouse where the Annual
Meeting was held; arrange some matters left back in our hands; then go
together to Brother Jacob Nead's, where we stay all night.

THURSDAY, May 31. Start homeward.

SUNDAY, July 22. Meeting at Turner's schoolhouse in the Gap. Brother
Solomon Garber is with me. Mark 12 is read. Dine at the widow James
Turner's, and go to James Fitzwater's, where we stay all night on our
way to some of the western counties of Virginia.

The counties to which the two brethren were going are included in West
Virginia, which, as is well known, was organized a State during the
Rebellion. The people living among the mountains are generally
hospitable, and much attached to the scenes of their childhood and
that wild freedom of nature found in the mountains that surround them.
The motto engraved upon the State Seal of West Virginia is very
expressive and appropriate, and in Latin reads thus: "_Montani liber
semper sunt_." Translated, it reads thus: "Mountaineers are ever
free." The people are noted for the attention with which they listen
to the preaching of the Gospel. Brother Kline often spoke of the
pleasure it gave him to preach in these sections, because the Word was
received with so much readiness. His success among them proved this.
They were devotedly attached to him; and it is questionable if in any
part of the Brotherhood deeper grief was felt over his martyrdom than
that which filled the hearts of the brethren and sisters and friends
in West Virginia.

MONDAY, July 23. Cross the Shenandoah mountain over to the South Fork,
and have meeting at Zion, in Hardy county, 2 Corinthians 5 was read.
Dine at Nimrod Judy's, and in afternoon have a small gathering at
Leonard Brake's on the Fork four miles below Zion, for social prayer.
We then cross the Fork mountain to John Judy's, on South Mill Creek,
where we have night meeting, and stay all night. Attended three
meetings to-day; and traveled thirty-three miles on Nell's back across
two very high mountains.

TUESDAY, July 24. Meeting at Isaac Judy's, about four miles higher up
on the same creek. Brother Solomon Garber spoke from Luke 24:26,
"Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his
glory?" He spoke with much clearness and order in his mind. After
dinner we traveled by way of the Upper Track, across the South Branch
mountain, sixteen miles, to Solomon Harman's, near the North Fork.
Stay there all night.

WEDNESDAY, July 25. On this journey Brother Kline has noted the
distance traveled over between one point and the next in most cases.
Thus: Come to William Adamson's at the mouth of Seneca (five miles);
then to Seneca meetinghouse (two miles); find a congregation; speak
from John 3:14, 15, 16. Come to Jesse Harper's (two miles); dine; then
to widow Cooper's (eight miles); stay all night.

THURSDAY, July 26. Meeting at widow Cooper's; subject, Luke 14; dine;
then have meeting at soldier White's. Subject, 1 John 3:4; then come
to Abraham Summerfield's, where we stay all night. Fine day.

FRIDAY, July 27. Come to Levi Wilmot's (sixteen miles), and have a two
o'clock meeting. Subject, Matthew 5. Stay there all night.

SATURDAY, July 28. Cross the mountain to Leading Creek to Charles
Burke's (eight miles); and after dinner have meeting at the
meetinghouse (two miles). Council meeting continues till evening. Stay
all night at Brother Simon's.

SUNDAY, July 29. John 6 is read. Brother Solomon Garber speaks from
verses 44 and 45. Council meeting again; considerable discord; get
things partially settled by evening. Stay all night again at Brother
Simon's.

MONDAY, July 30. Come to Burke's again. Stay all night at Brother
Wilson's; fine day, but river high from yesterday's rain, and fords in
bad condition and dangerous.

TUESDAY, July 31. Come to Middle Fork of Cheat river (eight miles),
but find the river past fording, and have to go round by the bridge
(five miles), and on to Brother George Yager's (five miles), where we
dine; then to the meetinghouse, where I speak on John 14:6. We then
come to Peck's Run. meetinghouse and speak on Rev. 3:20, "Behold, I
stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
Stay all night at Philip Dupoy's. Much rain to-day.

WEDNESDAY, August 1. Afternoon meeting at Houser's (ten miles); speak
from John 3:16. Stay all night at Houser's. Fine day.

THURSDAY, August 2. Meeting at ten o'clock, and love feast in the
evening. Luke 14 is read. Brother Solomon Garber baptizes Mrs. Jacob
Neff. Fine day and night. The love feast to-night is a healing balm to
our hearts.

FRIDAY, August 3. Council meeting at Houser's meetinghouse. Joseph
Houser and Joseph Michael are forwarded to baptize, perform marriage
ceremonies, and do other work within the defined limits of their
degree in the ministry. Come to Brother George Yager's (ten miles),
where we stay all night. Fine day. I baptized two persons to-day.

SATURDAY, August 4. After dinner come round by the bridge (six miles)
to Middle Fork (five miles), to Union schoolhouse (six miles), and
have meeting. Subject, John 14:16, 17. Stay all night at William
Wilson's. Clear and warm day.

SUNDAY, August 5. Very heavy rain throughout the forenoon. Start at
one o'clock to Union meetinghouse (seven miles); have meeting.
Subject, Mark 4:24. Go to John Skidmore's (five miles), where we stay
all night.

MONDAY, August 6. Come to Josiah Simon's (four miles). We have meeting
at the meetinghouse. Make remarks on the general scope of Hebrews 4,
and particular remarks on the thirteenth verse. Counsel after meeting.
Josiah Simon is forwarded to baptize. We stay all night at Levi
Wilmot's (six miles).

TUESDAY, August 7. Dine at John Wiat's; then to Abraham Summerfield's
(eighteen miles) to meeting. Subject, Titus 2:11, "For the grace of
God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men." Stay all
night at Thomas S. White's.

WEDNESDAY, August 8. Come to Seneca meetinghouse (twelve miles). Luke
14 is read. Dine at Elburn's; stay all night at Ely Bland's (eight
miles). The entire time between Thursday, July 26, and the above date
we have spent in Randolph County. We are now in Pendleton County.

THURSDAY, August 9. Come to Circleville on the North Fork of the South
Branch (seven miles). Meeting in Circleville. Subject, Hebrews 12:1,
2, 3. Dine at Samuel Sollenberger's. Afternoon meeting. Brother
Solomon Garber speaks from Heb. 2:1, 2, 3. Stay all night at Solomon
Pharo's.

FRIDAY, August 10. Come to Brother Noah H. Lamb's. Meeting at Friend
Run schoolhouse (eight miles). Subject, John 1:11, 12, 13. Dine at
Noah H. Lamb's. Meeting at schoolhouse again. Brother Solomon Garber
speaks on conversion and baptism. Nine persons are baptized, viz, Noah
H. Lamb and wife, Henry Elyard and wife, Ban Lambert and wife, Elias
Wimer and wife, and John Wesley Lambert. Fine day but warm. Brother
Solomon Garber's remarks on conversion were very searching. It is
difficult to see how any one, after hearing such a discourse with an
understanding mind, could be self-deceived. I have great hopes in
regard to the genuineness of those who have been baptized to-day. His
remarks on baptism were necessarily brief, but pointed and clear. We
stay all night at Henry Elyard's.

SATURDAY, August 11. Come to John Hammer's on the South Branch, a few
miles below Franklin. Have meeting at the home of Jacob Hammer.
Subject, Acts 10. Dine at Jacob Hammer's. Meeting in the afternoon.
Solomon Garber speaks from James 1. Stay all night at John Hammer's.
Fine day.

SUNDAY, August 12. Come to Mountain Grove (four miles). Speak on John
3:4, 5, 6, 7. Dine at John Eye's. Afternoon meeting at Lough's church.
Brother Solomon Garber speaks from 2 Cor. 5:17. Come to Joel Siple's
where we stay all night.

MONDAY, August 13. Rain last night and this morning. Come to Peter
Warnstaff's (seven miles), take dinner with him and his kind mother
and sister; and at three o'clock start to John Fulk's, on top of
Shenandoah mountain (eight miles), where we stay all night.

TUESDAY, August 14. Stop awhile at Philip Ritchey's; dine at Philip
Baker's: and in evening get home.

MONDAY, December 31. Cloudy this morning. Snow eleven inches deep. I
work at my sleigh. Clears up prettily this evening. I have traveled in
the year 1860, 5,686 miles; married five couples; preached twenty
funerals, ten for children under ten years of age, one between ten and
twenty, two between thirty and fifty, two between sixty and seventy,
and five above seventy.

TUESDAY, January 1, 1861. The year opens with dark and lowering clouds
in our national horizon. I feel a deep interest in the peace and
prosperity of our country; but in my view both are sorely threatened
now. Secession is the cry further south; and I greatly fear its
poisonous breath is being wafted northward towards Virginia on the
wings of fanatical discontent. A move is clearly on hand for holding a
convention at Richmond, Virginia; and while its advocates publicly
deny the charge, I, for one, feel sure that it signals the separation
of our beloved old State from the family in which she has long lived
and been happy. The perishable things of earth distress me not, only
in so far as they affect the imperishable. Secession means war; and
war means tears and ashes and blood. It means bonds and imprisonments,
and perhaps even death to many in our beloved Brotherhood, who, I have
the confidence to believe, will die, rather than disobey God by taking
up arms.

The Lord, by the mouth of Moses, says: "Be sure your sin will find you
out." It may be that the sin of holding three millions of human beings
under the galling yoke of involuntary servitude has, like the bondage
of Israel in Egypt, sent a cry to heaven for vengeance; a cry that has
now reached the ear of God. I bow my head in prayer. All is dark save
when I turn my eyes to him. He assures me in his Word that "all things
work together for good to them that love him." This is my ground of
hope for my beloved brethren and their wives and their children. He
alone can provide for their safety and support. I believe he will do
it.

WEDNESDAY, January 30. Write a letter to John Letcher, Governor of
Virginia, in which I set before him in a brief way the doctrines which
we as a body or church, known as Brethren, German Baptists or
Dunkards, have always held upon the subject of obedience to the
"rightful authority and power of government." We teach and are taught
obedience to the "powers that be;" believing as we do that "the powers
that be are ordained of God," and under his divine sanction so far as
such powers keep within God's bounds. By _God's bounds_ we understand
such laws and their administrations and enforcements as do not
conflict with, oppose, or violate any precept or command contained in
the Divine Word which he has given for the moral and spiritual
government of his people. By _government_, to which we as a body
acknowledge and teach our obligations of duty and obedience, we
understand rightful human authority. And by this, again, we
understand, as the Apostle Paul puts it, "the power that protects and
blesses the good, and punishes the evildoer." The general Government
of the United States of America, constituted upon an inseparable union
of the several States, has proved itself to be of incalculable worth
to its citizens and the world, and therefore we, as a church and
people, are heart and soul opposed to any move which looks toward its
dismemberment.

This is in substance what I wrote to John Letcher, Governor of
Virginia.

I likewise attend Abraham Shue's sale: The candidates for seats in the
Convention to meet in Richmond were on the ground, actively speaking
both publicly and privately. Mr. George Chrisman, one of them, a man
of preeminent wisdom in things relating to government, publicly avowed
himself opposed to secession on the basis of both principle and
policy. "On the ground of principle," said he, "secession violates the
pledge of sacred honor made by the several States when they set their
hands and seals to the Constitution of the United States. On the
ground of policy," continued he, "the secession of Virginia will
culminate in the breaking up of her long-cherished institutions,
civil, social, and, to some extent, religious."

FRIDAY, February 1. Write to John T. Harris, our representative in
Congress. Beseech him to do all he can to avert the calamity that now
threatens us, by pouring oil upon the troubled waters until the
tempest of passion abates. I esteem him as an incorruptible patriot at
heart. May the Lord guide him and all the other lawmakers of our land.

SATURDAY, February 9. Martha Kline, wife of John B. Kline, dies very
suddenly to-day.

SUNDAY, February 10. Funeral of our dear sister, Martha Kline, at our
meetinghouse. TEXT.--"I have fought a good fight; I have finished my
course; I have kept the faith." Age, twenty-eight years and eight
days.

FRIDAY, April 5. Council meeting at our meetinghouse, William Summers
and wife, Harvey Fifer and wife, Sophia Fifer, Sally Wampler and Sally
Helbert are to-day baptized by Jacob Miller. A terribly malignant type
of diphtheria has recently made its appearance in the Shenandoah
Valley and is now invading our immediate neighborhood. Four of Andrew
Crist's children are now dangerously ill with the disease. Some in
other families have died; and others are sick. The outlook, both as to
health and peace, is very disheartening. But we are admonished in the
Divine Word not to fear. The people of God have a better portion than
this world can give--"an enduring substance, which death can never
reach."

SUNDAY, April 7. Attend the funeral of Christian Shoemaker in the Gap.
His age was about eighty years.

SUNDAY, April 21. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Great excitement on
account of secession and war movements. The volunteers are being
called out to enter the field of war, and God only knows what the end
will be. There is great commotion everywhere in the realm of thought
and sentiment, men's hearts failing them for fear, the sea and the
waves of human passion roaring.

THURSDAY, May 2. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. I this day
baptize Isaac Kline, Lucretia Spitzer, Joseph Wampler and wife,
Rebecca Driver, Anna Kline and John McKee's wife.

FRIDAY, May 3. Go to Nimrod Judy's on the South Fork, where I stay all
night.

SATURDAY, May 4. Snow this morning. Have meeting at Jess Mitchell's.
Second Corinthians 4 is read. Stay all night at John Davis's.

SUNDAY, May 5. Meeting at Jacob Collers's on the Shenandoah mountain.
Luke 10 is read.

SUNDAY, May 12. Perform the marriage ceremony of James Fitzwater and
Catharine Showalter, at the house of her father, Brother Anthony
Showalter. I then attend meeting at the Brush meetinghouse, and after
meeting witness the baptism by Brother Jacob Spitzer of Mrs. Beahm,
Mrs. Henry Frank, Mrs. Hottinger, and two of Michael Showalter's
daughters.

FRIDAY, May 17. At home calmly enjoying the company of Dr. Jacob
Driver, of Allen County, Ohio.

The Editor was intimately acquainted with Dr. Driver; and as he and
Brother Kline were lifelong friends and in later years of their lives
brethren, a brief reminiscence of Dr. Driver will here be given: Jacob
Driver was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, about the year 1801.
His parents came from Pennsylvania, and their baptism into the church
of the Brethren is noted in this biography. About the year 1838,
Jacob, their eldest son, became very strongly impressed with the
rational and logical arguments given by Dr. Samuel Thompson in a work
written and published by him entitled: "GUIDE TO HEALTH." This guide
indicated and represented the way from sickness back to health as
being very short and easy to find, exempt from dangers and free from
doubt. Jacob Driver entered the field of medical practice, and his
success in that line added enthusiasm to his faith, by which as time
went on, mountains were removed. He soon deservedly acquired the title
of "Doctor;" and although not conferred by a medical college, still
the title of "Doctor of Medicine" has rarely been conferred by diploma
upon a man more worthy to hold it, or borne with the honors of better
success. His removal with his family to Allen County, Ohio, in the
autumn of 1852, was deplored by many families in Rockingham, who had
learned to depend upon him as their most trustworthy medical adviser.
He died in Allen County about the year 1867, leaving an excellent
lineage of sons and daughters, among whom Jacob, his youngest son, is
now an active minister in the church of the Brethren. The ties of
affection which bound the hearts of Brother John Kline and Jacob
Driver into an inseparable union were those of a double brotherhood:
brethren in church, and brethren in medical practice.

SATURDAY, May 18. Dine at John Bowman's above Harrisonburg, and stay
all night at Daniel Thomas's.

SUNDAY, May 19. Meeting in the Beaver Creek meetinghouse and at two
other places near by. A very great concourse of people on the ground.
The spiritual peace and composure of heart, however, usually manifest
in the Brotherhood on all former occasions of this kind, is sadly
interfered with now by the distracted state of our country. But the
weather is pleasant, and we hope to have a good meeting. Preaching in
the meetinghouse to-night, and also in Dayton, Virginia.

MONDAY, May 20. The Annual Meeting opens to-day at Beaver Creek
meetinghouse, in Rockingham County, Virginia. First, organize for
counsel; take in questions; have public preaching in forenoon. "Much
people." In afternoon form subcommittees. Some rain and mist to-day.
Stay all night at Martin Miller's.

TUESDAY, May 21. Proceed with business to-day; work through four
committees. Cool but pleasant day. Stay all night at Isaac Miller's.

WEDNESDAY, May 22. Get through with business by eleven o'clock, and
the Annual Meeting breaks up, most of those present from the North as
well as from the South carrying away with them heavier hearts than
they ever before have borne from a meeting of this kind. Many prayers
were offered in the course of its progress in the behalf of our
country. The Shekinah of God's care may be gloriously waving over our
heads now, and we not able to see it. The Red Sea is before us, but
Jehovah will part its waters for us to go through unharmed.

  When Egypt's king God's chosen tribes pursued,
  In crystal walls the admiring waters stood:
  When through the desert wilds he led their way,
  The rock relented, and poured forth a sea.
  What limits can Almighty Goodness know,
  When seas can harden, and when rocks can flow?

SATURDAY, June 1. Go to Jesse Mitchell's, in Pendleton County,
Virginia, where I stay all night.

SUNDAY, June 2. Meeting at Jesse Mitchell's. Speak from 1 Cor. 1:17.

THURSDAY, June 6. Attend the burial of Brother Samuel Myers near the
head of Linville Creek. His age was forty-six years, eight months and
eight days. He leaves a widow and comparatively young family to battle
with the ills of life. May God bless and keep them as he only can.

SATURDAY, June 8. Dine at Philip Baker's on way to Pendleton County.
Stay all night at George Cowger's on the South Fork. Delightful
weather.

SUNDAY, June 9. Go to Brother Hughey Ratchford's on the Henkel
mountain to see his sister Hannah, who is very sick of typhoid fever.
Give medicine, and leave some for her and for Hughey's wife who is
also sick. Come back to John Fulk's on the Shenandoah mountain where I
stay all night.

MONDAY, June 10. Call at David Hoover's, Michael Wine's, Widow
Turner's, and home.

THURSDAY, June 13. Meeting for fasting and prayer at our meetinghouse.
Matthew 5 is read. Fasting has been observed from remote antiquity, in
times of sorrow and mourning from afflictions and national distress.
We have no direct command in the New Testament to fast, but we believe
if it is done in the spirit of deep humility before God, with
confessions of sin and heartfelt desire to draw nearer to him in our
walk and conversation, our fasting to-day will not be a meaningless
service in his sight. Paul was "in fastings oft." These he observed to
keep under his body, lest after having preached to others he himself
should be a castaway. In regard to fasting in my own case, I can say
that it strengthens my heart, and nerves my spirit to resist
temptation. My love and faith and virtue are confirmed. Let us fast,
not in appearance only, but in heart.

SUNDAY, June 16. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize John Walker,
Jane and Frances Sherkey, John Grimm's wife, and Mrs. Clemm.

TUESDAY, June 18. John Wine, Jacob Spitzer, and Christian Wine obtain
license from our County Court to perform marriage ceremonies.

TUESDAY, June 25. Stop at Philip Ritchey's; dine at John Fulk's;
preach at Bethel church, in Pendleton County, and stay all night at
Peter Warnstaff's.

WEDNESDAY, June 26. Dine at Joel Siple's; go to Lough's church, but
find no congregation; come to Martain Wise's (John Bond's) and find a
gathering of people for night meeting. Speak from Second Corinthians
5. Stay all night at Martain Wise's.

THURSDAY, June 27. Meeting at Isaac Judy's; speak from Rev. 3:20.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Stay at Judy's all night. But
little else than war seems to be talked about or thought about. It
seems to be everywhere much the same. The Lord looks compassionately
upon his people. He knows we are but dust. "As a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."

FRIDAY, June 28. Preach at Philip Kesner's; funeral for Michael
Ratchford's child. Stay all night at John Judy's.

SATURDAY, June 29. Meeting at Jacob Collor's. Subject, John 1:11.
Night meeting at Zion on the South Fork. Stay all night at Silas
Henkel's on top of the mountain.

SUNDAY, June 30. Stop at Hughey Ratchford's to see Sister Hannah and
Hughey's wife. They are both mending towards convalescence. From there
I go to William Davis's in Sweedlin Valley; find a gathering, and
speak from Matthew 5, first thirteen verses. Dine at Jesse Mitchell's,
and in evening preach the funeral of Sister Elizabeth Freed, whom I
had baptized just four weeks before. Subject, 1 Peter 1:24, 25.

MONDAY, July 1. Dine at Philip Ritchey's; then home.

THURSDAY, July 4. This evening, about seven o'clock, a wonderful
appearance was witnessed in the sky. A succession of meteoric balls of
fire flew through the air, apparently from west to east; attended by
reports in rapid succession very much resembling those of heavy pieces
of artillery and quite as loud. Some think this may be a providential
mockery of the pageantry and pride displayed on each succeeding
anniversary of this day over our national greatness which has now, for
a time at least, departed.

SUNDAY, July 14. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize John Driver
and wife, Catharine Myers, Christian Zimmers and wife, Brady Ann
Parker, Mrs. Fahrney, Ruthy Light, Bettie Miller, Susie Kline, Saloma
Smith, Martha Jane and Sarah Catharine Swartz, and Martha McMullen.

SUNDAY, July 21. A very singular panic struck our part of the Valley
this afternoon. A report of negroes breaking out and committing
fearful outrages flew as on the wings of the wind. Women were
frightened and men dismayed. It was, however, soon discovered to be
false.

SUNDAY, October 20. Diphtheria is raging. In the past three weeks I
have preached four funeral discourses for children between two and
four years of age. But parents have better promises for the children
that are taken than for those that are left.

SATURDAY, November 9. Brother John Wine and I go to the South Fork.
Preach funeral for William Ratcliff's child. Age, two years, four
months and thirteen days. Stay all night at Christian Dasher's.

SUNDAY, November 10. Meeting at Jesse Mitchell's. Brother John Wine
speaks on Jude, third verse. We stay all night at Samuel Trumbo's.

THURSDAY, November 21. Attend the burial of old Mother Wine, the
mother of Christian, John, Michael, Samuel and George--four preachers,
and one, Michael, deacon. Her age was seventy-one years, eight months
and sixteen days. A woman of great usefulness in her community as a
help in sickness, she will long be remembered. My subject for
discourse was Rev. 14:12, 13.

SUNDAY, November 24. Attend the burial of Hannah Zimmers, wife of
Christian Zimmers. Funeral services at Pine Grove meetinghouse. Her
age was about fifty-seven years. TEXT.--"For here have we no
continuing city, but we seek one to come." Heb. 13:14.

It is a blessed assurance which the Divine Word gives the afflicted
and dying children of God, that they have "a city which hath
foundations; whose builder and maker is God." From the fact that the
city has foundations we are clearly authorized to infer that it rests
upon the immutable love, wisdom and power of God. It is not the
baseless fabric of a dream. There is reality about it. Imagination did
not construct it, for its builder and maker is God. This city is the
New Jerusalem, so beautifully described in the last part of the book
of Revelation. The foundations of the WALL of the city are there
described. There are twelve foundations, each of stone, and some of
them more precious than diamonds. The city itself is built of gold,
and its streets are paved with the same. I often rejoice in the hope
set before us; but not the foundationless hope of good from this
world. Slaughter and blood are the order of the day here now. We have
at no time much to hope for from this world, but there is nothing to
hope for now. We should rather rejoice than be grieved over the
departure of God's children. They are safe. Beyond the reach of
suffering, temptation and sin, they are safe in the city of God, where
no sickness, nor sorrow, nor pain, nor death can ever reach them more.

SUNDAY, December 8. Meeting at Turner's schoolhouse, in the Gap.
Catharine Fulk, daughter of Philip Ritchey, is baptized by me. Dine at
the widow Peggy Turner's, and stay all night at David Hoover's.

FRIDAY, December 13. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Brother
Michael B.E. Kline is elected speaker, and Brother Noah Rhodes deacon.

FRIDAY, December 20. Write to John Hopkins, to John C. Woodson, and to
Charles Lewis. I can but entreat these men to stand in defense of our
Brethren, and try to devise some plan by which they can be exempted
from the necessity of bearing arms. I feel sure that if we can be
rightly understood as to our faith and life, there will be some way
provided for their exemption. The Brotherhood is a unit, heart and
hand against arms-bearing. These things I make known to these men;
not, however, in any spirit of defiance, but in the spirit of meekness
and obedience to what we in heart believe to be the will of the Lord.
Many have already expressed to me their determination to flee from
their homes rather than disobey God.

SUNDAY, December 29. Meeting in our meetinghouse. The two ministering
brethren, John Huffman and Nathan Spitler, both from Page County, are
with us.

MONDAY, December 30. Write to General Jackson and to Charles Lewis.

TUESDAY, December 31. Traveled this year 3,930 miles. Preached
thirty-eight funerals. Baptized about fifty converts.

WEDNESDAY, January 1, 1862. At this time medicines were scarce and
physicians in the army. As a consequence of this the demands for
Brother Kline's professional services as a physician were largely
increased. The Diary for this year shows an almost incredible amount
of labor performed by him in this line. He was called to go twenty
miles to see patients on Lost River. He also treated patients in
Pendleton and Shenandoah counties, and many in Brock's Gap and in his
own and adjoining neighborhoods. He had no day of rest. In connection
with all this labor and responsibility, the Brotherhood looked to him
for counsel and comfort on every hand. At the same time he wrote many
letters, not only to distant Brethren, but to men in civil and
military place and power.

SATURDAY, February 15. He wrote a letter to John Letcher, at the time
Governor of Virginia; another to Secretary Benjamin, and one to
Charles H. Lewis. His leading object in all his correspondence with
these and other men in high civil and military positions was to
acquaint and as far as possible familiarize the minds of these men
with the true idea as to who the Brethren are, what they have ever
been, and how they have come to regard arms-bearing as they do.

The correspondence we are now considering may be regarded by some as
having been a small thing. Some may say: "It is a small thing to write
a letter to the President of the United States, or to a member of his
Cabinet, or to a member of Congress, or to the Governor of one's
State." A small thing, no doubt; in itself quite as small as to write
to any one else. It may be said that the greatness of all such
correspondence depends upon the magnitude of the subject involved. Let
us look at the subject involved here. We see some thousands of the
most devoted Christian people the world has ever known standing in
jeopardy; not one of all their number seems to know what to do. Their
situation at this time reminds one of Israel camped on the mountain
beside the valley of Elah, in hearing of the guttural defiance of the
giant. At this critical hour, when something must be done, when some
special but heretofore untried effort must be put forth to avert the
impending destruction, a MAN of the Brethren, unassuming in all
respects, about five feet seven inches in height, heavy-set, with a
large but symmetrical face, hair down to the neck beautifully parted
from the forehead across the middle of the head, voluntarily sets to
work in secret through the mails to see what can be done. God only
knows the full measure of Brother John Kline's service and influence
in this way. It is a true saying that "to succeed is the best proof of
success," and subsequent events show that Brother Kline fully realized
this proof. As a humble observer of the movements of that day, and
with a tolerably clear recollection of them, the Editor can only
express his belief that Brother Kline's correspondence, with his other
influence, contributed largely toward the enactment of the Confederate
provision by which all the members of regularly organized Christian
denominations or churches which have from their earliest establishment
uniformly taught and practiced as one tenet of their faith
non-arms-bearing and nonresistant principles, shall be perpetually
exempt from all military duty to the Confederate States of America, or
to any state belonging thereto, upon the payment of five hundred
dollars to the person duly appointed to receive the same, for every
member so exempted, and otherwise subject to military duty under
existing orders.

The above is not the "Law of Exemptions" in exact words, but it is
that part of it which was made for the Brethren, in _exact sense_.

SATURDAY, April 5. This forenoon I am about home. In the afternoon I
am taken to Harrisonburg and put in the guard house. My place is in
the large jury room of the court house, up stairs, with others who are
captives with myself. Rain this evening.

SUNDAY, April 6. Rain and snow all last night, and continues on so all
day. Have preaching in our captive hall. My subject is "Righteousness,
Temperance, and a Judgment to Come." I aimed at comforting my brother
captives and myself with the recollection that Paul was once a captive
like ourselves, and that in this state of imprisonment he preached
upon the text which I have selected for this day. I said:

Brethren, if any have cause to tremble, we have none. Those should
tremble who seek to lay obstacles in the way of others who aim to do
good and no evil. As a rule, prisoners are nervous and sometimes
tremble when taken into court: but judges are proverbially calm and
self-composed. Hence the old adage: "As sober as a judge." But this
order is entirely reversed in the case of Paul before Felix. Here we
see that Paul is calm, collected and self-possessed, and that Felix is
first nervous, and soon trembles all over. In this trial it appears
that the judge is convicted of guilt by the prisoner himself, and that
the prisoner shows himself clear. But this is not the only case in
which an innocent criminal has stood before a guilty judge. Felix had
never heard such a sermon before. All that he had ever heard were most
probably eulogistic in character, and spoken in praise of the Roman
emperor and his subordinates. Felix was one of these, and it was
natural for him to appropriate quite a large share of this praise to
himself. But he did not find a eulogist in Paul. Panegyric had no
place in Paul's earnest nature. Life and death, holiness and sin were
subjects of moment too great and too real to be trifled with. If Paul
would have stooped to flattery he might have quickly obtained his
release, because Felix and those following him in office confessed
they found no cause of death in his case. They kept him bound merely
to please the flattering, deceitful Jews.

He reasoned of righteousness first. And this logic was all new to
Felix, who had never thought of righteousness or justice as being the
end and object of government. Herod was a pretty fair specimen of
those Roman rulers or kings as they were sometimes called, and the
unrighteous cause for which he had the head of John the Baptist cut
off manifests the measure of his regard for justice. If history be
correct, Felix was not much in advance of him in this respect. He was
governor of Samaria at this time, and his headquarters and home were
at Cesarea on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It was in this same
city that Paul defended himself so heroically before Festus and
Agrippa. Paul is silent as to the course of reasoning employed in
bringing his threefold subject to bear with a weight upon the mind of
Felix. We may reasonably conclude that his first point was the
righteousness of civil government; contrasting the corrupt and
perverted ideas of rulers as they then existed in their minds upon
this feature, with what they ought rightfully to be. In this
connection he did not fail to make occasional home thrusts similar to
the one made by Nathan when he said to David: "Thou art the man."

It is a newly-discovered truth that the Bible reveals the only true
basis of civil government. That basis, from its lowest bottom to its
highest level, is love, or "good will toward men." Government founded
upon any other basis is tyranny or despotism, the exact form being
determined by the depth of bondage and slavery into which the governed
are willing to be pressed down, and by the will of the rulers as to
how low they are inclined to press them. The Constitution of the Roman
government contained no trace of love. It was all force. History
abundantly shows this. Neither justice in the administration of its
laws, nor temperance in the demands and exaction of tributes, nor a
judgment to come when accounts would be settled, was once thought of.
Those in power knew nothing and thought nothing about any day of final
retribution.

It is not very probable that Felix was made to tremble by anything
Paul may have said concerning civil government. The mind of Felix was
too firmly fixed in his own ideas of civil righteousness to be deeply
moved or disturbed by anything a prisoner might say upon that point.
His execution of Roman law according to his views of righteousness in
their administration was satisfactory to his sovereign at Rome; and to
please him, and thereby secure perpetual tenure of office, was the
height of his ambition. The cause of his trembling must then be found
in another quarter, or the adversary may say that Felix, just at that
time, happened to be taken with an ague chill, which Paul mistook for
the nervous agitation which he supposed to have been induced by the
power of his discourse.

Felix was a pagan. His religion, if he had any belief at all in the
supernatural, was idolatry. Paul did not appeal to his affections, to
his emotional nature, but to his rational part. He _reasoned_ upon his
great subject. We may justly conclude that he proceeded in a way
similar to that which he took in addressing the Athenians on Mars'
Hill. "The God whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."
And he set him forth in a rational light. He told them about God's
righteousness. He told them that God had appointed a day in which he
would judge the world in RIGHTEOUSNESS by that man whom he hath
ordained, and of whom he hath given assurance or proof unto all men in
that he hath raised him from the dead. This man was Jesus Christ the
Lord. Here, also, he spoke of a JUDGMENT to come. And it becomes a
thing self-evident that a judgment to come is the main fact upon which
all moral and religious truth depends for its power over the hearts
and lives of men. Take away from man all fear of accountability in a
future state, and his bestial appetites assert their sway. "Let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we die" gives loose rein to every passion,
and lust holds high carnival.

For our instruction here, it may be well to speak upon the subject of
_righteousness_. What is it? Righteousness is obedience to law. This
is its most general meaning. This is its human sense. In its divine
sense it is obedience to the laws of God. Wherein the laws of men
depart from the laws of God obedience to their laws is disobedience to
God's laws. Here arises a conflict in which each individual may decide
for himself which he will do, the will of men or the will of God. The
decision of the apostles was "to obey God rather than men." By this
obedience they stood righteous in the eyes of God. To be sinners in
the sight of men gave them no distress, so long as they felt sure of
being righteous in the sight of God.

Jesus is called Christ the righteous. He is set forth in the Word as
the only example of perfect righteousness the world has ever had, for
"he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." He challenged
the Jews with the question: "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" They
could bring up no charge. Sin is the opposite of righteousness. It is
sin, or the love of sin, which is impersonated by our Lord in Matt.
10:28 as a monster of awful power: "And be not afraid of them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." The version of
the same matter as given by Luke is terribly sublime: "Fear him, which
after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto
you, Fear him." Brethren and friends, this is the only power we have
real cause to be afraid of, and this is the enemy of all
righteousness. And this enemy is right in ourselves. We need not go
far to find him. Paul calls him by way of eminence as well as age "the
old man of sin," "the first Adam," "the outward man," because he loves
what is outside of us, fleshly enjoyments. Sin, or the love of sin, is
the power that destroys both soul and body in hell. Righteousness is
what saves; or, rather, righteousness in heart and life is salvation.
If we look to the Lord in faith and prayer, by which I mean, if we
love his Word and believe it with our heart, so as to make it the law
and guide of our life, at all times and in all ways, we are sure of
salvation; for it is through righteousness, as well as through much
tribulation, that the saints shall inherit the promises. In the
Revelation we read of a great multitude which no man could number, as
standing before the throne. What a high standing they have! But by way
of preparation for that honor they washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. The robe of each was and is his
wedding garment. The Lamb is the Lord's Word, and the blood of that
Lamb is the spirit and life of that Holy Word infused into our souls
and made effectual unto our salvation, by living a life of heartfelt
obedience to his holy precepts.

MONDAY, April 7. Rain and snow with sleet come down all day. Room very
damp and cold, with insufficient fire. Several brethren come to see me
to-day.

TUESDAY, April 8. Rain and snow continue as on yesterday. Our room
very uncomfortable.

WEDNESDAY, April 9. Still cloudy, with rain and snow. We have some
pleasant conversations in the prison, with books and papers. But all
the public prints are so filled and taken up with war that they give
me but little enjoyment. The minds and spirits of nearly all the
prisoners are so broken down by the state and prospects of the country
that interesting and instructive conversations can hardly be held.

THURSDAY, April 10. The following beloved brethren and dear sister
came in to see us to-day: John Zigler, John Wine and Christian Wine,
Benjamin Miller, Joel Senger, and Catharine Showalter, daughter of
Brother Jacob Miller and wife of Brother Jackson Showalter. The sight
and presence of these brethren refreshed us much; and the dear sister
carries sunshine with her wherever she goes. Last night and this
morning regiment after regiment passed through town on their way down
the valley in the direction of Winchester.

SUNDAY, April 13. We have meeting to-day. I speak from Matt. 11:28,
29, 30: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest: take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls: for
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

MONDAY, April 14. To-day our two brethren, John and Joseph Cline, are
released from imprisonment, and start for home to-night.

TUESDAY, April 15. I am not well. The dampness of our room and the
lack of comforts in the way of bedding and fuel have given me a cold
from which I am very hoarse to-night.

WEDNESDAY, April 16. There is talk that we are to be removed to New
Market. The talk is correct. We leave here at twelve o'clock, and come
to Bethlehem church where we stay all night. This church is between
nine and ten miles northeast of Harrisonburg on the valley pike
leading from Staunton to Winchester.

THURSDAY, April 17. Start for New Market; but after getting on two
miles hear the cannons at Mt. Jackson. We turn and go back to
Harrisonburg. News comes of the retreat of Jackson's army. Front of
the Federal army at New Market. Jackson halts for the night at Lacy
Springs.

FRIDAY, April 18. Great excitement and confusion in town. General
Jackson with his army passes through in his retreat, and the Federal
troops are hourly looked for. Gabriel Heatwohl, Joseph Berry and
myself are released from the guard house. I dine at Samuel
Shacklett's; then walk out to Samuel Niswander's three miles, and ride
from there to Jacob Miller's, where I stay all night.

SATURDAY, April 19. Brother Benjamin Bowman brings me on my way home
nearly to Christian Wine's. I walk the short distance to Brother
Wine's; get a horse of him, and come home.

SUNDAY, April 20. Easter. Cough very bad.

WEDNESDAY, April 23. Federal cavalry through here now. Brother Daniel
Miller was taken last night by Confederate scouts.

FRIDAY, May 9. Preach the funeral of Sister Polly Summers. Age,
seventy-seven years, one month and sixteen days.

TUESDAY, May 20. Preach the funeral of Sister Polly Holsinger. Age,
seventy-seven years. Three sisters in our church buried so close
together in time, and all so nearly the same age!

MONDAY, May 26. Sister Debby Bowman is buried to-day. I attend. Age,
forty-two years, eleven months and twenty days.

TUESDAY, May 27. Preach the funeral of Mrs. Stern. Age, fifty-six
years, three months and twenty days.

THURSDAY, May 29. Start to the Annual Meeting. Dine at James
Fitzwater's in the Gap; sup at Nimrod Judy's on the South Fork, and
stay all night at Jacob Mongold's on the South Fork mountain.

FRIDAY, May 30. Get my pass at Petersburg; dine at James Parks's; and
stay all night at Martain Cosner's, in Hardy County.

SATURDAY, May 31. Get to Thomas Clark's at three o'clock, and stay
there all night.

SUNDAY, June 1. Go to meeting at Brother Rinker's. Speak from Romans
eighth chapter. Meeting again at three o'clock. Speak from John
seventeenth chapter. Stay all night at Brother Rinker's.

MONDAY, June 2. Come to Oakland in the morning to take the train
westward, but cars are behind time. Get to Bellaire after night. Stay
there all night, at Eagle Hotel.

TUESDAY, June 3. Get to Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, at three
o'clock in the afternoon. Stay all night at Brother Henry Yost's.

WEDNESDAY, June 4. Visit Christian Forrer's. Go about through the
city. Then start, and get to place of Annual Meeting in afternoon.
Stay all night at Brother Billheimer's.

THURSDAY, June 5. Visit Solomon Stoner's; then to Farmersville, and
back to Stoner's.

FRIDAY, June 6. Visit Mary Trissel's. From there go to Abraham
Aerbaugh's. From there go to meeting at Brother D. Miller's. Speak
from Heb. 3:9. Fine weather.

SATURDAY, June 7. Come to the place of the Annual Meeting. Preaching
in forenoon and afternoon. Fine weather. Come back to D. Miller's.

SUNDAY, June 8. An immense concourse of people. Meeting in five
places, forenoon and afternoon. Fine weather continues.

MONDAY, June 9. Commence taking in questions. Queries all get in
to-day. In evening I go to Brother George Miller's, and have a night
meeting. Fine weather; clear and pleasant.

TUESDAY, June 10. Discuss questions. Fine weather continues. Much love
and good feeling generally. Go to Salem and have evening meeting. I
stay all night at Brother David Zigler's.

WEDNESDAY, June 11. Meeting continues. Get through with the discussion
of questions by quarter past three o'clock. Close in the usual way;
and many hands and lips are met which may never meet again until they
meet where farewells are no more. Stay all night at the widow Benjamin
Miller's.

THURSDAY, June 12. Go to Dayton. Visit Brother Abraham Young's. After
dinner go to Midway and stay there all night with Brother Henry
Zimmerman's.

FRIDAY, June 13. Get to Pittsburg in the night.

SATURDAY, June 14. Dine at Abraham Myers's, and stay all night at
Martain Myers's.

SUNDAY, June 15. Love feast at the Middle Creek meetinghouse. John 1
is read. Stay all night at Jacob Miller's near by.

MONDAY, June 16. Come to Daniel Miller's at Mechanicstown. Stay all
night.

TUESDAY, June 17. Love feast; part of John 14 is read. Fine day. Stay
at Brother Miller's again.

WEDNESDAY, June 18. Council meeting. The case of Peter Myers and John
Figa was brought up and settled. Come to David Beachley's and stay all
night.

THURSDAY, June 19. Come to Frostburg in time to take the train to
Oakland, where I stay all night.

FRIDAY, June 20. Come back to Brother Clark's in a hack, where I find
Nell, having left her with Brother Clark. The poor brute seems glad to
see me. I will never forget Brother Clark's kindness to me and Nell.
Stay with him all night.

SATURDAY, June 21. Visit old Sister Parks and pray with her. Dine at
Hyre's, and get to Brother John Mongold's on the mountain where I stay
all night.

SUNDAY, June 22. Get to Brother William Fitzwater's in the Gap for
dinner, and get Nell shod. This was a thing of necessity, as one of
her shoes had come off crossing the mountain, and she was getting
lame. Come to Brother Michael Wine's, where I stay all night.

MONDAY, June 23. Get home.

SUNDAY, August 24. At John Mongold's on the South Fork mountain.
Preach Absalom Whetzel's funeral. Age, twenty-three years, eight
months and twenty-one days.

Monday, August 25. Preach funeral of Isaac Rorabaugh at Adam Mallow's.
Age, nineteen years, three months and twenty-one days. Stay all night
at Jacob Hevner's.

TUESDAY, August 26. Forenoon meeting at the widow Henkel's. Afternoon
meeting at George Cowger's on the South Fork. Stay there all night.

WEDNESDAY, August 27. Forenoon and afternoon meeting at Jesse
Mitchell's. Jesse Mitchell is appointed minister of the Word, and
Hughey Ratchford is elected to the deaconship.

THURSDAY, August 28. Stop at John Fulk's on top of the Shenandoah
mountain, and get home in the evening.

SATURDAY, September 6. Attend the burial of Michael Homan. Age,
sixty-five years and eight months. He was a highly respected citizen
of our community.

SUNDAY, September 7. Am called to preach the funeral of Evaline
Aubrey's child at the home of her father, William Hevner. Diphtheria
is raging. It almost rivals the sword in its destruction of life. The
sword cuts down the men in middle life, and diphtheria cuts down the
children.

SUNDAY, September 21. Meeting on the South Fork mountain. Old mother
Kesner, Jane Kesner and Jane Rorabaugh baptized by me. Stay all night
at young Philip Kesner's.

MONDAY, September 22. Have night meeting and stay all night at the
widow Henkel's on top of the mountain.

TUESDAY, September 23. Meeting at George Cowger's on the South Fork.
After dinner I visit Jacob Hevner, who is sick, and stay with him all
night.

WEDNESDAY, September 24. Cross the mountain to Jesse Mitchell's, and
in the evening hold a love feast. We are disturbed by Southern scouts
who are present under the pretext of hunting up deserters from the
army. Stay all night at Samuel Trumbo's.

THURSDAY, September 25. Cross the Shenandoah mountain to Crab Run.
Council meeting. Dine at Brother Isaac Whetzel's, and stay all night
at Brother James Fitzwater's.

SATURDAY, October 4. Attend love feast at Beaver Creek meetinghouse.
Stay at Martain Miller's.

SUNDAY, October 5. Meeting at the Beaver Creek meetinghouse. Speak
from John 14:1, "Let not your heart be troubled." Peace is the exact
opposite of trouble. And Jesus says: "Peace I leave with you: my peace
I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not
your heart be troubled; neither let it be afraid."

To bring this subject to bear with due weight upon your minds I will
spring this question: Did our Lord ever utter a precept with which it
is impossible for man to comply? Wisdom and love answer with one
voice: He never did. "_Let not your heart be troubled_" is a precept.
It flows out of that fatherly love which ever warmed the Savior's
heart. "Having loved his own, he loved them to the end." The Lord
needed not that any should testify to him of man, for he knew what was
in man. He knew the uttermost of human power both to understand and
obey his precepts and commands. He therefore knows that we _can keep_
our hearts from being troubled. But man of himself can not do this.
Our Lord's words, "Without me ye can do nothing," apply as truly to
keeping the heart from being troubled as to any other human effort. In
this as in all else pertaining to natural and spiritual life, we must
be coworkers with God.

MONDAY, October 6. Stop at Daniel Thomas's; dine at Jacob Thomas's;
visit Solomon Garber's; and have night meeting in Dayton. Stay all
night at Dr. Abraham Sager's.

TUESDAY, October 7. Attend a love feast at the Old meetinghouse. Stay
all night at John Bowman's above Harrisonburg.

WEDNESDAY, October 8. Go to see my old friend, Joseph Funk, and
succeed in bringing about a better state of feeling on his part toward
me. He became reconciled. He had been somewhat ruffled in his feelings
by my "Strictures and Reply" to his published writings on baptism and
feet-washing. Dine with him; then home.

SATURDAY, October 11. Meeting and love feast at the Lost River
meetinghouse. Stay all night at Celestine Whitmore's.

SUNDAY, October 12. Meet at the Lost River meetinghouse. In council
Moses Myers is elected speaker. Stay all night at John Basehore's.

MONDAY, October 20. Dine at John Fulk's. Have night meeting at Jesse
Mitchell's. Stay there all night.

TUESDAY, October 21. Have night meeting at George Cowger's. Stay there
all night.

WEDNESDAY, October 22. Morning meeting at the widow Henkel's. Night
meeting at George Kesner's. Stay there all night.

THURSDAY, October 23. Forenoon meeting at Isaac Judy's. Stay all night
at Manasseh Judy's.

FRIDAY, October 24. Go to John Judy's; then to D. Henkel's and to
Solomon Hours's, and back to John Judy's, where we have meeting. After
preaching we repair to the clear water of Mill Creek, and I baptize
seven persons. Stay all night at Jacob May's.

SUNDAY, November 2. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I this day baptize
ten converts, whose names follow: David Rhodes, Daniel Zigler, George
Moyers, William Fifer and wife, J. Crist and wife, Mary Whisler,
Rebecca Trissel, and Katy Showalter.

SATURDAY, November 15. Council at Green Mount. Benjamin Funk and W.C.
Thurman regularly elected and put in as ministers of the Word.

SUNDAY, November 16. Meeting at the Plains meetinghouse. Harrison
Daugherty and Anna Prophet are baptized by Samuel Wampler, while I go
and baptize Harvey Elger.

WEDNESDAY, November 19. Go to Katy Mullen's. Her sister Diana and her
mother are both buried in one grave at Rader's church. Jacob Stirewalt
and I speak on the occasion from Rev. 14:13. Age of Diana, fifty-three
years; mother, seventy-one years.

FRIDAY, November 21. Preach the funeral of Mrs. William Hevner in the
Gap. Age, seventy-first year. A kind and good mother in her family,
and a friend to me has she been.

THURSDAY, December 4. Go to Henry Neff's; draw money for the brethren;
go to Harrisonburg and to Solomon Garber's.

FRIDAY, December 5. Council meeting at Beaver Creek meetinghouse.
Daniel Thomas is ordained. Stay with him all night.

SATURDAY, December 6. Come to Harrisonburg; fix matters of business
with the Confederate government agent; pay over money for the
exemption of brethren. Come home; cold day.

TUESDAY, December 16. Go to Harrisonburg; attend to seeing that the
brethren get certificates of exemption as provided by the Confederate
Congress.

WEDNESDAY, December 31. I have traveled in this year 4,791 miles;
preached fifty-six funerals; nineteen for children under five years of
age; thirteen for children over five and under ten. Diphtheria has
done a fatal work. Five for persons over ten and under twenty; three
over twenty and under thirty; one over thirty and under forty; fifteen
over forty years of age.

THURSDAY, January 1, 1863. Meeting of thanksgiving to the Lord for his
kind affection toward us in our meetinghouse. I have somewhere read
that in the reign of one of the sovereigns of Great Britain, when the
outlook of the kingdom was very dark and threatening, one of the
king's advisors proposed appointing a day for public thanksgiving in
all the churches throughout the realm. The king answered the
proposition by saying that he could see nothing for which either he or
the nation had cause for special thanksgiving to God. The minister
responded by saying that the king and the nation both had great cause
to thank God _that things were no worse_. The king yielded and the day
was set. The Christian people assembled; the preachers recounted the
blessings still left in the nation's store, with the rich promises of
God to provide for the future as things should be needed, and there
was a day of thanksgiving in England the like of which is not often
seen.

It has been my experience, Brethren, and I think I have heard some of
you say the same, that prosperity does not always make people most
truly thankful. Great success in business is apt to foster a feeling
of independence. Men may forget God. It was in the days of Israel's
prosperity in the goodly land of Goshen in Egypt that they forgot the
name of the God of their fathers. When God appeared to Moses in Horeb,
he had to tell him from out the burning bush what his name was, and
also by what name he should make him to be known to his brethren in
Egypt. Some of the deepest heartfelt expressions of gratitude break
forth in times of misfortune. A brother once told me that he was away
from home when his barn was struck with lightning and burned to the
ground. At his return he beheld nothing but the smoking destruction of
his gathered harvest. But when his children came running to meet him,
and he saw them all safe, and their mother standing in the door
unharmed, he burst into an expression of thanksgiving, which, he
confessed to me, surpassed every other emotion of joy he had ever
felt. Our best experiences come to us when we are made to realize
properly the good that is still left us.

We must look upon our exemption from army service as one proof of
those interpositions in behalf of his children which our heavenly
Father has promised, and which he is constantly fulfilling. "The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." God has
not called us to prayer in vain. He invites us to come boldly to a
throne of grace. Does he do this otherwise than with a will to hear?
And the apostle's exhortation is: "In every thing give thanks," for
"all things work together for good to them that love God."

Let our offerings this day be from the heart; and probably the best
proof we can have that they come from the heart is a willingness and
cheerful readiness to give of our substance to the needy poor. We must
divide out, Brethren, to those who have, on account of the war
pressure, been unable to provide for themselves. Think of the
barefooted, half-clad and half-fed children in our land! I do not
undervalue what you have already done. I know you have done much; but
we should not feel that the burden of duty has all rolled from our
shoulders so long as there is one needy brother or sister or child in
our land. Brethren, I speak from my heart when I say that the church
has never before enjoyed such an opportunity to grow rich, as the
present offers. I mean rich in good works; rich in treasures laid up
in heaven; rich in her title to an eternal inheritance in heaven,
which our Lord calls "_the true riches_."

SATURDAY, January 17. Buy of Samuel Shacklett (a merchant in
Harrisonburg) one bolt of cotton cloth or muslin for Mary Hoover, for
which I pay seventeen dollars; and four bunches cotton yarn for which
I pay thirty dollars. This shows the measure of confidence reposed in
the Confederate Government.

WEDNESDAY, February 4. Visit General Jones's camp at New Market in
behalf of some of the soldiers.

FRIDAY, February 13. Attend the burial of our dear sister, Mary
Frances, wife of my nephew, John Kline. We did all we could for her;
but that dreadful destroyer, diphtheria, would have its way, and in
much anguish of heart we submit. She was a lovely and tender plant;
too tender for this world. Her age was twenty years, ten months and
eight days.

SUNDAY, February 22. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Matthew 22 is read.
Brother Benjamin Funk speaks. He and Brother Benjamin Driver were with
me last night. Snow fell last night and to-day about ten inches deep.

SUNDAY, March 8. Jacob Silvins's little son Jacob is buried to-day.
This is the third one of his children I have helped to bury within the
last two weeks.

TUESDAY, March 17. I am at Nimrod Judy's. I this day had a chance to
send a letter through the lines to Brother George Hoover, of Indiana.

SUNDAY, March 29. Preach funeral for three of Brother See's children.
Youngest, two years, five months and five days old; next, six years,
ten months and five days; oldest, nine years, five months and sixteen
days. They died of diphtheria.

THURSDAY, April 2. Attend the Beaver Creek council meeting. Joseph
Miller is elected to the ministry of the Word, and Daniel Miller to
the deaconship.

FRIDAY, April 3. Council meeting at the old meetinghouse. Joseph
Bowman and Joseph Harshberger are elected to the deaconship.

SATURDAY, April 4. Council meeting at the Mill Creek meetinghouse.
Isaac Long is ordained, and Noah Flory is elected to the deaconship.
Stay all night at old Daniel Wine's.

SATURDAY, April 18. About one o'clock this morning Abraham Funk came
for me. A man by the name of George Sellers met with the very sad
accident of having his leg broken. He had been in the Southern army,
and with a company of others who, like himself, were trying to make
their way to places within the Northern lines, and thus be out of the
reach of further molestation, he met with this misfortune. It happened
in this way: he was one of a company that was just leaving Abraham
Funk's by previous arrangement, about eleven o'clock in the night.
Near Abraham Funk's house, about two miles west of Broadway, the road
runs along the North Fork of the Shenandoah river, where the bank is
probably one hundred feet high, and very steep. This part of the road
lay directly in the line of the company's route, and, unfortunately,
just as they got into the road, right at this very steep place on the
bank of the river, an alarm of "Rebel scouts" seized the whole
company, and all together they went down to the river's edge, none
seriously hurt except Mr. Sellers, who had his leg broken. I made a
frame this morning to hold the fractured parts in place, and hope he
may do well. We are keeping the whole matter a profound secret to save
the life of a good man. He was taken back to Abraham Funk's, where he
is at this time receiving treatment in secret from me.

SUNDAY, April 19. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Epistle of Jude is
read. Abraham Glick is with us, and likewise Solomon Sherfey, of
Tennessee. Go to Abraham Funk's. George Sellers is doing well.

SUNDAY, April 26. Meeting at the Elk meetinghouse, in Page County,
Virginia. I speak from Heb. 2:3. TEXT.--_"How shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation?"_

I always feel embarrassed when I attempt to speak from this text. The
subject is so vast, and the matter so important, that my best efforts
fall far below the just demands of my theme. Nothing can properly be
said to be saved which has never been lost or in danger of being lost.
And in every case where anything is saved, the greatness of the
salvation depends upon the value of the thing saved, together with the
measure of effort and sacrifice required to effect it. Some years ago
a very destructive fire was raging in the city of Pittsburg. A
gentleman, who claimed to have been an eyewitness of the fire, related
the following incident to me. He said the firemen had just rescued a
family from a burning building, and thought they had all out, when one
of the rescued ladies looking around screamed out, "O, save my
Bessie!" "Where is she?" was cried out. "In the north room up stairs!"
A noble-hearted fireman, almost exhausted, risked his life to rescue
what he of course supposed to be a child; but what was his indignant
surprise on reaching the room, to find that the missing "Bessie" was
only a pet cat! The enraged fireman kicked the cat and cursed its
mistress. But his feelings would have been different had Bessie been a
little child softly sleeping in its cradle. This incident may help us
to realize the truth contained in the statement already made, that the
_greatness_ of any salvation depends upon the _value_ of the thing
saved as well as upon the effort and sacrifice made to save it.

It is plain that man's salvation is the subject of the text. But is
man lost? And if lost, in what sense is he lost? We read in Matt.
18:11, "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." It is
man's _life_ that is lost--natural or bodily life, and supernatural or
spiritual life. But is man's bodily life lost? It is, "for death hath
passed upon all men." The sentence of bodily death: "It is appointed
unto man once to die." "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return." If any supposes the death of the body to be a small thing,
let such a one go to a well-filled graveyard and pass one hour in
serious meditation in this silent city of the dead. Let him think of
the tears that have fallen there, of the sighs of anguish that have
reluctantly escaped from broken hearts. Let him think of the innocent
beauty and loveliness that lie buried there, of the hopes and the joys
that have been driven from the heart by the hand of the destroyer; and
then let him ask himself if "the wages of sin" is a thing of small
account. Let his mind run a little further, and he can but see that
the graveyard's solemn tale to the end of the world must be yearly
told. Death here writes his name anew every passing season in the
fresh mounds raised above the dead. And not only so, but the voice of
reason whispers into the ear of every passer-by the solemn word, "This
place is waiting for you."

Now, an apostle says: "It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we
know that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see
him as he is." And another apostle, as if commenting on this passage
says: "He shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body." I now ask, Does not this show that the
salvation in the text is truly _a great salvation_? But I have as yet
but touched the hem of the garment. And, indeed, in our low and
contracted state of mental power here we are barely able with our
highest and broadest reaches of thought to lay hold of more than the
hem of salvation's garment. "Heaven is his throne, and the earth is
the footstool of his feet." What the footstool is to the throne, nay
to him that sits upon it, such are our highest and purest conceptions
to the salvation which the Lord has provided. "Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to know what
God hath provided for them that love him."

I stated that man's life is lost. I have said something about the
bodily life that is lost by sin. I now turn to say something about the
spiritual life that is lost by sin. Paul says, and I am sure he means
what he says: "To be carnally minded is death." Now, what is it to be
carnally minded? Or, in other words, what is the carnal mind? Paul
answers in a general way, that it is ENMITY against God. Such a degree
of enmity that all who are carnally minded cannot and do not love God,
nor take pleasure in his service. Life is love; and love is life. The
spiritual _life_ that is lost by sin is what Jesus came to redeem and
save, and this life is man's love. Man's LOVE is perverted. It is
turned away from the Lord God and the neighbor, and directed to self
and the world. And when a man loves himself more than God, and the
world with its sinful lusts and pleasures more than he does his
neighbor, he is carnally minded.

Now let us turn to the Lord's words. In the Gospel recorded by Luke a
certain lawyer is represented as asking the Lord this question:
"Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said unto
him: "What is written in the law? how readest thou?" He answering
said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and
thy neighbor as thyself." Jesus said unto him, "Thou hast answered
right: this do, and thou shalt live."

Brethren, does not this look like the key to salvation? Does it not
open the door to a view of eternal life and blessedness? Our Lord
says: "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
When any one gives his heart to God in love like this, I think he is
in a saved state. And is it not a great salvation? Perfect love of
that which is good is perfect peace, because it drives evil from the
heart, which is the cause of all human misery. But the Lord, and the
Lord only, can change man from darkness to light and from death unto
life. He is the only Savior. He saves man by his Word and Holy Spirit.
He stands at every man's door and knocks. If any man will open the
door, he will enter that man's heart and dwell with him forever; and
Christ in the heart is salvation and eternal life.

THURSDAY, May 14. Go to Abraham Funk's. George Sellers is nearly well,
and in fine spirits. At half past five o'clock I start to the Annual
Meeting. Stay all night at Jacob Wine's.

FRIDAY, May 15. Dine and feed at Newman's furnace. Then go up through
the Trout Run valley, cross the Church mountains and get into the Lost
River valley near the place where the river disappears at the base of
the mountain. Stay all night at Landes's. I have seen no scouts or
pickets to-day.

SATURDAY, May 16. Get dinner at Jonathan Flory's, and stay all night
at Abraham Miller's.

SUNDAY, May 17. Stay at Brother Abraham Miller's all day. Have
preaching in the afternoon. Stay all night again.

MONDAY, May 18. Cross the Potomac river at Old Town; go up the
towpath; pass through Gibbontown near Flint Stone, and get to Abraham
Ritchey's, where I stay all night. Traveled thirty-three miles to-day.

TUESDAY, May 19. Get to Henry Hershberger's in Snake Spring valley,
where I stay all night. Twenty-eight miles to-day.

WEDNESDAY, May 20. Get to Brother Adam Snoberger's before dinner; but
spend balance of day there and in making a few calls. Have evening
meeting at the meetinghouse one mile away. Speak from John 10:9. Stay
all night at Brother Snoberger's.

THURSDAY, May 21. Come to Samuel Snider's; then to council meeting at
meetinghouse; and after dinner come to Brother Daniel Snoberger's at
Yellow Creek, where I stay all night. Fine day. It is ten miles from
Brother Snider's to Brother Snoberger's.

FRIDAY, May 22. Meeting at the meetinghouse. Subject, Hebrews 1. After
dinner go to Brother Leonard Furry's. Night meeting at the
meetinghouse. I speak from Rom. 1:16. Stay at Brother L. Furry's all
night. Fine day.

SATURDAY, May 23. Come fourteen miles to Clover Creek Meeting there in
forenoon and afternoon. Stay all night at Brother Dellinger's.

SUNDAY, May 24. Meeting at three places to-day. A delightful day as to
weather; and should be enjoyable to all in the way of good speaking.

MONDAY, May 25. Commence taking in questions in afternoon. Cloudy all
day. Stay all night at Brother Dellinger's.

TUESDAY, May 26. Discuss questions all day. Cloudy all forenoon, but
clears up in afternoon. Stay all night at Brother John Brumbach's.

WEDNESDAY, May 27. Discuss questions, but get through with business by
two o'clock; and the Annual Meeting breaks up. I come to Brother
Daniel Snoberger's, where I stay all night.

THURSDAY, May 28. Go to a store at Enterprise and buy a few articles.
After dinner come through Snake Spring valley and across Bloody Run to
Jesse O'Neil's, where I stay all night. Fine day.

FRIDAY, May 29. Come six miles to Chanyville; then eleven miles to
Gibbon; then two miles to John Deacon's where I get dinner and have
Nell fed; then twenty miles to Brother Abraham Miller's in Hampshire
County, Virginia, where I stay all night. Fine day.

SATURDAY, May 30. Come ten miles to Souer's, where I dine and feed;
then five miles out to the pike, and eight miles to North River; then
three miles to Brother Wilson's, but to get there have to ride two
miles out of the way to pass unmolested. Stay all night at Brother
Wilson's. Rain to-day.

SUNDAY, May 31. Come twenty-two miles to Nimrod Stradaman's, where I
dine and feed; then sixteen miles to James Fitzwater's, where I stay
all night. Fine day.

MONDAY, June 1. Come ten miles to Michael Wine's; get dinner, and in
afternoon cross the mountain and get home.

It may not be out of place to call the reader's attention to several
points of special interest connected with this journey of Brother
Kline to this the next to last Annual Meeting it was his privilege to
attend. Let the reader think of the distance to be traveled over in
going and coming--three hundred and thirty-four miles--all on the back
of his favorite Nell. Over a good road, in a time of peace, with
plenty of familiar friends by the way, such a distance with a good
horse would be but a delightful recreation to one accustomed, as was
Brother Kline, to horse-back riding. But a great part of his way lay
through a mountainous and thinly-peopled country, with only a path in
some places to direct his course; and, worst of all, he did not know
where he was safe from arrest, as army lines at this stage of the war
were almost constantly changing. How great, then, must have been his
love for the Brethren! Where can another man be found to compare with
him in fearless resolution to do what he believed would be pleasing to
the Lord and the Brethren, whom he loved more than he did his own
life! Neither was he encouraged by the Brethren at home to go. They
advised him not to go. But his heart was fixed; and his loving soul
would have been filled with melancholy sadness to have stayed at home
and thought of the warm hearts and kind hands he might have met by
going. He would rather see his Brethren and die, if necessary, than
_live_ without the sight.

From the time of his return from this journey to the close of the year
he did not venture far from home in a northern direction. On the
twelfth day of August he and Jacob Wine went on the yearly visit prior
to the visit council. They had to go to the counties of Pendleton and
Hardy, as the members in those counties were included in the district
over which Brother Kline was one of the overseers. They held visit
councils over there, and on their return home the two brethren were
arrested and taken before the military authorities on the eighteenth
day of August, 1863. Brother Jacob Wine came home with Brother Kline
to Brother Kline's house. They had been there but a short while when
they were both arrested. They gave a satisfactory account of their
business in those two counties, and were accordingly released. On the
twenty-fourth, just six days after the previous arrest, he was picked
up again and required to give account of himself. This he did in a
humble, truthful way, and was again let go. The following is on the
last page of the Diary for this year.

In this year, 1863, I have traveled 4,260 miles, all on horseback. I
have preached thirty-eight funerals: _fourteen_ for children under
five years of age; _eight_ for children between the ages of five and
ten years; _six_ for persons between the ages of ten and twenty years;
_three_ for persons between twenty and thirty years; _two_ for persons
between thirty and forty years; _two_ for persons between forty and
fifty years; _three_ for persons over eighty years of age.

In the last five and one-half months of our beloved brother's life, or
that portion of it which he lived between the first day of January,
1864, and the fifteenth of June, the memorable day of his death, are
not very full of interest. By this it is meant that the state of war
in Virginia, together with the hopeless condition of the Confederacy
and the demoralizing tendency of that condition upon the soldiery of
the land, raised insurmountable barriers in the way of activity on his
part. We find him mostly at home, save that he was much called to see
the sick and preach funerals in his immediate vicinity.

SUNDAY, May 1, he attended meeting at Green Mount for the last time.
He preached from Luke 19:7. The Editor was present, and still retains
some recollections of his line of thought; so that by means of these,
together with the Diary notes of this discourse, a tolerably just
reproduction of it may here be given. He seemed to be more than
usually pathetic in his delivery. In one of his tender appeals he
caught the writer's eye, and he can never forget the irresistible but
refreshing flow of tears that followed.

    TEXT.--"_And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he
    was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner._"

The Bible is a unit. The sum of its love and truth culminates in the
declaration that "the Son of man came to seek and to save that which
was lost." The portion of the chapter read in your hearing, which
immediately precedes my text, is a sufficient introduction to it. The
history of Zaccheus therein given is, or should be, familiar to all.
But my text may comprise some instructive and comforting truth to us,
which we, like those who attended the steps and heard the words of the
Lord in the flesh, may not so readily apprehend.

The disciples were deeply impressed with the sinless purity of their
great Teacher. But they did not as yet understand the character of his
mission. They could not rid their minds of the thought that his coming
was for the purpose of establishing, in some way, they knew not how,
an earthly reign of power and glory which would eclipse all that earth
had ever beheld. Hence we read that at one time they wanted to take
him by force, and make him a king. At another time the mother of two
of his disciples interceded in behalf of her two sons that the one
might sit on his right and the other on his left in his kingdom. What
sublime visions of worldly glory she had; and how deeply were her vain
imaginations rebuked! "Ye know not what ye ask."

These considerations aid us in our efforts to apprehend the character
of the impediments and obstacles in the way of our Savior's glorious
work of love. And here springs up a thought which I will dwell upon
for a little. I can not avoid the belief, forced upon me as it is by
what I see daily and have seen, that men do not widely differ now from
what men were in our Lord's time in the flesh. They do not love his
unqualified declaration--"My kingdom is not of this world"--any better
now than men did then. National greatness, in which the rich and
powerful may bear oppressive rule over the poor and weak, is the
height of their ambition. Such are not willing to eat and drink with
publicans and sinners. Things unseen and eternal are out of sight to
mortal eyes. Men doubt the declaration of the Bible that:

  "Beyond this vale of tears,
    There is a life above
  Unmeasured by the flight of years:
    And all that life is love."

It is this unbelief that fosters their love for the world and for
themselves. And the pride of heart that naturally goes with the love
of self is not willing to stoop to what is not highly esteemed among
men. It is not hard to see from the words of my text that there was a
very large measure of self-pride still clinging to the hearts of those
who composed the crowd now in attendance upon our Lord on this his
last journey from Jericho to Jerusalem. They thought it a stoop in
him, and out of place that he should condescend to go to be guest with
a man that is a sinner. It is plain from this that they did not know
themselves. Like the Pharisee, they justified themselves, and were
ready even to thank God that they were not like other men. But our
Lord came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. And
we should notice that by sinners he means such as _feel_ and _know_
themselves to be sinners. Jesus adapted himself to the _felt_ wants of
those he came to save. He had no sin-forgiving words for the
self-righteous. He had no blessing for the proud in spirit. He had no
promise for those who exalted themselves.

I love to contemplate this glorious feature of our blessed religion.
The docile, teachable disposition of the little child, coupled with
the honest confession of Peter: "I am a sinful man, O Lord," is the
low plane of feeling upon which the Savior enters the soul. It was
declared by a prophet respecting his first advent into the world:
"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low." Mountains and hills in this passage signify the proud and
self-exalted desires and lusts of the wicked man, which are to be laid
low because such states of heart and life forever oppose themselves to
the meekness and gentleness of Christ. But the principle of humility,
signified by a valley, is to be exalted: not that humility exalteth or
can exalt itself; but this truly humble state of mind prepares man to
receive the Lord's saving truth, and this exalts a man. "He that
humbleth himself shall be exalted."

For myself, Brethren, I can say with the Apostle Paul, that "in me,
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present
with me, but to do that which is good is not. For the good which I
would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.... I
delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I perceive a
different law in my members, warring against the will of my spirit,
and bringing me into captivity to the sway of sin in my members." Paul
here speaks of the inward man, and of the members or outward man. This
takes my thought to the tabernacle in the wilderness. It had an outer
court and an inner sanctuary. The tables of God's holy law were placed
in this most holy place. It was right in this most holy place, over
the mercy seat, which was the golden cover to the ark that contained
the tables of the law, that Jehovah had his dwelling place. It was
there he talked with Moses. The outer court was for offerings, and
served as a place for the confession of sin and its forgiveness.
Brethren, I am glad to think we are like this tabernacle, that we have
a most holy place, an inner sanctuary, in the inmost of our heart,
where Jesus has his dwelling place with us, and where his voice alone
is heard. In this holy of holies we feel his love, and it is there we
see his face. It is there that he appears to us the fairest among ten
thousand, and the one altogether lovely. It is here that we sing:

  "Jesus, I love thy charming name;
    'Tis music in mine ear;
  Fain would I sound it out so loud
    That earth and heaven might hear.

  "Yes, thou art precious to my soul;
    My transport and my trust:
  Jewels to thee are gaudy toys,
    And gold is sordid dust.

  "I'll speak the honors of thy name
    With my last fleeting breath:
  And, dying, clasp thee in my arms,
    The antidote of death."

Brethren, this is what I have gained, it is what you have gained, it
is what we all have gained by placing ourselves in sight of the Lord
as he was passing by. In itself, it was a small thing that Zaccheus
did. The tree which he ascended was not hard to climb; he was nimble,
for he _ran_ on before; and it did not take him long to climb, for he
had not much time. But in motive the act was great, because it was
done to get a sight of Jesus the Lord. The Lord knew this, and knew
also that his motive was not one of idle curiosity, but honest desire
to see him and to learn something more concerning him. And see how he
was blessed. Although he was looked down upon as being a sinner, and
felt in his heart that he was a sinner, still the blessed Savior
regarded it not out of place for him to go and be guest with him, and
crown the occasion with the joyful annunciation: "This day is
salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of
Abraham." All who believe in the Lord from the heart are sons of
Abraham, and heirs of God according to the promise.

Now, when any one goes to church to hear the Gospel preached, and
thereby to learn something about the Lord that he may have knowledge
of Jesus, he is doing in effect just what Zaccheus did. The same may
be said with regard to reading the Divine Word. It matters not how
great a sinner he may have been. No one now is likely to be a greater
sinner than was Mary Magdalene out of whom seven devils were cast; and
yet the Lord could say of her: "Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven, for she hath loved much." A dying saint was once heard to
say: "Hunt up all my sins; pile them mountain high; one breath of
faith sweeps them all away; and the more I'm forgiven the louder I'll
sing."

Ah, brethren and sisters, we can rejoice that the Lord condescended to
be a guest with us poor sinners. He proclaims salvation to every one
of us. And inasmuch as he has come in to sup with us and we with him,
let us hold him by the feet, ever welcome to our hearts, and he will
abide with us forever.

It is in a feeling of unavoidable sadness we now approach the closing
weeks of Brother Kline's life. We will now, with great care, trace his
steps going to and returning from the last Annual Meeting he was ever
permitted to attend.

FRIDAY, May 6. This is the day on which he started. He stayed the
first night with Reuben Regelman, then living in the head of what was
then called Germany, a remote section of Brock's Gap, and so called on
account of the number of original German people who settled there near
the close of the Revolutionary War. Regelman lived in a deep mountain
retreat, just in the line of what appeared to Brother Kline his safest
route.

SATURDAY, May 7. This day he crossed the Shenandoah mountain by a
near-cut pathway, coming down into Sweedlin valley, in Pendleton
County. He next crossed the Sweedlin mountain by a pathway, at the
foot of which flows the beautiful mountain river called the South
Fork. He followed this stream about two miles through a deep gorge
between Sweedlin mountain and the South Fork mountain, and got to the
widow Nelly Henkel's on top of the latter mountain in time for dinner.
From there he went to Sister Mary Bargdoll's on the South Mill creek,
where he stayed all night. He was now fifty miles on his way. He
reports the weather as being very pleasant so far.

SUNDAY, May 8. This day he visited Enoch Hyre's. From there he went to
old Brother Parks's. He then stopped on his way to read and pray with
old Sister Parks, who was entirely blind. From here he went to Brother
Martain Cosner's, where he had afternoon meeting, and preached from
one of his favorite texts, the Lord's invitation to all, given in
Matt. 11:28, 29, 30. He stayed all night at Brother Cosner's. All the
families he visited this day were then living northwest of Petersburg,
in Grant County, West Virginia. He reports another beautiful day. He
is now sixty-nine miles from home.

MONDAY, May 9. This day he had meeting by previous arrangement at
Andrew Cosner's, six miles further on in the direction of his route.
His subject was 1 Cor. 15:1, 2, 3. From here he went to Brother Thomas
Clark's, fifteen miles further on, where he stayed all night.
Beautiful weather continues.

TUESDAY, May 10. From Brother Clark's he went to Oakland, a station on
the B. & O. R.R., thirteen miles from Brother Thomas Clark's. Here he
took the train at 9:30 P.M., and Nell had rest. She had carried him on
her back one hundred and four miles in four and one-half days. Short
stages, but terribly hard roads a large part of the way. He arrived at
Bellaire at half past six the next morning. He started for Dayton,
Ohio, at seven, and got there at five in the evening. He stayed all
night at Brother Henry Flory's.

THURSDAY, May 12. From here he went to a love feast at the Cave Creek
meetinghouse, but is silent as to how he got there. The second chapter
of Hebrews was read. He stayed all night at Jonas Garber's. He says:
"There was frost this morning, but a delightful day."

FRIDAY, May 13. He took the train at Brookville station, seven miles
from Brother Jonas Garber's, and arrived at Hagerstown, near the place
of the Annual Meeting. He stayed all night at Brother Samuel Eiler's.
Another fine day.

SATURDAY, May 14. He reports meeting at the meetinghouse and a great
concourse of people. Also, a little rain to-day.

SUNDAY, May 15. Preaching at six places. A wonderful gathering of
people. Night meeting in Hagerstown. A little rain to-day. I stay all
night in Hagerstown.

MONDAY, May 16. To-day the Annual Meeting organizes for business.
Forms subcommittees; takes in queries; holds its session in
meetinghouse. I stay all night at old Brother Eiler's. A little
sprinkle of rain to-day.

TUESDAY, May 17. Discuss questions all day. Good order prevails. I am
glad to witness the dawning of intelligence in the minds of our
younger brethren in the ministry. We must keep up with the demands of
the age; not in the vain show of worldly fashion and love for things
new; but in our desire and power by the use of all divinely-appointed
means to commend the truth to every man's conscience by making it to
shine in all directions more and more unto the perfect day. I am glad
to see the zeal manifest in our younger brethren, and at the same time
equally glad to find it tempered with moderation.

WEDNESDAY, May 18. Finish business at half past eleven o'clock. After
dinner go to Brother James Wyatt's, where I stay all night. Also visit
the widow Sister Hardman.

THURSDAY, May 19. Come to Hagerstown and dine at Brother Brown's. I
then take cars to Andersontown, and come to Brother Peter Fesler's,
six miles away. After supper have night meeting in Columbus, where I
speak from Acts 4:13. Stay all night with Jeremiah Clemmens.

Having been more than usually impressed at our meeting with the
importance of Christian brethren making their conversations and lives
give testimony to the sincerity and intelligence of their professions
of faith in Christ, I resolved to turn my discourse to that bearing,
as much so as I could. With that view I took these words: TEXT.--_"And
they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."_

A very plain and self-evident truth comes to mind at the opening of my
discourse to-night. It is this truth, that no one can converse
intelligently upon any subject he does not understand, nor accomplish
any work of art without some previously acquired skill to do it. To
comply with the demands imposed upon every human being by these
fundamental and stubborn realities, all the means of education for the
mind and training for the body are provided. Man stands alone and
singular in this regard. Birds can sing and build their nests without
instruction; and bees can form their delicate cells of wax without a
guide.

It is also a well-recognized fact that the pupil gives evidence of the
character and ability of his teacher, in all the lines of science and
art. In the knowledge and practice of the things pertaining to man's
spiritual life on earth it is just the same. All that man does from
conscience, from what he believes to be his duty to God and to man,
this he calls religious. If his faith and life are firmly based and
established upon the Rock of God's eternal Truth, it can be known at
once who has been his teacher, and knowledge can be taken of him that
he has been with Jesus.

I do not wish to reflect particularly here upon the lack of evidences
of this kind among professing Christians generally, nor do I wish to
reflect censure upon the teachers under whose auspices these
professions have been made; but I do say, and am sorry, that from the
conduct and life of many professors of religion it would be hard to
tell certainly that they were not Mohammedans or disciples of
Confucius. But banishing all fancy and superstition, and ignoring all
religious forms and ceremonies, there is a way of making the truth
known that one has been with Jesus. The key that opens to this
knowledge is wrapped up in these words of our Lord: "_By this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples_, IF YE HAVE LOVE ONE FOR
ANOTHER."

Let us notice how this love was shown by Peter and John. I name them
here, because they are connected with my text. There lay a poor
beggar, lame from his mother's womb. He was but little noticed, save
as he was looked down upon with contempt. He asked an alms of Peter
and John as they were about entering the temple. Peter might justly
have said: "I have nothing in the way of silver or gold to give you,"
and have thus excused himself from all further trouble about the man.
But he did not treat the poor and impotent beggar in this way. He said
to him: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."
But this was not all. "He took him by the right hand, and LIFTED him
up." He was not only ready to instruct, but he was ready to HELP, and
that with his own hands.

But I have not told all. The two disciples took to themselves no touch
of credit for the lame man's being made to walk. Their love for the
Lord, and their desire to do good by publishing the news of his
healing and saving power, had so filled their hearts that there was no
room in them for any of the love of self and the world. Had they been
so disposed they might have taken to themselves great credit for what
they had done. They might have indirectly favored the impression that
if the Lord was at the bottom of the miracle they were at the top, and
very important factors in it. But the conduct and temper of the two
disciples was far from anything like this. When the people ran
together, greatly wondering, Peter said: "Why marvel ye at this? or
why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness
we had made this man to walk?" He then directed the attention of the
people to the crucified, risen and glorified Lord, to whose power and
love they ascribed all the honor.

It is known without telling that such humility of heart and exaltation
of the Lord is not natural with man. People of all grades, even the
enemies of the Lord, take knowledge from such as manifest this spirit
of love and meekness, that they have been and are with Jesus. In his
last conversation with his disciples he lifted his eyes to heaven and
said: "Father, I will, that they whom thou hast given me be with me
where I am, that they may behold my glory." This prayer must have a
present fulfillment in every one of the Lord's people in this world,
in order that they may have a future realization of it in the world to
come. To be with the Lord is to abide in him and he in us. "Abide in
me, and I in you." This is the crown of all blessedness. This is the
golden altar of sweet incense: the brightly burning lamp that lights
the way through the door into the marriage feast.

  "Forever with the Lord:
    Amen! so let it be:
  Life from the dead is in that word;
    'Tis immortality."

To be with Jesus is to be with him in affection and thought; to love
what he loves, and to believe what he teaches. One may be with Jesus
in place, and yet be very far from him in spirit. This was exemplified
by Judas. He sat at the same table with the Lord, but his heart, his
mind and feelings were very far away. At that very time he was
plotting his destruction, for Judas was a devil from the beginning.
Even Peter, just a little while after that, caught by the Lord's eye,
went out and wept bitterly. It is not, therefore, a local or personal
nearness which the Lord has in mind when he prays that all whom the
Father hath given him may be with him, but a nearness of heart, in the
affection of love, and the obedience of faith.

Brethren and friends, let me say to you, that it is the _duty_, and
not only the duty, but the highest attainment of Christian liberty, to
be with Jesus and to give knowledge to all around that one has not
only been, but now is every day with Jesus. True godliness, however,
does not desire to make a display of itself; it seeks no prominence in
the world; neither does it aspire to receive the applauses of men. It
does not ride upon the tempest of religious disputes, nor clothe
itself with the whirlwind of fanatical excitement. But, like the
Divine Spirit from which it springs, it speaks in the still, small
voice of tender compassion and love. Like its Lord, it enters a house,
the house of the humble, contrite heart, and would have no man know
it; but it cannot be hid.

Now, Brethren and friends, I have only touched some of the chords in
the beautiful anthem of my theme. I now leave it with you, hoping that
you may learn every note in it; and by the sweet music of a good life
delight the ears and warm the hearts of all who hear its rich
harmonies. Possibly you may never see my face or hear my voice again.
I am now on my way back to Virginia, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there. It may be that bonds and afflictions abide me. But I
feel that I have done nothing worthy of bonds or of death; and none of
these things move me; neither count I my life dear unto myself, so
that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have
received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.

THURSDAY, May 19. Come to Hagerstown and dine at Brother Brown's.

FRIDAY, May 20. Visit Sister Molly Clemmens; dine at Brother Jacob
Fesler's; sup at Brother Peter Fesler's, and by request have meeting
again in Columbus to-night. My subject is Matt. 7:13, 14. Stay at
Peter Fesler's all night. Warm and pleasant day.

SATURDAY, May 21. Visit Andrew Fertig's, where I stay till after
dinner. I then come to Middletown; and from there to Fall Creek
meetinghouse, to Brother David Miller's meeting. John 14 is read. I
speak upon the spirit and general scope of truth comprehended in the
chapter. Jacob Fry and wife are baptized. I then go home with old
Brother Jacob Miller, and after supper go to Brother David Miller's,
where I stay all night. Fine and warm day.

SUNDAY, May 22. Visit Absalom Painter; he is sick, and I think poorly.
Attend meeting at the meetinghouse. John 3 is read. I speak upon the
new birth, the most important matter that can possibly engage the
thought and occupy the heart of man, inasmuch as without it, there is
no salvation. Dine with Jacob Miller, who is a son of George Miller.
In the afternoon visit Joseph Funk's and from there I go to George
Hoover's where I stay all night. A fine but warm day.

MONDAY, May 23. Stay at George Hoover's till after dinner. In the
afternoon call at Joseph's and John's, and visit the Sulphur Springs.
Night meeting. Speak from First John, second chapter, last part of the
twenty-ninth verse: _"Every one that doeth righteousness is born of
him."_ A righteous life is the proof that one is born of God. Charity,
which is the love of doing good, is the child of the new birth. This
leads to righteousness or justice in all our dealings with one
another. I can not love my brother and at the same time seek undue
advantage of him, or try to cheat him in any way. The same is true in
dealing with those outside the Brotherhood. This righteousness shuts
down the gate upon the stream of all evil affections and lusts,
because it springs from that love which forever whispers in the heart:
"All things, whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even
so to them; for this is the law and the prophets."

Stay all night at Brother Yost's. His wife is Brother Hoover's
daughter.

TUESDAY, May 24. Take cars at seven o'clock and get to Richmond at
nine, and to Higgin's Station at eleven. From there I go to Brother
Nead's, five miles away; and after dinner to meeting at the
meetinghouse. Speak from Rom. 1:16, 17. After meeting come to Brother
Joseph Miller's, where I stay all night. Much rain this afternoon.

WEDNESDAY, May 25. Go to Arebaugh's meetinghouse. Love feast. John 1
is read. Stay all night at Brother Kensel's.

This is the last love feast Brother Kline ever attended. Tender memory
will drop a tear as she looks into his loving eye and sees him take
his last farewell and leave his last loving kiss on lips that his will
never touch again. But we should remember that thirty-five years have
passed since then. Many who took the parting hand on earth then, have,
one by one, since then, taken the meeting hand in heaven: "For God is
not the God of the dead, but of the living."

THURSDAY, May 26. Come to Dayton; buy some articles; dine at Brother
Henry Yost's, and also sup there. Take cars at half past six in the
evening and arrive at Columbus soon after nine. Stay there all night.

FRIDAY, May 27. Get to Oakland in the evening, and stay all night at
Rogan White's tavern. Two hundred and eighty-six miles from Columbus
to Oakland.

SATURDAY, May 28. Come to Brother James Abernathy's in a hired hack,
ten miles; and in afternoon come three miles to Brother Thomas
Clark's, where I have night meeting and stay all night. Fine day.

SUNDAY, May 29. Come to Brother Zachariah Hendrick's, where I have
meeting. Speak from John 1:17. In afternoon come through the mountain
top to Sister Eve Idleman's, where I stay all night. Frost this
morning.

MONDAY, May 30. Visit our old and blind Sister Parks; read for her and
pray with her. Come to Enoch Hyre's and stay till after dinner. I then
go to Brother John Judy's, where I stay all night. Leave appointment
to preach his deceased wife's funeral on Sunday, June 26.

TUESDAY, May 31. Call at Philip Kesner's; at Samuel Kesner's; cross
the mountain and call and get dinner at George Cowger's; then stop
awhile at Philip Emswiler's; exchange a few pleasant words with friend
Peter Warnstaff as I pass by his house; and get to Brother John Fulk's
in evening, where I stay all night. Fine, pleasant day.

WEDNESDAY, June 1. Come by Michael Wine's; dine with him; then come
across the mountain home.

From this time to the memorable day of his martyrdom there is nothing
in the Diary demanding special notice. Notice has already been taken
of his calling at George Cowger's on the South Fork in Pendleton
County, West Virginia, on his way home from this his last journey. At
Mr. Cowger's, while at the dinner table, he said: "I am threatened;
they may take my life; but I do not fear them; they can only kill my
body." This they accomplished.

WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1864. He went to a blacksmith's shop a few miles
away from home; had Nell shod; and on his return was killed by, it is
supposed, some concealed person or persons on a ridge of timber land a
few miles away from home. Some account of his funeral has already been
given in the introduction to this work. His body, when discovered,
showed that it had been pierced by several bullets. But a smile rested
on his face. The writer's own eyes witnessed this. It may be that this
smile was the reflection of the joy that thrilled his soul as he
stepped out of his broken tenement of clay into the presence and light
of his Redeemer. Stephen's living face was as the face of an angel.
Brother Kline's dead face was the face of a saint--no, not the face of
a saint, but the face of the earthly casket in which a saint had
lived, and labored, and rejoiced; and out of which he stepped into the
glories of the eternal world. Amen!


_He Died at His Post._

[Said to have been composed by Brother Kline on the death of Joseph
Miller, who died while on a visit to Ohio.]

  Away from his home and the friends of his youth
  He hasted, the herald of mercy and truth,
  For the love of his Lord and to seek for the lost
  Soon, alas! was his fall, but he died at his post.

  The stranger's eye wept that in life's brightest bloom
  One gifted so highly should sink to the tomb;
  For in order he led in the van of his host,
  And he fell like a soldier, he died at his post.

  He wept not himself that his warfare was done,
  The battle was fought and the victory won,
  But he whispered of those whom his heart clung to most,
  "Tell my Brethren for me that I died at my post."

  He asked not a stone to be sculptured with verse;
  He asked not that fame should his merits rehearse;
  But he asked as a boon when he gave up the ghost,
  That his Brethren might know that he died at his post.

  Victorious his fall, for he rose as he fell,
  With Jesus his Master in glory to dwell.
  He has passed o'er the stream and has reached the bright court,
  For he fell like a martyr; he died at his post.

  And can we the words of his exit forget?
  O, no, they are fresh in our memory yet.
  An example so brilliant shall not be lost;
  We will fall in the work, we will die at our post.






End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life and Labors of Elder John Kline,
the Martyr Missionary, by John Kline

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