Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary: Collated from his Diary by Benjamin FunkKline, John
Religion
Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary: Collated from his Diary by Benjamin Funk
Kline, John
Kline, John, 1797-1864
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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