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.