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.