c-h
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 FELIX NEFF.
 
 LONDON: 
 GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, 
 ST. JOHN'S SQ'JAEE.
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 FELIX NEFF, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE HIGH ILPS; 
 
 AND OF 
 
 HIS LABOURS AMONG THE FRENCH PROTESTANTS 
 OF DAUPHINE, 
 
 A REMNANT OF THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS OF GAUL. 
 
 WILLIAM STEPHEN GILLY, M.A. 
 
 PREBENDARY OF DURHAM, AKD VICAR OF NORHAM. 
 
 " There are very few habitations in Dormilleuse which are not liable to be swept away, 
 for there i» not a tpot, in tliis narrow corner of the Valley of Frcssinit-re, which can be 
 coniiidered abitolulely safe But terrible as tlie situation of the natives is, they owe to it 
 their reli|;iu>jR, and perhaps their physical existence. If their country had been more 
 iecure, and more accessible, tliey would have been exterminated, like the inhabitants 
 of Val Louise." — Savr'* Joi'rnal. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON, 
 
 SI. I-Af t.'H CIIUKCII VAKD, 
 AMI WATKKl.OO I'LACE, I'ALL MAM.. 
 
 1 H32.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction • • 1 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Neff's Birth and Education — His first Tastes and Occupa- 
 tion — His military Career — Leaves the Army and be- 
 comes a Probationer for Holy Orders — Exercises the 
 Functions of a Probationer in the Swiss Cantons 41 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 Neff goes to France to officiate at Grenoble and Mens — 
 His Observations on National Churches — The Nature of 
 his Charge at Mens — His laborious Duties — Remarks on 
 the Effects produced by Sacred Music — Neff's Method 
 •with his Catechumens 49 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Neff's difficulties as to Ordination — His reasons for not 
 being ordained by the Genevan Clergy — Goes to Eng- 
 land for his diploma — His return to France and rect-p- 
 tion at Mens — His nomination as Pastor of the High 
 Alps — His first visits to the mountain hanikHs of his 
 parish 80
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Description of the department of the High Alps — Restitu- 
 tion of Protestant rights — Organization of Reformed 
 Churches of France — Nature and extent of Neff"s pas- 
 toral charge — Henry Oberlin — Description of the Valleys 
 of Fressiniere and Queyras, and of NefF's parish — The 
 pass of the Guil — Xeff at Arvieux, and in his presbytery 
 at La Chalp — His progress through his parish — San 
 Veran — Pierre Grosse — Fousillarde — The Pastor's mani- 
 fold duties — Neff"s winter journey to Val Fressiniere — 
 Palons — Tlic Rimasse — Dormilleuse — Xeff's description 
 of Dormilleuse, and of the condition in which he found 
 the remains of the primitive Christians there — His peri- 
 lous labours there » 103 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 NefF organizes Reunions, or Prayer-meetings — His opinion 
 of the necessity of such meetings — Netf 's last exhorta- 
 tion to his flock on the subject — His exhortations ex- 
 amined — An inquiry into the effects and utility of Prayer- 
 meetings — The sentiments of Thomas Scott not in favour 
 of them — Those of Bishop Heber the same — Observations 
 on Family Worship ■ 142 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NefF at Champsaur — His difficulties there — From Champ- 
 saur to Val Fressiniere — His Employments from break 
 of day to midnight — His account of the Consecration of 
 the new Church of Violins — His discussion with a 
 Vaudois Pastor — Wretched condition of the Natives of 
 Val Fressiniere — An affecting Incident — Neff" institutes
 
 CONTENTS. VU 
 
 associations of the Bible and Missionary Societies among 
 his Alpines — Passage of the Col d'Orsiere — Progress of 
 his Catechumens at Champsaur — Laments over the levity 
 of some of his Flock — Prevents the appointment of an 
 unworthy Pastor at Champsaur 153 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NefF's method and good understanding with the Roman 
 Catholics — His interview with a Romish Priest — A 
 family sketch — The convert of Arvieux — A death-bed 
 scene — The Mission — Controversies — Anecdote — The 
 Cure — Palons — The shepherdess Mariette 180 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NefF's self-denial — Reminiscences in Val Fressiniere and 
 Val Queyras — The Alpine Pastor's duties and mode of 
 life — Passion week in Dormilleuse and Val Fressiniere 209 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Keflf's extraordinary influence over his Flock — How ob- 
 tained — His improvements introduced into the condition 
 of the Alpines — Their wretched state previously to his 
 arrival — Proposes to himself the example of Oberlin — 
 The Aqueduct — The Christian Advocate — Neff a teacher 
 of Agriculture — Xeff at the Fair of St. Crepin — Obser- 
 vations *22() 
 
 ciiapti:r X. 
 
 Neff's caution in the choice of his Catcchists — Neff in his 
 schools — Works at the building of a school-room in 
 Dormilleuse — Establishes and conducts a normal school 
 for the training of catocliists and schoolmasters — The
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 difficulties of this undertaking — The farewell repast — 
 NefF's remarks on the characters of the young men of 
 his adult school, and on tlic effects produced by it — 
 Observations on the state of public instruction in France 246 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 NefF's strength faOs — Winter horrors of Dormilleuse — 
 Neff obliged to return to Switzerland — Parting Scenes — 
 NefF goes to the baths of Plombieres — His last address 
 to his Alpine flock — His sufferings and patience — His 
 last hours — His death at Geneva 281 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Review of Neff's character — Its value as an example — 
 His practical wisdom and usefulness — His prudence and 
 caution — His gentleness of spirit — His conciliating 
 manners — Two remarkable traits — Neff compared with 
 Bernard Gilpin, George Herbert, Oberlin, and Henry 
 Martyn — Testimonies to Neff's services 310 
 
 Postscript 329
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 When a volume is sent from the press, containing 
 memorials of persons and places unknown to the 
 world, and the author claims the attention not 
 only of those, who read for amusement principally, 
 but also of the learned and the reflecting, he must 
 expect some such questions as these to be asked : 
 Upon what documents are these statements found- 
 ed ? From wliat original papers are these memoirs 
 composed ? How came the author acquainted with 
 scenes and people, whose history he alleges to be 
 of moment to society at large, but whose names 
 are perfectly new to us ? How has he had access 
 to records, which we did not know to be in exist- 
 ence ? I hope to answer these enquiries satisfac- 
 Ic^rily, and to >Ii()\v t]i;it those, who have extended 
 their raml)h's to some ot* tlie obscurest corners of 
 civilized Europe, or who have been poring over 
 tin; most neglected, dull, and wearisome pages of 
 writers and clironich'rs of (hiys long since, may 
 ttriiig lad- to li^lit w liidi li;i(l escaped notice, ;ind 
 
 B
 
 •i INTRODUCTION. 
 
 niav illustrate some of the most important sub- 
 jects ill history. 
 
 it has l)een my good fortmic to have had op- 
 portunities of examining the treasures of ecclesi- 
 astical liistorv, in libraries rich in such stores ; and 
 the more I have read, the more I have felt con- 
 vinced that the secluded glens of Piemont are not 
 the only retreats, where the descendants of 
 PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS may be found. Under 
 this term I mean to speak of persons who have 
 inherited a Christianity, which the Church of 
 Rome has not transmitted to them, and who, from 
 father to son, have essentially preserved the mode 
 of faith, and the form of discij)line, which were 
 received, when the Gospel was first planted in 
 their land. I have discovered ample reason to 
 believe, that there is scarcely a mountain region 
 in our quarter of the globe, which is poor, and un- 
 inviting, and difficult of access, where the primi- 
 tive faith, as it was preached by the earliest 
 messengers of tlie truth, did not linger for many 
 ages, after the Romish Hierarchy had established 
 itself in the richer countries, and in the plains ; 
 and moreover, that there are still many mountain 
 districts, where the population has continued 
 Christian, from generation to generation, to the 
 present hour ; Christian, in non-conformity with 
 the church usurping the appellation. Catholic. 
 It was their obscurity and non-intercourse with 
 the world, during the period of almost general
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 submission to the Romish yoke, which preserved 
 tliem from corruption. Traces of such churches 
 in the Alps, in the Pyrenees, and in the Apen- 
 nines, are clearly discernible in the Canons of 
 Councils and in the writings of most of the Romish 
 annalists and controversialists of France, Spain, 
 and Italy, up to the great epoch of Papal supre- 
 macy in the eleventh century; and the light, which 
 modern researches is casting every year upon the 
 history of nations, helps us to perceive, that the 
 chain, which connects the Primitive and the Pro- 
 testant Churches, is unbroken in various places, 
 where it w^as supposed to have been dissevered. 
 There are very few readers, who do not imagine, 
 that every vestige of the Albigensians was swept 
 from the earth, during the crusades of Simon de 
 Montford, and that the ancient churches of Pro- 
 vence and Dauphine, which formed the stock, on 
 which the Reformed congregations of the south of 
 France were grafted in the sixteenth century, were 
 utterly cut down, root and branch, after the revo- 
 cation of the Edict of Nantes. This, however, was 
 not tlic case : some few remnants were spared ; and 
 families in ttie remote valleys of the Pyrenees, and 
 otflic Aljjs, lia\(' bt^en permitted to experience the 
 promise ol" the |{c(lcciii('r, " \\ licrc two oi- fbi-ce are 
 gatliered togetlicr in luy name, there am I in flie 
 midst of fbein. " 'I'licse ba\(' ])reser\((l liie |)iire 
 kno\Nle(lne wliicli ilirir lordal licis Iraiisniilled 
 to tlieiii, and tile .-cri))! iiial i^reetiii^- " Aipiila 
 
 b2
 
 INTUODUCTION. 
 
 and Priscillu siilutc you in the Lord, with the 
 Cliurcli which is in their house," has oftentimes 
 been passing from one secluded spot to another, 
 wlien all were supposed to have been dragooned 
 into the service of the Mass. And not only so, 
 but in some few instances, whole communes, or 
 ])arislies, liave refused to submit, even outwardly, 
 to the exactions of Romish usurpation. 
 
 The following pages record an example of this. 
 
 My belief, that the dreary wildernesses of the 
 Alpine provinces of France might still be har- 
 bouring some of these descendants of the primitive 
 Christians of Gaul, was confirmed by a letter wdiich 
 I received in the winter of 1826, from the Reverend 
 Francis Cunningham, to whom the Protestant 
 cause owes much. His frequent journeys, and 
 correspondence, and his unlimited philanthropy, 
 have put him in the way of knowing much that is 
 going on among all that is truly Christian on the 
 Continent. He w as greatly instrumental in bring- 
 ing the imperishable name of Oberlin under the 
 notice of English readers, and to him my grateful 
 thanks are due, for the first information I received 
 of Neff, and his Christian labours. The letter, 
 to w liich I allude, contained the information that 
 Felix Neff, a young clergyman, w^as then toiling 
 among a people, in Dauphine, so poor, that they 
 had no means of providing salaries for ministers 
 or schoolmasters : and so little favoured by nature, 
 tliat for seven months out of twelve, their land lay
 
 INTIIODUCTION. O 
 
 buried iu snow. Two years afterwards Mr. Ciin- 
 iiiugham sent me a paper, drawn up by Netf him- 
 self, describing' the nature of his charge, and some 
 of the difficulties he had to encounter. I now 
 present the substance of that paper to the reader, 
 as an explanatory preface, which will at once put 
 him in possession of some of the circumstances 
 which ought to render the name of NefF himself, 
 and of his Alpines, dear to all who venerate heroic 
 zeal, and devoted benevolence. 
 
 *' In those dark times, when the Dragon, of 
 whom St. John speaks', made war w^ith the rem- 
 nant of the seed, which kept the commandments 
 of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, 
 some of those, who escaped from the edge of the 
 sword, found a place of refuge among the moun- 
 tains. It was then that the most rugged valleys, 
 of tlie French department of the High Alps, were 
 peopled by the remains of those primitive Christ- 
 ians ^ who, after the example of Moses, when he 
 preferred the reproach of Christ to the riches of 
 Egypt, changed their fertile plains for a frightful 
 wilderness, l^iit fanaticism still pursued tliem, 
 and neither their p«n erty, nor their innocence, nor 
 the glaciers and j)recipices among which tliey 
 dwelt, entirely protected them ; and the caverns 
 wliicli -<'r\c(l tliciii tor cliin'chc^s, were often 
 wusIhmI w ill) tlicii' lilood. Pi'('\ i(>u<lv to tlic l^'^ol•- 
 
 ' Ktv. xii. 17. ' !'<■« rcsti's (lis ("Im'licii.s I'liiiiilils.
 
 () INTU()l)r( TION. 
 
 Illation, the Valley of Fressiiiiere was the only 
 place in France where they could maintain their 
 ground, and even here, they were driven from the 
 more productive lands, and were forced to retreat 
 to the very foot of the glacier, where they built 
 the village of Dormillcusc. This village, con- 
 structed like an eagle's nest, upon the side of a 
 mountain, was the citadel where a small portion 
 that was left established itself, and where the race 
 has continued, without any mixture with stran- 
 gers, to the present da)^ Others took up their 
 dwelling at the bottom of a deep glen, called La 
 Combe, a rocky abyss, to which there is no exit, 
 where the horizon is so bounded, that, for six 
 months of the year, the rays of the sun never pene- 
 trate. These hamlets, exposed to avalanches, and 
 the falling of rocks, and buried under snow half 
 the 3'ear, consist of hovels, of which some are 
 without chimneys and glazed windows, and others 
 have nothing but a miserable kitchen and a stable, 
 which is seldom cleaned out more than once a 
 year, and where the inhabitants spend the greater 
 part of the winter wath their cattle, for the sake of 
 the warmth. The rocks, by vihich they are en- 
 closed, are so barren, and the climate is so severe, 
 that there is no knowing how these poor Alpines, 
 with all their simplicity and temperance, contrive 
 to subsist. Their few sterile fields hang over pre- 
 cipices, and are covered, in places, with enormous 
 blocks of granite, which roll every year from the
 
 INTUODrcTlON 
 
 cliffs above. Some seasons even rye will uol 
 ripen there. The pasturages are, many of them, 
 inaccessible to cattle, and scarcely safe for sheej). 
 Such wretched soil cannot be expected to yield 
 any thing- more than what will barely sustain life, 
 and pay the taxes, which owing to the unfeeling- 
 negligence of the inspectors, are too often levied 
 without proper consideration for the unproductive- 
 ness of the land. The clothing of these poor crea- 
 tures is made of coarse wool, which they dress 
 and weave themselves. Their principal food is 
 unsifted rye ; this they bake into cakes in the 
 autumn so as to last the whole year. 
 
 " The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1686, 
 deprived them of their ministers, and we may 
 judge what their condition must have been for 
 many years ; Init still there was ilot a total famine 
 of the Word among them. They met together to 
 read the Bible and to sing psalms ; and although 
 they liad an ancient church in Dormilleuse, they 
 were building a second in La Combe, which was 
 not finished when I first arrived there. Such was 
 their situation wlien Providence directed me to 
 their valleys in iH'ili. They received me most 
 gladly ; they attended my preaching with eager- 
 ness, and gave tliemselves iij) to iiiv giiidaucc in 
 all tliat I undertook for their iii»|)rovemeiil. I'lic 
 limits of this short notice will not j)ermil me to 
 enter into an V detail of iii\ |tri»eee( lings, diirinu' the 
 three years and a hall lliat 1 remained with iheni
 
 8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I will merely state that my instructions were not 
 unproductive of good ; that many young men have 
 been put in the way of opening schools during the 
 winter ; that the sunday-schools have been fre- 
 quented by adults who could not profit by the 
 lessons given in the day-schools open to younger 
 persons. Up to this period the girls and the 
 women had been almost entirely neglected. With 
 the assistance of subscriptions from foreigners, one 
 school-room has been built, and another is in pre- 
 paration. Several of the inhabitants have shown 
 a strono- inclination to take advantao:e of the in- 
 formation , which I have given them on agriculture 
 and architecture, and in the principles of some of 
 the useful sciences, which hitherto were utterly 
 unknown to them. I have distributed many 
 Bibles, New Testaments, and other books of piety 
 among them, which, I have been pleased to find, 
 were not only received with gratitude, but such as 
 were sold were readily purchased at prime cost. 
 In truth, the religious knowledge communicated 
 to them has been so blessed, that you would not 
 find in any part of France more genuine piety or 
 simplicity of manners. But still it can hardly be 
 expected that this improvement will be permanent, 
 considering their physical, moral, and religious 
 condition, so long as they are without the minis- 
 tration of regular pastors. Up to the present time 
 the Valley of Fressiniere has not a pastor of its 
 own. It is served in connexion with the churclies
 
 INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 of Val QuejTas, which are ten leagues distant, on 
 the other side of the Durance, and are separated 
 by a loftv range of mountains, whose passes are 
 not only very difficult, but absolutely dangerous 
 in the winter. The visits of the pastor are, there- 
 fore, necessarily few and at long intervals, and the 
 people are obliged to wait his convenience, until 
 they can have their children baptized, the nuptial 
 blessing pronounced, or any of the church services 
 performed. Moved by the destitute condition of 
 these mountaineers, who are endeared to me, not 
 only by their own amiable disposition, but by their 
 interesting origin, 1 would most willingly devote 
 myself to their service, and submit to all manner 
 of deprivation and fatigue as their pastor ; but 
 the frequent journeys from one church to another, 
 in the Valleys of Fressiniere and Queyras, have 
 been too much for me, and total exhaustion, pro- 
 ceeding from this cause, and from a stomach com- 
 plaint, brought on by living on unwholesome food, 
 have so disabled me, that I am obliged to remove 
 myself for the present, with very slight hopes of 
 ever being so restored as to l^e able to return. 
 
 " At this juncture, when respect for the adhe- 
 rents of the primitive doctrines and forms of Christ- 
 iaiiiiy lias manifested itself so conspicuously in 
 Ijchalf of the Protestants of the Valleys of Piemont, 
 I have thought it my duty to give })ublicitv to tlic 
 fact, that their brctlircii of (lie I-'rcncb Alps aic 
 • •(|iially ol»jcct> (tl' iiih'ir>(, and iinicli more in
 
 10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 iliLi'ciit, althoiigli tlicy luive hitherto remained 
 unknown iind unnoticed. It is therefore my 
 intention to pul)lish a history of this church, in 
 which 1 shall not only give a detailed account of 
 its present condition, but shall trace its origin up 
 to the remotest antiquity," 
 
 There was enough in this modest allusion of 
 Neft' to his own labours, and in his generous 
 expression of concern for the Alpines of Dau- 
 phinc, to make me anxious to know more both 
 of this a])ostle of the Alps himself, and of his 
 Hock ; and as I was about to make a journey to 
 the Waldenses of Piemont, I determined to visit 
 the sublime and secluded scenery of the Val 
 Fressiniere, either on my w^ay to Italy or on my 
 return. This resolution was carried into effect, 
 and I had the gTatification of traversing nearly 
 the whole of the mountain region, wdiich is now 
 consecrated to the memory, not only of martyrs 
 of former times, but of an eminent confessor of 
 our own days, who, combining in his individual 
 character the usefulness of the pastor Olierlin, 
 and the devotedness of the missionary Martyn, 
 did spend and was spent in the service of his 
 Redeemer. Neff had gone to his rest a few 
 months only before my arrival at Dormilleuse ; 
 and from all that I saw and heard of the effects 
 of his ministry, I judged that a memoir of his 
 short, but extraordinary career, would not be an 
 uninteresting addition to the christian records of
 
 INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 the age in which we live. Having- explored the 
 scenes where he prepared the children of tlie 
 mountain for the coming of their Lord, and made 
 myself acquainted with the locality of every 
 hamlet within his extensive charge, I hope to be 
 better able to elucidate the present and former 
 history of this Alpine church, than any person 
 who has not enjoyed the same opportunities of 
 picking up information on the spot. The notes 
 of my journey contain many anecdotes of Neff, 
 supplied by those who knew him, and observa- 
 tions on the country and its peculiarities, while 
 its gTand scenery was before my eyes. But still, 
 with all these advantages, I could not have done 
 justice to my subject, had I not been indebted to 
 tlie great kindness of Miss Mary Elliott, of West- 
 field Lodge, for the journals of Neff himself. 
 These form the principal source from which the 
 substance of the memoir w^as drawn ; and if I had 
 been i)ut in possession of all the circumstances 
 relating to those papers, I believe I should have 
 liad to state, that many of Neff's noljle projects 
 could not have been carried into cHect, but for 
 the benevolent friend in Engkmd to wliom liis 
 journals were consigned. 1 liaxc liirl her acknow- 
 ledgments to make to the Rev. Richard Burgess, 
 liritish chaplain at Geneva, for the transmission 
 of a small tract, lately published under the title 
 of " Notice sur Felix Neff, Pasteur dans les 
 Ibiiiles Alpes. Fi-oiii this 1 have enriched llie
 
 \'2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 narrative with recollections, that have been pre- 
 served of Neff's early life and of his dying moments; 
 hut not having" fonnd any trace, either in this 
 " Notice," or in the journals, of his intended 
 history and origin of the church of the French 
 Alj)s, I conclude that Nefi' was disabled by long- 
 illness from carrying his design into effect, and I 
 have therefore attempted to supply the defect, by 
 giving the result of my own researches. I have 
 also filled up the relation with such remarks as 
 naturally occurred to one, who had visited the 
 scene under description, and conversed with the 
 extraordinary race, of whom it may literally be 
 said, " strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou 
 puttest thy nest in a rock." 
 
 But before I enter upon the relation of NefF's 
 personal exertions, I must clear the wa}^ by de- 
 scribing the situation of the country where he 
 was the hard-working pastor, and by explaining 
 the nature of the evidence which may be adduced 
 in support of the hypothesis, that his mountain 
 flock are descendants of the primitive Christians 
 of Gaul. This exposition will, in fact, give a 
 synoptical view of the Alpine churches of France 
 from the earliest times. 
 
 I. — Situation of the Country. 
 
 The scene of Neff "s labours is to be found in liie 
 most elevated region of France ; in the heart of
 
 INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 that mountain territory, which lies between the 
 Rhone and the barrier Alps, which separate France 
 from Italy, and in the same degree of latitude, 
 and within a hundred miles of the Protestant 
 Valleys of Piemont. It is necessary to be minute 
 in describing the exact situation of the country, 
 and to o'ive it both its ancient and its modern 
 designation, because, without this, the reader may 
 fall into the inveterate error, that all Alpine Pro- 
 testants must be Swiss'. Notwithstanding all 
 that has been written lately about those Italian 
 
 ' So little is known of the Protestants of Dauphine and Pro- 
 vence, and their origin, tliat tlu' following is part of the account 
 given of the massacres at Cabrieres and Merindol, in the six- 
 teenth century, by the author of the life of Francis the First : 
 " The inhabitants of Cabrieres and Merindol had then a great 
 inclination for the doctrines which Luther had so successfully 
 promulgated, and which their neighbourhood to Germany and 
 Switzerland had made these people more intimately acquainted 
 with, than those of the surrounding French district. From 
 being tolerated as they were at first, they began to indulge in 
 that jealous insolence which is common to heretics of all descrip- 
 tions, and not content with pursuing their own system of worship, 
 they attacked that of the professors of the Church of Rome." 
 
 The People liere mentioned were not Lulficraus, they were 
 descendants of the primitive Christians of Gaul. Merindol 
 and Cabrieres are not in the neighbourhood of Germany or 
 Switzerland, they are villages on the Durance in Provence, in 
 the south of France. That the victims were not fanatics, that 
 they had indulged in no insolence, and had not assailed the 
 Roman Catholics first, may be learnt from the Roman Catholic 
 hihtorian I)e Thou.
 
 14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Protestants, tlie Vaiulois or Waldenscs of the 
 Valleys of Pieinont, there is scarcely one person 
 in ten, to Avhoni their history is otherwise well 
 known, who does not yet run into the mistake, 
 that they are natives of Switzerland and not of 
 Italy. Lest any confusion should arise as to the 
 locality of Neff's flock, it must be borne in mind, 
 that they are inhabitants of that province, which 
 is delineated in the maps of ancient Gaul under 
 the name of Gallia Narbonensis. Alpes Mari- 
 timee, and Caturiges, are subdivisions of Gallia 
 Narbonensis, within the limits of which, we shall 
 find the city Embrodunum (the modern Embrun), 
 and the river Druentia, (now the Durance.) These 
 give the exact bearings of the deep glens, in 
 which the ancestors of the objects of our interest 
 took refuge. In the maps of modern France, 
 Embrun and the Durance, will be found in the 
 province called Dauphine, or the Delphinate, and 
 in the department styled " Les Hautes Alpes," 
 or the high Alps, a name which well describes 
 the nature of the country, and its formidable 
 aspect. Ancient historians did not magnify the 
 difficulties of traversing it, when they spoke of the 
 region of the Durance as presenting more impedi- 
 ments to the passage of an army, than any other 
 region in Gaul'. A writer, of the present day^, 
 has represented the march of an army through 
 
 ' Livy lib. xxi. Silv. Ital. lib. xxxviii. ' Sismondi.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 this district to be utterly impossible, unless it be 
 provided with the means of blasting the rocks, 
 of throwing" bridges over the terrible abysses that 
 yawn on every side, and of cutting galleries on 
 the edge of precipices. In one of the latest geo- 
 graphical delineations \ the department is repre- 
 sented as being walled in and intersected by high 
 mountains, whose tops are covered with snow, hav- 
 ing a soil and climate so variable, that if you are 
 making a journey of two short days, you will be 
 in the midst of smiling villages, enjoying a bright 
 sky and a warm sun, and delicious productions of 
 the earth one day, and the next you wdll be shiver- 
 ing with cold, and chilled with the sight of black 
 rocks, or frozen snows, and despairing of obtaining 
 a morsel of food to your taste. The author of a 
 well written little book, entitled "• Hannibars Pas- 
 sage of the Alps, by a member of the University 
 of Cambridge," considers this to have been the 
 region (and De Thou, the historian, was of the 
 same opinion) where Hannibal found the greatest 
 obstacles in forcing his way through the rugged 
 d('])ths, and over the lofty summits, wliich lay in 
 liis line of ii)an;h. " The appearance of tlie Alps 
 (ahitiido uioiiliiiiii, iiives(jiie cd'h) prope immistae,) 
 and tlic savage luid di-eary aspect of every thiiio- 
 animate and iiiaiiiinalc, around fln-ni, absohitcly 
 
 ' "Tableau Gt'Of^rapliiciuc tt St;iti.sti(|iu' dii Drpaiii'iiu'iit di-s 
 IIuutc'H Alpcs."
 
 16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 torriHed tile Cartliagiiiians. " That wliicli will be 
 tliouglit as much to our purpose as the face of the 
 country, is the character of the people there. The 
 indomitable spirit imputed to their ancestors by 
 ancient historians, has been inherited, from gene- 
 ration to generation, by the mountaineers of more 
 recent times; and the compiler of the " Atlas of 
 Gaul," enumerates them among the most resolute 
 defenders of their liberties K But the most ex- 
 traordinary description of all is that, which is 
 recorded in the pages of De Thou, and for this 
 reason : what De Thou represented the mountain- 
 eers of this territory to have been in the sixteenth 
 century, Neff found them, with very little differ- 
 ence, in the nineteenth ; and I myself saw them in 
 1829, under circumstances which recalled the 
 French historian's account strongly to my mind. 
 
 " Of all these regions the Val Frcssiniere is the 
 most repulsive and wild ; its soil is sterile and un- 
 productive, and its inhabitants are most lament- 
 ably poor. They are clothed in sheepskins, and 
 they have no linen in use, either for their gar- 
 ments or their beds. They sleep in the clothes 
 which they wear during the day. They inhabit 
 seven villages, and their houses are made of stone, 
 with flat roofs, and mud cement. In these hovels 
 
 ' Atlas Novus Galliae. Amstelodami, IGIJ). " Incola; 
 magni sunt libcrtatis suae assertatorcs et aestimatores. — Militia 
 contra hosteni feroces."
 
 INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 the people and their cattle live together, and they 
 often take refuge in caves when they expect an 
 attack from their enemies, in one corner of which 
 they themselves lie concealed, and, in the other, 
 their sheep and kine. They subsist principally on 
 milk and venison, and their occupation is tend- 
 ing their cattle. The}' are skilful marksmen, and 
 seldom miss either the chamois or the bear ; but 
 fi-om the filthy manner in which they devour the 
 flesh of these animals, they become so offensive to 
 the smell, that strangers can scarcely bear to be 
 within scent of them. Happy in these their scanty 
 resources, they are all equally poor alike ; but 
 they have no mendicants among them, and, con- 
 tented among themselves, they very seldom form 
 either friendships or connexions with others. In 
 this state of squalidness, which causes them to 
 present a most uncouth appearance, it is surprising 
 that they are very far from being uncultivated in 
 their morals. They almost all understand Latin, 
 and are able to write fairly enough. They under- 
 stand also as much of French as will enable them 
 to read the Bil)le, and to sing psalms ; nor would 
 you easily find a boy among them, who, if he were 
 (juestioned as to the religious opinions, which they 
 liold in conmiDii witli llie Waldenses, would not be 
 able to oivc. IVoiii iiicniory, a reasonable account of 
 tlicni. 'i'liey pay taxes most scruj)ulously, and 
 tlio (bitv of doinn; tliis forms an article of tiieir eon- 
 fe.s.siou of failli. I'nl iftliev ;irr |ii-e\tiite(l IVom
 
 18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 making ])avment by civil wars, they lay apart the 
 proper sum, and on the return of peace, they take 
 care to settle with the royal tax gatherers'." 
 
 De Thou gives the locality of these Alpines with 
 equal precision. " As you proceed towards the 
 east, from Embrun, the capital of the maritime 
 Alps, wlien vou have travelled about five leagues, 
 tlie Valley of Queyras branches off towards the 
 right, and that of Fressiniere towards the left hand. 
 Between the two the ruins of the ancient city of 
 Rama are still conspicuous. From thence, on the 
 other side of the mountain ridge, a narrow pass is 
 hewn out of the rock, by dint of human labour, 
 and opens a way across some difficult and rugged 
 countr}^, which is still called, by the natives, Han- 
 nibal's road. In the direction towards Brian^on, 
 there is another valley, opening to the left, called 
 Louise, from Louis XII. who gave it his own name, 
 in a moment of compunction for the injuries which 
 he was w^ell nigh about to inflict upon it, instead 
 of the contumelious appellation of Val Pute, 
 which it had received in contempt for the false 
 relio-ion of its inhabitants ^" 
 
 This is the Alpine desert where Neff sacri- 
 ficed his life in the cause of pure religion, and its 
 natives are the people, whom he considered to be 
 the lineal and unmixed descendants of the' first con- 
 verts to Christianity, in the mountain province of 
 
 ' Thuani Hist. lib. xxvii. ' Ibid, xxvii. 9.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 Dauphiue, in other words the remains of primitive 
 Christians. 
 
 II. — Evidence that the Alpine Protestant Congre- 
 gations of Dauphinc are the remains of the Primi- 
 tive Christians of Gaul. 
 
 It was mv original intention to prefix, or to ap- 
 pend to this work, a regular historical detail, and 
 to transcribe such records as I have, in proof of tlie 
 reality of the descent of our Alpines from a line of 
 ancestors, who never worshipped God as they do at 
 Rome, that is, after a manner which Protestants 
 believe that God has forbidden. But when I came 
 to commit my materials to paper, I found they 
 were so voluminous, that it was necessary to re- 
 cast mv plan, and to give an outline only of the 
 argument. My enquiries had led mc through 
 divers literary records of every century, contained 
 in the sheets of Ecclesiastical History, or of Po- 
 lemical Theology ; and in every century up to the 
 second, tracing the vestiges upwards in the line 
 of antiquity, I found myself in the footsteps of 
 Christians, dwelling in tlie Alpine Valleys of Dau- 
 phins, who might claim fellowship with the primi- 
 tive Christians of antiquity, and with the Protes- 
 tants of modern times, in two characteristic points 
 of resemblance: in tlicir rejecting unscriptural 
 helps to devotion, sucli as imag(! worsliip, and iIm' 
 intfrcessinri f»f fm\- but tlif orif Mcdinfor bcKsccii 
 
 f 9
 
 20 INTRODT'CTFON. 
 
 God and man ; and in their steady resistance of 
 unscriptural authority usurped by the bishops of 
 Rome. 
 
 Between the revocation of the Edict of Nantes 
 in 168G, and tlie Edict of Toleration by Louis XVI., 
 it was forbidden to exercise any form of religion 
 in France, except the Roman Catholic; but I have 
 conversed with aged natives of Dormilleuse, Neff 's 
 principal village, who I'cmember the tales which 
 were told them by their fathers and grandfathers, 
 of Vaudois pastors, harboured in their houses, at the 
 risk of their lives, and crossing the Alps in disguise 
 to administer the services of their church to families, 
 to whom the presence of those devoted men was like 
 angels' visits — strengthening the weak, and con- 
 firming the strong. I have also seen Bibles, printed 
 in the seventeenth century, which have been hand- 
 ed down from father to son, ' ' the big hall Bible once 
 their father's pride," and had been concealed from 
 inquisitorial search by being buried in the earth. 
 For the Christianity, not Romish, whicli prevailed 
 in an unbroken line in this partof Dauphin e, during 
 a hundred years before the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes, the reader may consult the general and 
 ecclesiastical historians of France, who will place 
 before him articles of synod and confessions of faith, 
 which sufficiently identify the principles of the pri- 
 mitive and those of the reformed churches. These 
 authorities will also tell him, that this province had, 
 at one period, as many as ninety-four Protestant
 
 INTRODUCTION. 'J I 
 
 pastors, and a Protestant University at Die, with 
 an array of Hebrew, Greek, and Divinity pro- 
 fessors, and a respectable body of teachers in dif- 
 ferent branches of science and literature'. 
 
 The oreat muster in France, and the oatherinti' 
 of those, who determined to vindicate their religious 
 rights, took place between the years 1550 and 
 1572. The first national synod of Protestants was 
 held in 1559, and in the twelve years that followed, 
 there were no less than seven synods. The places 
 where some of these councils were held, bear wit- 
 ness, that from the centre of the kingdom, to its 
 farthest extremities, east, west, north, and south, 
 the standard of religious independence had been 
 displayed. At Paris, Poictiers, Orleans, Rochelle, 
 Lyons, and Nismes, delegates assembled in coun- 
 cil, and there represented churches which declared 
 themselves reformed and Protestant. But some 
 of these, particularly the delegates from parts of 
 Dauphine and Provence, announced, " We con- 
 sent to merge in the common cause, but we require 
 no reformation, for our forefathers and ourselves 
 have ever disclaimed the corruptions of the 
 churches in communion with Rome." 
 
 I have not been al)h' to ascertain the exact num- 
 ber <jf tlic remains of the primitive Cliristians in 
 Daiipliiiu't and Provence between the years 1550 
 and I57"J : the first being the date when the 
 
 ' Gallia Rclbrinata, \ ol. 1.
 
 •2'2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 uioiiiitaiu churches of France began to liave rest, 
 and the second the epoch when they were fright- 
 fully wasted by the persecutions, subsequent upon 
 the massacre of St. Bartholomew ; but in the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century, we know that 
 they amounted to 50,000. This enumeration is 
 made in the re])ort of an inquisitorial process issued 
 aaainst them in 1501. The destruction of most 
 of their own manuscripts- relating to their history, 
 at different periods of persecution, was so com- 
 plete, that we should have had but few memorials 
 to produce, had not the documents of their enemies 
 furnished us with indisputable evidence. When 
 the palace of the archbishop of Embrun was taken 
 by the duke de Lesdiguieres in 1585, there was 
 found, among the archiepiscopal archives, a col- 
 lection of papers, containing an account of pro- 
 cesses from time to time against the non-conformists 
 of Dauphine, and these are our authority for many 
 of the statements that have been made. " Not 
 being fully extirpated,'' is the language of the 
 process, " thev betook themselves to the utmost 
 parts of Dauphine, among the Alps, and in the 
 caves of the mountains, places exceedingly diflicult 
 to approach, where more than 50,000 of them did 
 inhabit." The same inquisitorial report, from 
 which this extract is taken, makes mention of 
 previous proceedings against our mountaineers for 
 the same alleged crimes, viz. that " they con- 
 sidered the Roman Church to be the Babylon of
 
 INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 the Book of Revelations, and they believed it to 
 be as efficacious to pray to God in a stable as in a 
 church. For this cause the most reverend pre- 
 lates of Embrun, and the inquisitors, have taken 
 great pains to root them out." 
 
 A Papal Bull of this period is another clue to 
 guide us through the labyrinth. This instrument 
 was dated 26 June 1487, and promised the apos- 
 tolic benediction to all who should distino-uish 
 themselves in the work of extermination, against 
 those " inveterate heretics of the dioceses of Lyons, 
 Vienne, and Embrun."' It consecrated the war 
 that was to be waged against them, under the 
 high and holy name of a crusade, and invited 
 all the faithful " to tread them under foot as 
 venomous adders, and to destroy them." This 
 humane recommendation was followed up with 
 zeal coiTesponding with the wishes of the holy 
 Father at Rome. 
 
 " The secular power was employed," said the 
 report, " under that valiant soldier the Lord Hugo 
 de Palide, Count of Varax, and Lieutenant of 
 Danphin(', who proceeded against them, on which 
 thcv left tlieir houses and betook them to the holes 
 and secret places of the mountains, and the cliU's 
 of the rocks, for tlieir fortresses." 
 
 Perrin gives a most lamentable account of the 
 (■xtirj)ation of the Protestants of Val Louise in 1488. 
 " Wlwii tiic kings lieutenant arrived with his troops 
 in the vallev, none of the inhabitants were found,
 
 24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 for they liad all retired into the caverns on the 
 highest mountains, having carried with them their 
 little ones, and all that they could transport there 
 for nourishment. The lieutenant commanded a 
 great quantity of wood to be laid at the entrance 
 of those caverns, to burn or smoke them out. 
 Some were slain in attempting to escape, others 
 threw themselves headlong on the rocks below, 
 others were smothered ; there were afterwards 
 found within the caverns 400 infants stifled in the 
 arms of their dead mothers. It is believed, as a 
 certain fact, that 3000 persons perished on that 
 occasion in the valley. In a word the religionists 
 there were wholly exterminated, so that from that 
 time forward it was peopled with new inhabitants, 
 and none of the ancient race ever established 
 themselves there again." 
 
 A horrible crusade had been carried on pre- 
 viously to this, in the year 1478, when even the 
 ruthless Louis XI. was so disgusted by the cruelties 
 of the inquisitors, and by the confiscations in the 
 valleys of Fressiniere and Argentiere, that he 
 issued an edict to check them. This was dated 
 Arras, May 18, 1478. 
 
 Advancing still higher up, into those gloomy 
 ages when it was guilt, for which there was no 
 pardon, to hold religious opinions different from 
 the papal clergy, I find that Perrin, the Walden- 
 sian historian just quoted, had but very limited 
 information, when he spoke of the persecution of
 
 INTRODUCTION. '25 
 
 1380 as the first against the uoncoiitormists of 
 Daiiphine. The annals of the prelates of Enibrun ' 
 acquahit us, that in 1360 Gulielmus de Bardis 
 distinguished his episcopate, by directing fierce 
 warfare against the nonconformists of his diocese. 
 Bertrand de d'Eux is represented as covering 
 him::elf with glory in 1337 after the same manner, 
 A hundred years before this, I find Aumarus stain- 
 ing: his crozier in the blood of those who would not 
 acknowledge the supremacy of the Roman pontiff. 
 His immediate predecessor, Bernard Chabert, first 
 carried fire and sword into the plains of Languedoc, 
 by the side of Simon de Montfort, and then pur- 
 sued the Albigensian fugitives, when they thought 
 to take refuge in the fastnesses of the Durance 
 amono; brethren of the same faith. Raimond de 
 Salvagris, archbishop of Embrun in 1210", was 
 equally on the alert against the impugners of 
 papal infallibility. These two last mentioned 
 prelates achieved so much against the moun- 
 taineers, who would not prove false to the creed of 
 their forefathers, tliat it was a saying of the times, 
 that a sufficient (piantity of lime and stone could 
 not be procured, to build prisons for those who 
 were convicted of hostility to the religion of Rome. 
 I liave tlius traced in this Alpine region the pre- 
 valence of the same religious principles at the 
 beginning of tlie thirteenth centurv, which at- 
 
 ' Gall. Christiana, 'loin. I. ' Ibiil.
 
 26 INTRODLCTION. 
 
 tracted Neti's notice in the nineteenth. The 
 Romanists allow that this may be done, but they 
 say that such principles were then new to the 
 Christian world, and that the spirit of enmity 
 against their church, which has since spread over 
 great part of Europe, and which gave birth, as 
 they pretend, to the Waldensian separatists of 
 Spain, France and Italy, and to the Protestant 
 communities of Great Britain, Switzerland, Ger- 
 many, and other countries, was first cherished in 
 the bosom of the followers of Waldo, when they 
 were chased from Lyons in 1172, and fled into the 
 valleys of Dauphine and Piemont. The Wal- 
 denses, or members of the mountain churches, 
 whether of Spain, Italy or France^ (for the term 
 Waldenses means nothing more than natives of 
 mountain valleys,) were not sects : they were 
 true component parts of the body of Christ, and 
 faithful asserters of the truth as it is in Jesus, 
 when others declined from it. 
 
 But I am not going now into the theological 
 question, or into the wide field of the general 
 enquiry ; my present business is to connect the 
 Christians of Dauphine, with the Christians of 
 
 ' The more the remote valleys of the Alps and Pyrenees are 
 visited, and the history of their natives is developed, this truth 
 will emerge into clear and bright light — that the Italian Waldenses, 
 the Albigcnses, the Subalpins of Dauphine and Provence, and 
 the Pyrenean Waldenses, were all independent of each other, and 
 remains or branches of the primitive churches in those parts.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 primitive times, and to lix the attention of my 
 readers upon the broad partition wall, which, 
 through the whole of the dark and middle ages, 
 divided certain religionists of this province from 
 those, who consented to receive spiritual law from 
 Rome. 
 
 ' ' A sect which took its rise from Peter Waldo, 
 in 1172." This is the calumny which has been 
 so long' perpetuated against the churches of the 
 mountains on each side of the Alps. What can 
 we adduce in refutation of it, with regard to the 
 nonconforming churches of Dauphine ? Were 
 there no determined confessors in this province, 
 who opposed themselves to the phalanx of the 
 Vatican, and declared Rome to be Babylon, and 
 her canons and articles of faith and discipline to 
 be unscriptural, before the 3'ear 1172 ? It is the 
 hio-hest satisfaction to fathom amono; the archives 
 of an adversary, and to draw, from the deposi- 
 tories of his documents, evidence to establish our 
 own case. From the same Romish Chronicles', 
 which tell us that the hierarchy of Einbrun was 
 persecuting the congregations of Val Fressiniere, 
 at a period when Perrin (who could find no 
 m<;ntion of it in Protestant annals,) meekly hoped 
 tliat liis l)rctliren of tli(; mountains were unmo- 
 lested, from these we learn that the bishops of 
 Vaison, a dioccBC in the province of Dauphine, 
 
 ' Ciall. C'lirihtiana.
 
 28 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 wore noiniimted and received their investiture, not 
 from the pope, but from their native and petty 
 sovereigns, the lords of the territory. We are 
 even informed by what right they exercised this 
 patronage, namely, in virtue of their descent from 
 Faida, heiress of Gilbert, Count of Provence. 
 The sovereign pontiff fulminated his protests, 
 his interdicts, and his excommunications, when- 
 ever a new bishop was made, as all the popes had 
 been taught to do by Gregory VII. who denounced 
 anathemas against every one, who should venture 
 to have any opinion of his own on matters of re- 
 lisfion. But the maledictions of Heaven were 
 especially proclaimed against all, who should take 
 any part in the distribution of church dignities 
 without papal permission. There was to be 
 no election, no investiture, no conferring even 
 temporalities upon bishops or clergy, but in the 
 name and under the authority of the pontifical 
 seal. Nevertheless in the middle of the twelfth 
 century, thirty years before the alleged origin of 
 any systematic resistance of the will that was to 
 guide all Christendom, we find distinct mention 
 of a series of episcopal elections without any 
 authority from the pope, in spite of the anathemas 
 which were issued to prevent such proceedings. 
 This, however, is only one example — we are 
 directed by other Romish documents to still more 
 convincing witnesses, that the " new sect" of 1172 
 was a venerable branch of the apostolical stem.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 There is a large collection of ancient epistles and 
 documents, published by two Benedictine Monks, 
 Marten and Durand', which the editors state to 
 have been preserved in the manuscript libraries 
 of certain cathedrals and monasteries. In the 
 first volume of this curious publication, there is 
 the copy of a letter addressed to Pope Lucius II. 
 in 1144, in which the writer describes to his 
 holiness the great influence of a religious commu- 
 nity of Dauphine, which had " its divers degrees, 
 its neophytes, its priests, and even its bishops, as 
 we have. It maintains that sins are not remitted 
 by the sprinkling of water only in baptism — 
 that the eucharist, and the imposition of hands 
 administered by our clergy, avail nothing. " 
 " Every part of France," such is the concluding- 
 sentence of the letter, " is polluted by the poison 
 issuing from this region." 
 
 Other letters, addressed by the celebrated Peter, 
 Abbot of Clugny, to the Bishops of Embrun, Gap 
 and Die, all in Dauphine, between the years 1120 
 and 1134, contain pressing exhortations to those 
 prelates to check opinions, which had taken fast 
 liold in their dioceses, and had spread from thence 
 into Gascony and Languedoc. 
 
 " ^'ou must -till persevere," said iIk; |)i()iis 
 abbot, " you must root out thi- iniscliicf froui its 
 
 ' " Veterum Scriptorimi el MDiiuinciitoiuiii Aiiiplissiin;! Cul- 
 Iccti«»." Paris, 1721.
 
 30 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 hidino- places', by preaching against it ; but if that 
 will not do, and if necessary, by an armed force." 
 
 The third canon of the council of Thoulouse, 
 held A. D. 1119, bears witness to the activity of 
 Christians in the same quarter, who were then 
 *' busily agitating the questions of the real pre- 
 sence, infant baptism, and validity of sacerdotal 
 orders." 
 
 These are some of the essential questions of 
 controversy between all Protestant churches, 
 (especially those of the Alps,) and the Romish 
 church, and the records of the eleventh century 
 prove, that even then they were not new to France, 
 and more particularly, that they were not new to 
 the Alpine regions of Dauphine. In 1050, a 
 Romish controversialist complained to the king of 
 France, that Berengarius was re-introducing there 
 that OLD^ matter of difference, the eucharistic 
 discussion ; and in 1025, when some recusants 
 were accused, before a public tribunal at Arras, of 
 holdinjr sentiments such as Neff's churches of 
 Vals Fressiniere and Queyras, and other Protes- 
 tant churches now hold, it came out, in evidence, 
 that they had acquired their opinions of certain 
 strangers from the Alpine borders of Italy ^ ! 
 
 What then becomes of the Romish fable, that 
 the mountain congregation of Dauphine was a 
 
 ' " Latibula." Gall. Christiana, Tom. i. 
 
 ' Labbaei Con. Tom. ix. p. 1061. 
 
 ' Dacherii Spicilegium, Vol. xiii. p. 2.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 new sect in 117*2, when we can thus distinctly 
 trace the existence of Alpine churches, opposed to 
 Rome, in the same province, one hundred and 
 fifty years before ? And what lights were there 
 at that dark period, which would enable poor il- 
 literate shepherds and herdsmen to see their way 
 out of the gloom, into which the ignorance and 
 wickedness of the age had cast men of all ranks 
 and stations? If in 1025 Christian communities 
 could be found, in remote glens and forests, who 
 worshipped God and his Christ without the aid of 
 images, and without any of those adjuncts and 
 helps, to which the Romish churches then had re- 
 course, the probability is, not that they had learnt 
 a new lesson, but that they were practising a very 
 old one, which had been handed down to them 
 from their fathers. Well then, what do we dis- 
 cover in the ecclesiastical or general history of this 
 Alpine province, previously to the period which 
 we have just been examining, which leads us to 
 suppose that religious opinions or practices were 
 then cherished there, which were not in accord- 
 ance with the Romish churches? 
 
 Itwas about the middle of the ninth century, that 
 the bishops of f{ome established their pretensions in 
 France : before tliat epoch a certain degree of de- 
 ference was paid to their decisions, wliih- tlu-ir juris- 
 diction was b\ no rmaiis acknowledged, liiil at the 
 v(-ry time wlien tliev were making ra|)id advances 
 towards the object of tiieir ainbiti(»n. (he prchitcs 
 
 I
 
 32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of the sees which lie between the Rhone and the 
 Alps, resisted their encroachments on some very 
 material points. For example, there is a rescript 
 of pope John VIII. complaining, in 877, that the 
 archbishop of Embrun had consecrated a bishop 
 of Vienne, according to the ancient formulary of 
 the Gallic churches, and not in conformity with 
 the ritual prescribed at Rome. And just at the 
 crisis, when the prelates of Dauphine began to be 
 more obedient to their foreign master, the Sara- 
 cens invaded the province, the bishops of Embrun 
 fled, and the see was left many years without its 
 head. This was after the year 916, and thus the 
 remains of the primitive Christians, in the valleys 
 of the Durance, were left many years without the 
 presence of an oppressive and prosel^^tising hierar- 
 chy, at the very time when Romish influence was 
 on the alert elsewhere. When the foreign in- 
 vaders were expelled, troubles of a different kind 
 proved favourable to the independent spirit of the 
 mountaineers. The feudal lords of the territory 
 carried their exactions so far, as to exasperate the 
 citizens of walled towns, who shut their gates 
 against their former masters. To obtain parti zans, 
 the barons granted extraordinary privileges to the 
 occupiers of lands, and brought the rural popu- 
 lation into a state of hostility with the inhabitants 
 of the towns. The Romish bishops and clergy 
 sided with the latter ; so that while they were 
 bringing over to their interests the dwellers in
 
 INTRODUCTION. 33 
 
 cities, they were making less progress among the 
 people of the field and the hill-country. 
 
 It has heen already observed, that the great 
 distinouishino- marks of the Primitive and Pro- 
 testant churches, is the rejection of all helps to 
 devotion, which have not the sanction of Scripture. 
 The prominent feature of the Romish Church is 
 the adoption of such helps. Image worship is one 
 of these. To show that image worship was a mat- 
 ter of abhorrence throughout the region of our 
 inquiry, in the centuries through which we de- 
 sire to trace the existence of a community pro- 
 testing from age to age against the dogmas of Rome, 
 is a great step towards the accomplishment of our 
 object. In the ninth, eighth, and seventh cen- 
 turies, (still tracking the vestiges of the primitive 
 Christians of the Alpine regions of France upwards, 
 from more recent periods, to the earliest times of 
 their conversion,) there were signal testimonies 
 given in the churches of this quarter of their 
 adherence to forms of worship unadulterated by 
 the introduction of external representations. In 
 the eighth century, Agobard, archbishop of Lyons, 
 wrote a work, which he called " a Treatise on 
 Pictures and Images," and in wliicli he pronounced 
 image worship to be idolatry. A more able refu- 
 tation of the errors on tliis subject has never l)eeii 
 written eitlier before or since. One passage I 
 cannot but transcribe. After citing Deiiteroiioniy 
 iv. 12-15, Agobaivl niake-i this remark on the
 
 34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sacred text : — " On which words it is to be ob- 
 served, that if the works of God's hands are not 
 to be adored and worshipped, no, not even in 
 honor of God himself, much less are the works of 
 men's hands to be adored and worshipped, in honor 
 of those wlioni they are said to represent ^" Pro- 
 testants will smile to learn, that against this re- 
 mark of Agobard, the popish editors of the publi- 
 cation which contains the Treatise, have put this 
 admonitory note: — " Caute lege," i. e. Read this 
 cautiously. 
 
 I must not dismiss Agobard without relating 
 another service which he did to the Christian 
 Church universal, against the corruptions and arro- 
 gances of the bishop of Rome. He strongly main- 
 tained the independence of the Gallic churches, 
 and in two of his works, still extant, he entered 
 into an argument to prove, that the councils of 
 Gaul had full authority to make canons and re- 
 gulations for the churches of Gaul, and that their 
 synods were legitimate, and in possession of ple- 
 nary powers, although there were no papal legates 
 at the session ^ 
 
 In 794, the Gallic bishops at the council of 
 Frankfort, and among the rest the bishops of 
 Grenoble, Gap, and Embrun, entered their solemn 
 protest against that article of the second council of 
 
 ' Bib. Patr. ix. 590. 
 
 ^ Bib. Patr. ix. .VIS. .lustel. Bib. Can. .Tiiris. Pref. p. 23.
 
 INTKODICTION. 35 
 
 Nice, whicli was meant to make image worship the 
 law of the Christian churches, and which was sanc- 
 tioned by all the authority that the popes could give 
 it. But the most memorable effort, in defence of 
 images, was resisted by an equally memorable re- 
 jection of them about the year 600. Pope Gregory 
 the First signalized his pontificate by a correspond- 
 ence with Serenus, bishop of Marseilles, which forms 
 a most curious link in the chain of our evidence, as 
 proving, first, that the popes had no jurisdiction be- 
 yond their own Italian see ; secondly, that Rome 
 liad not then gone all those lengths in the error 
 of image worship, to which she has since run ; and 
 thirdly, that the superstitions, whicli were thicken- 
 ing elsewhere, were held in check by the wisdom 
 and piety of Christians in this part of the world. 
 Serenus had given orders for the destruction of 
 some images which had been set up in churches 
 of his diocese. This gave oftence to his brother 
 of the Seven Hills, who addressed a letter to him, 
 not of command, but of expostulation, begging him 
 to think ])etter of the matter, and not to destroy that 
 whicli should be preserved for expediency sake. 
 " Vou ought, at tlie same time," said Gregory, " to 
 caution the people against adoring the images.'' 
 images and jMcturcs then, according to the opinion 
 of pa])al casuists <tf that day, were to l)e iiiiioduced 
 into (■liiir<-h«'S as memorials, but not as objects of 
 worship. \ t'r\' ditliTriit is tin' hniLi'iiagc ot tlir 
 coiiiiciU ol .\i<"c ;iii(l Tmit, iiikI iIk Tfforc ii(»l 
 
 I) -J
 
 36 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 altooetlier illustrative of tlic unities and uncliano;e- 
 al)leness of the Romish faitli. Sercnus woiikl not 
 tolerate images even in Gregory's sense of their 
 usefulness. He paid no attention to the pontiff's 
 admonition, and for three years Gregory l)ore his 
 disrespect in silence. He then wrote another 
 epistle to Serenus, still remonstrating only with 
 him, and repeating his former advice : " For it 
 is one thing," said the holy father, " to adore an 
 image, and another thing to learn from it what 
 ought to be adored." But Serenus was not to be 
 moved from his righteous purpose : he destroyed 
 all he could find. 
 
 As the tone of pope Gregory's letters ' to Sere- 
 nus proves, that Rome exercised no spiritual autho- 
 rity over the Gallic provinces in the seventh century, 
 so does an epistle of pope Innocent to a prelate of 
 the same country, in the year 404, attest, that 
 papal domination was not then established in the 
 transalpine provinces^. Innocent, in this epistle, 
 appears to be exhorting, advising, and persuading 
 his correspondent to adopt the regulations of the 
 Church of Rome ; a clear proof that such regu- 
 lations had not then been adopted, and that the 
 documents of antiquity are against the pretensions 
 of Rome to universal obedience, and to prescriptive 
 sway from the earliest ages. 
 
 The records of these more remote ages testify 
 
 ' Sismondi Concilia Galliae, ii. 431. 449. ^ Ibid. i. 30.
 
 INTROmCTION. 37 
 
 equally to the existence of pure Christianity, and 
 of independent church government, in the moun- 
 tain provinces of France. The canons of the 
 council of Orange in 529, at wliich the delegates 
 of the churches of Dauphine were present, differ 
 very little from the Thirty-nine Articles of the 
 Church of England, and are at utter variance with 
 those of modern Rome. The council of Aries, in 
 314, which represented all the churches of Europe, 
 put forth nothing which a Protestant of the present 
 day could not sign ; and the thirteen bishops of 
 Gallia Narbonensis, (the country between the 
 Rhone and the Alps,) who held a synod, at which 
 Ireneeus, bishop of Lyons, presided, towards the 
 end of the second century, may fairly be sup- 
 posed to have subscribed the same opinions with 
 Irenaeus himself. What those sentiments were, is 
 collected from his works. It is enough for our 
 present purpose to state, that those works have ren- 
 dered it a matter of certainty, that Irena3us held 
 it to be a mark of decline from the pure Gospel to 
 embrace any doctrines, that might want the sanc- 
 tion of Scrij)ture, or to maintain that the Scriptures 
 were unintelligible without the help of tradition, or 
 to assert that Scripture does not form an infallible 
 rule of faith. This apostolical father also de- 
 nounced the use of imago, as a heatlicii abonii- 
 iiatioij, rejected the inxociition or>;iiiifs, sj>ok(' of 
 the profession of celibacy as violence done to naliin', 
 and liffcd lip lii- \(»ic(' against tlic r;i^li ;ittciiij)t
 
 38 INTUOIJUCTION. 
 
 ot" Victor, bisliop of Rome, to dictate to foreign 
 cliurclies on the ])aschal controversy. 
 
 It is most probable that the Alpine churches 
 of Dauphine were planted while Ireneeus was bishop 
 of Lyons. The vicinity of this mountain region to 
 the cities of Lyons and Vienne — the asylum which 
 it was likely to ofler to the Christian fugitives from 
 the banks of the Rhone, during the persecution of 
 Marcus Aurelian : the fact related by Irenaeus 
 himself, that he learned the dialect of the country ', 
 to enable him to preach to the natives (the lan- 
 guage spoken at Lyons and Vienne was Latin) : the 
 journey which Ireneeus took to Rome, and which 
 must have been undertaken by the great military 
 road, which passed through the very heart of the 
 territory described in these pages ; all these con- 
 cur in persuading us, that the Gospel was first 
 preached there towards the end of the second cen- 
 tury. The evidences, which have been here pointed 
 out to notice, are intended to prove, that as the 
 Gospel w^as delivered to the mountaineers of Dau- 
 phine by the missionaries of that period, so it 
 has been professed by some of their descendants 
 ever since, and that Neff's flock have a just claim 
 to the venerable appellation which he gave to them, 
 '' The remains of the primitive Christians of the 
 French Alps." 
 
 In the words of AUix, " May it l>e of use to 
 
 ' Ncff did the same.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 39 
 
 Strengthen the faith of the Protestants, who will 
 perceive from thence, that God never left himself 
 without witness, as having preserved in the bosom 
 of these churches most illustrious professors of the 
 Christian religion, which they held in the same 
 purity, with which their predecessors had received 
 this precious pledge from the hands of apostolical 
 men, who at first planted their churches among the 
 Alps and Pyrensean mountains, that they might 
 be exposed to the view of four or five kingdoms all 
 at once."
 
 MEMOIR OF NEFF, 
 
 Src. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Neff's Birth and Education — His frut Tastes and Occupation — 
 His Military Career — Leaves the Army and becomes a Pro- 
 bationer for Holy Orders — Exercises the Functions of a 
 Probationer in the S7viss Cantons. 
 
 Felix Neff, the subject of this Memoir, was born 
 in the year 1798, and was brought up in a village 
 near Geneva, under the care of his widowed 
 mother ; and he has added one more to the 
 number of distinguished men, who have owed 
 their first strong impressions to the admirable 
 effects produced by maternal vigilance, and to 
 lessons taught by female lips. The pure air of 
 the delightful region where he spent his boyish 
 days, and the long rambles which he was per- 
 mitted to take in the midst of splendid mountain 
 scenery, not only contributed to form a robust 
 constitution, but to Inspire a taste for the sublime 
 and beaiifiliil, wliicii (lisj>laye(l itself in his cliarac- 
 ter tbroiiiilioiif the whole of his very reiiiarkahle
 
 42 lUKTlI AND liDl'CATION, 
 
 career. Even when he was a child, there was no 
 amusement, which the town of Geneva could 
 offer, greater than the enjoyment which he de- 
 rived from following his own more rational and 
 invigorating diversions, by the side of the torrent 
 or the lake. When twelve years old he was invited 
 by a companion to accompany him to some the- 
 atrical spectacle, which was in great favour at the 
 time, and upon his declining to go, he was asked, 
 " Do you think you will not be entertained?" 
 '' Perhaps," said he, "I should be too much 
 entertained." 
 
 When his mother had laid the first foundation, 
 the village pastor gave him instruction in Latin, 
 botany, history, and geography. The books 
 which were within his reach were probably but 
 few, and of these, the works of Plutarch, and 
 some of the unobjectionable volumes of J. J. Rous- 
 seau, are said to have had a large share of his 
 attention: the former delighted him, because they 
 made him acquainted with great men, and great 
 achievements, and the latter, because they gave 
 encouragement to his natural taste for scenery. 
 With one of these in his hand, he would scale the 
 rock, or climb the mountain, and spend hours in 
 imagining the useful actions which he might be 
 destined to perform, and the regions which it 
 might be his fate to explore. It would seem that 
 military exploits and scientific research were the 
 visions of his bovhood, and, in the course of this
 
 TASTES AM) OCCUPATION. 43 
 
 narrative, it will be found that those early predilec- 
 tions, and the emploj-ments of his youth, when 
 he was oblig-ed to pursue some occupation for his 
 subsistence, proved an eminently beneficial train- 
 ing for the more sacred duties to which he 
 afterwards consecrated himself. The same ardent 
 spirit, and high courage, the same meditative 
 disposition and inquiring genius, the same love 
 of mountain life and scenerj'- accompanied him to 
 the Alpine wilderness ; and the same burning 
 desire to be useful in his generation, found ample 
 gratification, when he became the spiritual shep- 
 herd of a flock, who had none to guide them 
 before he undertook the charge. 
 
 When it was time for Neff" to select a profession, 
 necessity or choice, or perhaps both combined, 
 induced him to engage himself to the proprietor 
 of a nursery-ground, or florist gardener, and at 
 sixteen he published a little treatise on the culture 
 of trees. The accuracy and arrangement of this 
 juvenile work, and the proof of deep observation 
 which it manifested, were subjects of no small 
 praise at the time. But the quiet and humble 
 walks of the florist's garden were soon exchanged 
 for tlie bustle of the garrison, and at seventeen 
 Felix entered as a private into the military service 
 of (ieneva, in tlic mcmorabh' Ncai* IS I, 3. '^Pwo 
 years afterwards, lie was loomotcd to tin- rank of 
 eerjeant of artillery, and having raised himself to 
 nf)tic(' l»\ hi- fhcorf'tical and practical knowledge 
 
 1
 
 44 MILITAHV CAUKEU. 
 
 of mathematics, lie continued to make this branch 
 of science his study during his continuance in 
 the army. 
 
 The wisdom of God, in the choice of his instru- 
 ments, was singularly exhibited, when he called 
 Neff to be a minister of his word, and sent him to 
 preach the Gospel to the rugged and half civilized 
 mountaineers of Dauphine. The work of a pastor 
 in the Alps, as NeflP expressed it, when he came 
 to have an experience of its duties and its difficul- 
 ties, resembles that of a missionary among the 
 savages. He had to teach them every thing. He 
 had to show them how to build a school room ; 
 how to use the line and plummet ; how to form 
 levels and inclined planes ; how to irrigate their 
 meadows, and to cultivate their barren soil, so as 
 to be the most productive. 
 
 A mere scholar from the university, even an 
 ardent preacher with the whole scheme of the 
 Gospel written in his heart, could not have ac- 
 complished what this extraordinary man did, who, 
 with his thorough knowledge of the Book of Life, 
 possessed also a stock of available information, 
 which was brought from the nursery-ground and 
 the camp. 
 
 Neflf was soon distinguished in the corps to 
 which he belonged, not only as an efficient sub- 
 officer, but as a devoted soldier of the cross. The 
 influence, however, which he hourly obtained 
 over his comrades excited a degree of jealousy
 
 PROBATIONER FOR llOLV ORDERS. 45 
 
 among the superior officers which was far from 
 being honourable to them. They wished him out 
 of the se^^^ce ; he was too religious for them, and 
 after a few years the serious turn of his mind be- 
 came so marked, that he was advised to quit it, 
 and to prepare himself for holy orders. 
 
 During the mental struggles and the investi- 
 gation of his ow^n motives and spiritual condition, 
 which occupied him previously to that important 
 step, his frequent prayer for guidance and illu- 
 mination was to this effect. " Oh, my God, 
 whatever be thy nature, make me to know thy 
 truth ; and deign to manifest thyself in my heart." 
 
 After his supplications were heard, and he was 
 fully settled in his resolution to dedicate himself 
 to the work of the ministry, he quitted the army, 
 and placed himself under pious instruction and 
 superintendence, which gave a right direction to 
 his studies and reflections. He read the Bible 
 with earnest prayers to God, that he might so read 
 as to understand the Divine will ; and that he 
 might render every passage in Scripture familiar 
 to his mind, he made a concordance of his own, 
 and filled the margins of several copies of the Old 
 and New Testaments with remarks and memo- 
 randa. Some of these are still in possession of his 
 fricMid-, and an; Iidd in most affectionate estima- 
 tion, and are consulted as the voice of one wiio, 
 being dead, yet sj)eak(!th. 
 
 Those who had o|)porfunities of conversinii- willi
 
 46 PROBATIONER IX)K 1I()I,Y ORDERS. 
 
 NeH" during' tliis season oi" solemn preparation, 
 relate that his powers of acquirement, and aptitude 
 for abstracted study, were very extraordinary. The 
 exercise of the memory gave him no trouble ; he 
 could repeat whole chapters from Scripture. His 
 conversation, at the same time, was agreeable and 
 easy ; he expressed himself with great readiness, 
 force, and accuracy; but though he spoke often, 
 and always correctly and to the point, yet it was 
 in short sentences, and in few words. 
 
 There is a practice in the Protestant churches 
 of Switzerland and France which is extremely 
 beneficial to candidates for ordination. The theo- 
 logical student, after having passed certain ex- 
 aminations, is received as a proposant into the 
 confidence of some of those who exercise the 
 pastoral office, and is employed as a lay-helper, 
 or catechist in their parishes. This custom is as 
 old as the Christian Church, it was the usage of 
 the primitive churches, and cannot but be of the 
 greatest improvement to the probationer. He is 
 acting under the eye of an experienced minister ; 
 he has an example and a teacher before him to 
 regulate his actions and opinions ; he is trying 
 his own strength, and feeling his way, and as- 
 suring himself of his preference and fitness for the 
 sacred work, before the irrevocable step is taken. 
 It is not too late to retire, if he finds himself in 
 any degree unequal to the arduous charge. 
 
 These probationers are not ])ermitted to put
 
 PROBATIONER IN THE SWISS CANTONS. 47 
 
 their hands to the ark, and to pert'orm services 
 which are strictly sacerdotal, but they instruct 
 the young, and visit the sick, and even preach 
 from the pulpit, at the discretion of the pastor, in 
 whose parish they are thus making their advance 
 towards the ministry \ 
 
 Nelf seems to have put on his spiritual armour, 
 and to have essayed to go in it, in the year 1819, 
 in the neighbourhood of Geneva, and in the two 
 following years in the cantons of Neufchatel, 
 Berne, and the Pays de Vaud. It was at a very 
 trying crisis, that he officiated in the character I 
 have described, in the latter canton. Lausanne 
 and many of the towns and villages of the Pays 
 de Vaud, were then divided by religious contro- 
 versies, which were carried on with much indis- 
 cretion and bitterness on both sides, but Neff 
 endeavoured to pursue a course which spoke well 
 for his Christian temper and wisdom, " The 
 Lord," said he, in one of his letters from Lausanne, 
 
 ' " A system of probationary exercise upon a sj)iritual basis, 
 preparatory to ordination, would be a most (k'siral)le appendage 
 to our own National Establishment. In defeet of this advantage, 
 an interval more or less protracted, according to circumstances, 
 and spent in inspection, or initiation into the routine of the 
 Christian ministry, under the sujjerintendence of a judicious and 
 experienced pastor, might prove a commencing era of ministerial 
 usefulness. Opportunities would be afforded of learning, which 
 is the best j)reparation for teaching." — Scniion on Theological 
 Kducation. Hv Dr. Achtins.
 
 48 PROBATIONER IN THE SWISS CANTONS. 
 
 ^' has opened a wide door for the preaching of the 
 Gospel in this canton, which will not soon be shut, 
 provided that the preachers conduct themselves 
 witli prudence, and are cautious not to agitate 
 any question, which is of secondary importance 
 only, and which, without being directly necessary 
 to salvation, may excite suspicion that some 
 schism is intended."
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Neff goes to France to officiate at Grenoble and Mens. — His 
 Observations on National Churches. — The Nature of his 
 Charge at Mens. — His Laborious Duties. — Remarks on the 
 Effects produced by Sacred Music. — Neff's Method tvith his 
 Catechumens. 
 
 It was in 1821, when Neff was in his twenty-fourth 
 year, that he first exchanged his native Switzer- 
 land for those wilder scenes in France, where the 
 rough places were made smooth, to his fervent 
 spirit, by the hope of being of some use to the 
 Protestants there, who were very ill provided with 
 clergv. He was not yet in orders, but in the 
 dearth of regularly appointed ministers, he had 
 been invited to the assistance of a pastor of Gre- 
 noble, in the same capacity as that which he had 
 held in some of the Swiss cantons, and having 
 remained at Grenoble about six months, his 
 services were requested at Mens, in the depart- 
 ment of the Isere, to supply, as far as might be 
 done, the place of an absent pastor. Here he 
 had many difficulties with whicli to contend. 
 He was a stranger, and an object of su.'^|)ici()n to 
 the local authorities. His office and functions 
 were but ill defined : tlic dialect of the country 
 people was a putois, oi' wliidi flic j-'rciicli --np- 
 
 E
 
 50 NEFF AT MENS. 
 
 plied Imt very few terms : the tone of his piety 
 was too high for many of those whom it was his 
 dut}' to instrnct, and his sensitive mind was 
 severely wounded in the conflict between his high 
 sense of duty, and his belief that it might be ex- 
 pedient to make some allowances for the weak in 
 faith, to give milk to babes, and not to put new 
 wine into old bottles, but to relax in his demands 
 upon the self denial of those, who were unable to 
 give full proof of religious sincerity. " I often 
 retire to my chamber," he wrote to one of his 
 friends, " ill at rest, and greatly dissatisfied with 
 myself. I reproach myself on the one hand for 
 having betrayed my sacred trust, and on the other 
 hand for being a time-server, and afraid of press- 
 ing my opportunities." 
 
 In this letter he complained also of the cold and 
 heartless Christianity which prevailed around him, 
 in consequence of that rage for controversy, which 
 made men think more of other people's spiritual 
 condition than their own. One of the pastors, 
 under whom he was to act, seldom held any re- 
 ligious conversation with his flock, unless it was 
 to discuss the points of diff^erence between Protest- 
 ants and Roman Catholics. But this person soon 
 afterwards began to enter most warmly into all 
 Neff"s views, subdued by the sincerity and earn- 
 estness which he could not fail to discern in 
 him. 
 
 1 shall now begin to draw largely from the
 
 OBSERVATIONS OX NATIONAL CHURCHES. ' 51 
 
 letters and journals of Neff ; and wherever he is 
 found to express his sentiments with freedom, the 
 language of his own private remarks, and of his 
 confidential communications, will be the best illus- 
 tration of his character and conduct. The follow- 
 ing letter shows, that his sanguine temperament 
 and burning zeal were under the constant control 
 of prudence and discretion. The letter was written 
 to one of his friends, who had scruples of remain- 
 ing in communion with the national church of 
 Geneva, at a time when many of its clergy had 
 avowed Socinian principles, but before it was so 
 deeply infected with error as it is at present. 
 
 " Mens, 11 Febnuiry, 1822. 
 
 " You ask my opinion as to the proposition 
 which is made, or about to be made, of admitting 
 members into your association without requiring 
 them to separate from the national church. You 
 ought to know my sentiments on this subject. I 
 am not aware of any passage in the Gospel, by 
 which a Christian is obliged to recognize, as a 
 church, a congregation which has no discipline, 
 and which does not even profess the essential doc- 
 trines of Christianity ; nor do I find that there is 
 any authority given to exact that all the brethren 
 should think alike, and surrender their right 
 of jjrivate judgment. Consequently, I maintain, 
 liiatthe Christian is at liberty to sej)arate, but that 
 lie is not obliged tf) (\n so, so loiig as the church, 
 
 i: 2
 
 52 NEFFS onSKRVATIONS 
 
 to which he belongs, does not formally prevent his 
 seeking edification wherever he is likely to find it, 
 and that she does not openly profess opinions 
 which are anti-christian. On this principle, if 
 one aw^akened is anxious to form an union with the 
 children of God, but is at the same time desirous 
 of continuing his connexion with the national 
 church, either because he considers it an useful 
 institution, which every body ought to agree in 
 preserving, or because he thinks he should lose 
 his influence with certain persons, whose improve- 
 ment he is bent on promoting, and who would be 
 so shocked at his separation, as to refuse to listen 
 to him ; in short, whatever be his reasons, if they 
 be conscientious reasons, and founded on his con- 
 cern for souls, I do not think he ought to be re- 
 jected. I will explain myself more in detail. I have 
 said that national churches ought to be regarded 
 as useful institutions ; in fact, without them, 
 how would the knowledge of God and of Jesus 
 Christ have been preserved in many places, where 
 there have been no true Christians for many ages, 
 and where, according to the principle of your 
 separatists, there has been no church ? What 
 would have become of the Protestants of France ? 
 What would have become of those many families, 
 in different places, who have preserved the Bible, 
 and who have had family w^orship, and who have 
 been in the habit of meeting once a week, or not 
 so often, to hear the word of God ? To whom
 
 ON NATIONAL CHURCHES. 53 
 
 would the missionaries be able to address them- 
 selves, and the evangelical pastors ? What would 
 have become of the churches, and of the Sabbath? 
 and where would have been the remembrance of 
 the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ 1 and 
 what would have become of the Bible, on the 
 knowledge of which all our instructions depend ? 
 and what would have become of the elements out 
 of which you must now form and restore a spiritual 
 and a living churcli, if the national churches had 
 not subsisted for the ordination of ministers, and 
 for the ministration of the sacraments ? And ao-ain, 
 if all these churches had not subsisted, what would 
 have become of those nominal Christians, whom 
 you cannot admit into the churches which are 
 really Christian ? What instruction would their 
 children have received ? what recollection would 
 have been preserved of the Gospel ? where would 
 have been the Bible Society ? In short, what would 
 have become of those elements, which are sus- 
 ceptible of life, and which, though too often dead, 
 have not ceased to be in the way of learning piety, 
 and of being prepared for the reception of the true 
 Gospel ? I am now stationed in a place, where 1 
 have better opportunities than most others of 
 forming a judgmcnit upon this subject, if then 
 every true Cliristiau in the visible churches liad 
 absolutely abandoned them (on your principle), 
 what would have bccom*^ of tbein ' W ho woidd 
 \\H\(' been left lo coiifciid a;^aiiisl iinbcliel" in the
 
 54 OBSERVATIONS ON NATIONAL CHURCHES. 
 
 academies and in the consistories ? Who would 
 have preached the true Gospel in the churches, 
 where many go merely in compliance with custom, 
 and for nothing else ? Would they not have fallen 
 back again into paganism, and would not every 
 thing that savours of life and truth have been 
 totally lost ? It is necessary then, in my opinion, 
 at the same time that we recognize the right of 
 a Christian to separate, (and .it is often absolutely 
 expedient to do so,) to admit also, that there are 
 many strong reasons to induce a great number of 
 the children of God to remain in connexion with 
 the national church, so long as it does not com- 
 pel them to profess or to teach a lie, and that it 
 does not reject them from its bosom, because they 
 are in union with a more spiritual congregation. 
 Such are my opinions, and I should wish that you 
 would communicate them to our little flock, with 
 the assurance, that I must always regard it as the 
 duty of Christians to be in union with a true church, 
 that they may live under evangelical discipline. 
 I think nothing ought to be insisted upon, as to 
 name or form, but only as to the reality ; and I 
 not onW believe it to be essential, and enjoined 
 by the Lord, but I regard it as an invaluable 
 privilege to be in communion with such a flock, 
 which alone has the means of observing that rigid 
 discipline, in which true separation consists." 
 
 1 gather from his journals, that the system which
 
 THE CATECHIST. 55 
 
 Neff pursued at this period of his career, (that is 
 to say, before he had consecrated himself to the 
 ministry, according to any regular form of ordi- 
 nation,) while he had as yet no pastoral charge, 
 was to collect as many young people as he could, 
 for purposes of religious instruction. These he 
 called catechumens. At the date of the above 
 mentioned letter, he had as many as eighty cate- 
 chumens; these soon encreased to ninety, the 
 greatest part of whom spoke only the patois of 
 the country, which was a dialect of the old Pro- 
 vencal language, and which he himself was obliged 
 to learn, before he could make himself well under- 
 stood \ There is no regular funeral service among 
 the French Protestants. To supply this defect, 
 when there was a death in a family, NefF used to 
 go to the house, where the body lay, and deliver 
 an exhortation, just before the assembled concourse 
 was ready to bear it to the grave. He also visited 
 the sick, and whenever it was known that he was 
 to be at the bed side of the afflicted, many of the 
 neighbours begged to be admitted, that they 
 might have the benefit of his exhortations. The 
 jju]j)if was ojjcu to liiiu very frequently. At one 
 
 ' He assembled his catechumens four times a wci'k at liis 
 own lodgings, the girls twice, and the boys twice. He directed 
 them to come prepared with passages by heart, out of the New 
 Testament, and after tliesc had been repeated, he expounded 
 them to hi« young hearers in a manner tliat made a lively iin|)ri's- 
 sion upon their minds. Some were in the habit of attending these 
 catcche»i< il instructions from a distiince of uKjre than tiiree mileH.
 
 56 VIZILI.E. 
 
 time he would preach from a text, at another 
 time he would select a chapter, and enlarge upon 
 it in the form of a lecture or paraphrase. He 
 found this latter mode of instruction to be par- 
 ticularly attractive and successful. The simple 
 peasants, who flocked into Mens from the neigh- 
 bouring villages, were grateful to hear a familiar 
 exposition of God's word, and to have an appli- 
 cation made to their own condition or wants, in 
 language which they had no difficulty in under- 
 standing. 
 
 Our indefatigable catechist did not confine his 
 labours to Mens, or to its immediate neighbour- 
 hood. Wherever his presence was required, there 
 he went, be the distance what it might. At this 
 time, and in this department, (that of the Isere,) 
 there were about 8000 Protestants, scattered over 
 a surface of about eighty miles square, with only 
 three regular pastors to look after them, one of 
 whom was now absent. When his visits were 
 paid in one direction, his services were required in 
 another, and nothing but a frame of iron could 
 have enabled a person of Neff"s zeal to encounter 
 the toil, which his reputation soon imposed upon 
 him. One of the districts, which he visited with 
 the greatest personal satisfaction to himself, was 
 that of Vizille. Its situation, on the banks of the 
 Romanche, one of the wildest mountain torrents 
 in France, with lofty mountains encircling it on 
 all sides, had great attractions for him. The place, 
 too, where his little flock was folded, had charms
 
 VlZlLLli. 57 
 
 of a peculiar nature for his turn of mind. It was 
 a large hall in the gothic castle of the family of 
 Lesdioiiieres. The celebrated constable of France, 
 of that name, was the champion of the Huguenot 
 cause, in his youth ; but apostatized from it, in 
 old age, when antljition and cold worldly calcu- 
 lation oot the better of the more o-enerous feelinos 
 of his earlier days. The present possessor of the 
 castle, actuated by a better spirit, lent his fine 
 baronial hall, as a place of worship, to the Pro- 
 testants, and the congregations wdiich gathered 
 round Neff were so attentive to his lessons of piety, 
 that he always spoke of Vizille as his " dear 
 Vizille." But great as was his fatigue, being 
 constantly on the move from one remote quarter to 
 another, it was the sort of life that he preferred 
 before any charge, which would have kept him in 
 a comparative state of confinement. " A seden- 
 tary or a fixed life," said he, " has no pleasures for 
 me. I should not like to be constantly labouring 
 in one place : I would infinitely rather lead the 
 wandering life of a missionary." Thus, among 
 the diversities of gifts, and among the diflferences 
 of administration, l)y which the manifestation of 
 the Spirit is granted for men's profit withal, tlie 
 Almighty was pleased to raise up a teacher for the 
 natives of the l^cncli Alj)s, whose liabits and 
 tastes exactly suited tli»^ \v;iiiis df n j)«'(»|)lc, wlio 
 1 1 ad not the licin'fit of a MilHciciif siipjiK ol" rcsidciil 
 pa-tors.
 
 58 VILLAGE EXCLUSIONS. 
 
 The following letters give an interesting de- 
 scription of one of his village tours, and of his 
 usual employment. 
 
 Mens, April 4, 1822. 
 
 " Yesterday, after the service, I went to Gui- 
 chardiere, a hamlet three miles from this place, 
 and 1 returned delighted with my excursion. 
 There are already many signs of the seed springing 
 up among my catechumens. I was lately accosted 
 by several peasant women, one of whom begged 
 me to give her a copy of the prayer, which I had 
 delivered on the previous Sunday, before my ser- 
 mon. I asked her name and residence, and told 
 her to come to me on the following Sunday. She 
 kept to her appointment, and I then gave her the 
 prayer, and with it a little tract containing the pa- 
 rable of the ten virgins , These interviews made me 
 desirous of knowing more of her, and I proposed 
 to accompany her some day to her own village. 
 Yesterday Elizabeth and I set out together for her 
 parents' cottage, and as we walked along, she told 
 me that many of the young women of the neigh- 
 bourhood met at appointed times to practise psalm- 
 singing, and to read the Bible. Upon reaching 
 the village where she lived, which is charmingly 
 situated in the midst of trees, at the foot of a high 
 mountain, and on the edge of a torrent, I was most 
 kindly received by her parents. They said they 
 could not themselves go to church, but that their 
 daughter always repeated to them that which she
 
 VILLAGE EXCURSIONS. 59 
 
 had lieard. The old man recounted a history of 
 the persecutions which his own parents and him- 
 self had suffered, and he added, ' In those times 
 there was more zeal than there is now. My father 
 and mother used to cross mountains and forests by- 
 night, in the worst weather, and at the risk of their 
 lives, to be present at Divine service performed in 
 secret, but now we are grown lazy. Religious 
 freedom is the death blow to piety. ' He afterwards 
 talked to me of his unhappiness in having onl)'^ one 
 son left, a young man of eighteen, who was clever, 
 and blessed with a good memory, and had read the 
 Bible, and all the pious books in the house, but 
 who did not believe in the word of God. I read 
 some verses of the fifteenth of St. John, and ex- 
 plained them. These good people pressed me to 
 sta}' w4th them, but I had an engagement to be 
 present at a meeting at Mens, where my young 
 people were to practise psalm-singing, and could 
 only thank them for their kindness." 
 
 Ill another place, Neff has given this beautiful 
 description of two villages, where he had the satis- 
 faction of seeing much fruit come to perfection. 
 " These two lovely villages, which are at the foot of 
 Mont Chalet, in a little dell watered by a charming: 
 stream, tapestri(!d witli ricii Ncrdiirc ;iii(l shaded 
 by a grove of bcecli trees, liad often tempted me 
 to extend my walks from Mens in IH'J'J. Tiiey 
 seemed to be tlie peaceful retreat of true pietv, and
 
 60 THE CATECHUMENS. 
 
 their humble, moss-clad cottages, appeared to offer 
 a natural tabernacle for the good shepherd, Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 Mens, May 15, 1822. 
 
 " Far from having time to write letters, I some- 
 times can scarcely find time to take my meals. 
 May I say, with our Lord, ' My meat is to do the 
 will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.' 
 From before Easter I have been visitino- all the 
 hamlets and villages of the parish. I have held 
 meetings nearly in every one, at which there was 
 a good attendance after the labours of the day. 
 When I am in Mens, of an evening I always give 
 a catechetical lecture, or an exposition. Besides 
 this, I have called on all my catechumens in their 
 own communes. The sermons of an evening, and 
 particularly the paraphrastic explanations, are con- 
 stantly well attended. Out of seventy-seven cate- 
 chumens whom I have at present, more than thirty 
 are seriously inclined. Fifteen of those seem to be 
 more or less aware of their true condition, and four 
 or five have found peace in Jesus Christ. Since I 
 have been here, and especially of late, God has 
 given me a facility of expressing myself, an energy, 
 and a degree of boldness, at which I am myself 
 astonished, and which they certainly would not 
 endure in Switzerland. With respect to my health, 
 it is much stronger since I have been constantly on 
 the move and making long excursions, although 
 many of these are very fatiguing, for it often hap-
 
 SACRED MUSIC. 61 
 
 pens that I go several leagues, and perform as many 
 as four or five services in one day, especially on 
 Sundays. I have not unfrequently been thus en- 
 gaged, instructing or conversing, from five o'clock 
 in the morning, till eleven at night, and all this 
 without any cough or ailment of the stomach : I 
 have recovered my appetite, and can drink wine at 
 my meals without any inconvenience."' 
 
 Neffs journals contain frequent mention of even- 
 ing hours spent in the exercise of sacred music 
 with his catechumens, and other young persons 
 whom he could persuade to attend his instruction 
 in this branch of knowledge. It will appear ex- 
 traordinary to those who have been accustomed to 
 think of France as the land of the dance and song, 
 and whose ideas of mountain amusements have 
 Ijeen formed by hearing airs which go under the 
 name of Savoyard and Provencal, to find our 
 catechist complaining, that the common people of 
 Mens, and the mountaineers of the neighbourhood 
 had not the least notion of music. " They do not 
 sing at all, neither well, nor ill, no, not even sono^s." 
 This was liis remark in 'one of his letters, and with 
 that intuitive knowledge of human nature, and of 
 the chords by whicli if i^ iiiovi'd, whicli so cniiiK'ntly 
 distinguished him, Ik* soon employed himself in 
 giving lessons in psalmody, which iiddcd very 
 substantially both to his own iuHuenee, and to fln^ 
 numbers of those, who expressed a desire to enrol
 
 62 SACRED MUSIC. 
 
 themselves in his little company of hearers and 
 learners. I annex his own description of the suc- 
 cessful effects of this device, to combine innocent 
 and rational entertainment with his more grave 
 instructions, and of the manner in which the time 
 thus spent was made to pass agreeably, by diversi- 
 fying the employment, and alternating the singing 
 lesson, and the scriptural lesson. 
 
 " Our sacred music meetings, both on Sundays, 
 and on other evenings, are always numerously 
 attended ; sometimes we count above a hundred, 
 and there would be more if we had room for them. 
 On these occasions we have a great deal of singing, 
 both to practise them in the psalm and hymn tunes, 
 and to preserve the inviting name of sacred music 
 meeting. We do it also to prolong the assembly 
 till a late hour in the evening, that they may not 
 be able to go to the dances \ The singing is fre- 
 quently interrupted either by Mr. Blanc (one of 
 the pastors of Mens,) or myself. Mr. Blanc ex- 
 plains some verses of the Bible, which bear upon 
 the verses of the hymn, or enlarges upon any sub- 
 ject which he thinks applicable. There is a sim- 
 plicity in his addresses, and often a cast of humour, 
 which is extremely engaging. Last Sunday even- 
 
 ' One of NefF's most anxious objects was to put an end to 
 the Sunday games and dances which then prevailed, even 
 among the Protestants, in all parts of France, and he happily 
 succeeded in opening the eyes of many of his young catechu- 
 mens to the profaneness of the practice. 
 
 1
 
 ANECDOTE. 63 
 
 iiig, perceiving some symptoms of inattention and 
 drowsiness in the party, while he was expounding 
 very seriously, he suddenly exclaimed, ' I see you 
 are tired of this, but before we conclude, I will 
 teach vou something new/ Every body was im- 
 mediately all attention. ' 1 will relate a fable to 
 you," he continued, ' a fable of La Fontaine. 
 There were an ant and a grasshopper living 
 near each other. The ant worked hard all the 
 summer to provide against the wants of the winter ; 
 but the grasshopper did nothing but enjoy herself 
 during the whole of the fine weather. When winter 
 came the idler found herself in very great distress, 
 and applied to her neighbour, the ant, for some 
 food. — What were you doing all the summer? 
 asked the ant. — 1 sung and danced, answered the 
 grasshopper. — Well then, sing and dance now, 
 said the ant.' When they heard this, a smile 
 ran through the room. ' Yes,' said Mr. Blanc, 
 * you may laugh now, but this fable is like the 
 parable of the ten virgins : and since the parables of 
 Clirist send you to sleep, I thought it necessary to 
 disguise them under a more attractive form. The 
 ant represents the wise virgins, and the grasshop- 
 per represents the foolish virgins. Like the grass- 
 hopper, the foolish virgins beg oil of the wise vir- 
 gins, but they refuse to give it, for fear of wanting 
 it themselves. Tlicn comes tlie bridegroom and 
 shuts the door, and wlien the foolisli virgins wish to 
 enfei-, lif sa\ - unto tliciii, ' vcrils- I say unto v'>u, I
 
 C4 PSALMODY. 
 
 know you not. Wutcli, therefore, for ye know not, 
 neither the day, nor the hour, when the Son of 
 man cometh.' The tone, with which Mr. Blanc 
 delivered this, produced an irresistible effect." 
 
 In remarking" upon Neff's anxiety to promote 
 psalmody, I would observe, that the effect pro- 
 duced by the w^ords, or by the music, or by the 
 combination of the tw'o, is such, that the cultiva- 
 tion of psalmody has ever been earnestly recom- 
 mended Ijy those who are anxious to excite true 
 piety. Tradition, history, revelation, and experi- 
 ence, bear witness to the truth, that there is 
 nothing to which the natural feelings of man re- 
 spond more readily. Every nation, w^hose literary 
 remains have come down to us, appears to have 
 consecrated the first efforts of its muse to religion, 
 or rather all the first compositions in verse seem 
 to have <>rown out of devotional effusions. We 
 know^ that the book of Job, and others, the most 
 ancient of the Old Testament, contain rythmical 
 addresses to the Supreme Being. Many of the 
 Psalms were composed centuries before the time 
 of king David, and it is not extravagant to imagine, 
 that some of them may have been sung even to 
 Jubal's lyre, and w^ere handed down from patriarch 
 to patriarch by oral tradition. Nor did the fancy 
 of Milton take too bold a flight, when it pleased 
 itself w4th the idea that our first parents, taught 
 by the carols of the birds in the garden of Eden, 
 raised their voices in tuneful notes of praise to the
 
 PSALMODY. 65 
 
 Creator of all, when they walked forth in the 
 cool of the day to meet their God before the fall. 
 But this is certain, that one of our Lords last 
 acts of social worship on earth was to sing a 
 hymn with his disciples. Few, therefore, can be 
 slow to understand, that if Christ and his dis- 
 ciples broke forth in holy song, immediately after 
 the solemnities of the Last Supper, and just before 
 the Shepherd was smitten, and the sheep were 
 scattered ; and if Paul and Silas sung praises unto 
 God in their prison-house, congregational worship 
 may always be the better for such helps. Add to 
 these examples, the apostolical exhortation to the 
 merry hearted to sing psalms, and the apostolical 
 descriptions of the choral strains which resound 
 in the courts of heaven, and we cannot but feel 
 certain, that the services of the Christian church 
 were cheered from the earliest times b}^ hymns and 
 psalms. " Those Nazarenes sing hymns to Christ," 
 said Pliny, in contempt. We thank him for re- 
 cording the fact. The words of the Te Deum were 
 composed by a native of Gaul, (for the use pro- 
 bablv of one of the churches on the Rhone, or of 
 the Alps) aljout the third century; and at the same 
 period, men, women, youths of both sexes, and 
 even childnii joined in the psalmody of the sanc- 
 tiKirics, in such cordial and liaruioiiioits unison, 
 tliat a fatln-r of the <liiii( li lias well compared the 
 .sound to the loud, Imt not discordant, noise of 
 many wa\e- lMatiii<; against the sea shore. 
 
 F
 
 66 PSALMODY. 
 
 At the time of the ret'ormation, sacred music, 
 which had begun to run wild, was brought back 
 to its first principles. The melodies of religious 
 worship were rendered more heart-touching, by 
 being set to words in the vernacular tongues, 
 which every body could understand. Luther's 
 hymn, " Great God, what do I hear and see" 
 led the waj^ Henry VIII. hated the German 
 reformer, and all that he did, but he burned to 
 rival him in every thing, and he gave a stimulus 
 to the public taste, by composing words and 
 music for the service of the English church. In 
 France, soon after the middle of the sixteenth 
 century, when it was doubtful whether the nation 
 would become Protestant or remain Roman Ca- 
 tholic, the pathetic tunes and devotional stanzas 
 of the reformers obtained so great an influence over 
 the minds of men, that the music of the temples, 
 as the Protestant sanctuaries were called, to dis- 
 tinguish them from the Roman Catholic churches, 
 became the fashionable melodies of the day. 
 This taste found its way even to the court, and to 
 the great alarm of the Romish party, some of the 
 sweetest and most stirring of the psalms, which 
 had been translated into French metre by Clement 
 Marot, were set to music by Lewis Guadimel, and 
 were constantly in the mouths not only of the 
 Protestant families of the provinces, but of the 
 ornaments of the saloons of Paris, and of the 
 palace of the Louvre. It is said to have been
 
 PSALMODY. 67 
 
 quite astonishing how mucli this pious and simple 
 device found favour for the Protestant cause, and 
 induced people, who had never read Scripture 
 before, to search the hoi}' volume out of which 
 those treasures were drawn, which so charmed 
 their ears and their imagination. It is still the 
 practice in most of the mountain churches to make 
 sacred music a part of family devotion, and many 
 of the tunes which Guadimel composed with such 
 success are still sung to the praise of God. I can 
 bear witness to the forcible manner in which these 
 strains, rising to heaven from the lips of parents, 
 children and domestics, quicken piety, and stir 
 up tlie best affections of the heart towards God 
 and man. I have seen and felt the eff'ect pro- 
 duced by them in the humble dwelling of the vil- 
 lage pastor, where none but human voices swelled 
 the notes ; and in the chateau, where the harp 
 and the organ have mingled their fine sounds 
 with the well modulated tones of an accomplished 
 family of sons and daughters. My thoughts, 
 at tlie moment 1 am writing this, are at Chateau 
 Blonay, but most of the voices, whicli I heard 
 there, are now silent in death ! I am thoroughly 
 convinced tliat family worship, and congrega- 
 tional worslii]) lose a great auxiliary to piety, 
 when llici'c is not flic; ])owcr or file inclination to 
 join in psalmody. 
 
 Nefi' knew the linnjan heart . when he drter- 
 iiiiiH'd to ciiltiNatc a taste, lor sacred music among 
 
 I- 2
 
 68 NEFF MISKEPRE8ENTED. 
 
 his Hock ; lie tclt assured, both from experience 
 and observation, that when impressive words are 
 set to expressive music, the effect produced can- 
 not but be both delightful and beneficial to those 
 v/ho take part in them. 
 
 The return of the pastor to Mens, whose place 
 Neff was appointed to supply in part, was not 
 favourable to the progress of improvement in that 
 neighbourhood. Having absented himself for a 
 longer period than the circumstances of his case 
 could justify, a question arose as to his re-instate- 
 ment. This produced some party feeling, and the 
 clergyman himself, jealous of Neff's influence, and 
 angry with the consistory for not permitting him 
 to resume his functions at once, raised a cabal 
 against the man, whose anxious object had been 
 to feed and to watch the flock during the shep- 
 herd's absence. The effect of his ungenerous 
 misrepresentations, and of the levity with which 
 he spoke of the catechist's rigid sentiments, was 
 more visible in the town of Mens than in the 
 neighbouring villages, and it wrung from Neff"s 
 wounded spirit a melancholy expression of regret 
 at the falling oft' of many, of whom he had had 
 better hopes. 
 
 But it is gratifying to be able to report of the 
 people generally, to whose instruction Neff" de- 
 voted so much of his time and anxiety, that they 
 were not insensible of his merits. The day of his 
 departure was a day of mourning to them, and
 
 NEFF VINDICATED. 69 
 
 tlie testimony which M. Bhuic, the other pastor 
 of ]\Iens, bore to his character after his death, and 
 to the success of his labours, is highly honourable 
 to all parties. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from M. Blanc, pastor of 
 Mens, dated \st Dec. 1829. 
 
 " About five months after the arrival of M. 
 Neff at Mens, more than a hundred persons, 
 principally the heads of families, lamenting that 
 he was not appointed to the station of assistant 
 pastor, petitioned the consistory to retain him 
 under the designation of pastor-catechist, and 
 otl'ered to provide a stipend for him, as long as 
 they should have a farthing left. The consistory 
 nominated M. Felix Neff pastor-catechist on the 
 1st of June 1822. Every where, in Mens and its 
 environs, the name of our friend was never pro- 
 nounced but with respect; and there were few who 
 did not regard him as a saint, almost exempt from 
 sin. This was a subject of deep affliction to him, 
 because he saw that they attached themselves too 
 much to him personally, and too little to the 
 Saviour wliose servant he was. lie said to me 
 one day with deep feeling, ' They love me too 
 much ; they receive me with too mucli ])leasure ; 
 thc\' eul<)gi/.(.' inc too iiiiicli ; indeed tlie\' do not 
 know me. Diiriirj the space ol iie;ii"i\ two 
 
 V('ars, which he >\\r\{\ among- ns, In; did u pro- 
 iligious (jnantitv of good. Zeal lor reli«_iion re-
 
 70 IMPROVRMENT AT MENS. 
 
 vived ; a great number of persons beg'an to tliink 
 seriously of the condition of their souls. The 
 Word of God was more sought after, and more 
 carefully read, the catechumens were better in- 
 structed in their Christian duties, and gave proofs 
 of it in their conduct : family worship was esta- 
 blished in many houses : the love of luxury, and 
 personal vanity decreased : almsgiving was more 
 generally practised, and the poor were not so 
 numerous. Schools were opened in different 
 places, and both in Mens, and in our neighbour- 
 ing villages, every body remarks a sensible im- 
 provement in the manners and industrious habits 
 of the Protestants. In short, the numberless 
 labours of Neff, his indefatigable activity, and 
 his instructions, will long be remembered at Mens, 
 and his sojournment among us will be recorded as 
 a sional blessins;." 
 
 Amiable and Christian-minded must be the 
 man, who thus bears witness to the labours of his 
 humble brother. Without any unworthy deroga- 
 tion, without the least shadow of envy, the pastor of 
 Mens attributes all the improvement produced in 
 his flock to the labours of a stranger ; of a coadju- 
 tor, whose office was nothing more than that of a 
 catechist ! Great reason had Neff", in his Journals 
 to speak of the singleness of heart, of the pure 
 religious motives which actuated M. Blanc. But 
 before we dismiss this part of Neff"s history, when 
 he was acquitting himself so well as a proposant.
 
 SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 71 
 
 or probalioiicr, in tlic ample field, to which he 
 returned after a short absence, in the character of 
 a regular pastor, it will more fully illustrate the 
 resources of his mind, and explain the mode of 
 treatment w^hich he adopted with his catechu- 
 mens, if I select one of the many sketches which 
 his Journal contains. 
 
 " You will, perhaps, remember," said he, in a 
 letter to one of his friends, "■ that in the notice of 
 my first lecture at Mens, I spoke of a daughter of 
 my host, named Emily, one of my catechumens, 
 as being very intelligent, but at the same time 
 extremely devoted to the pleasures of the world. 
 She used to be at every frivolous amusement. 
 Upon one occasion, having understood that she 
 meant to perform a part in a comedy, I signified 
 mv displeasure so plainly, that she gave up her 
 design ; but 1 perceived that it was sorely against 
 her real inclination. While she regularly attended 
 all our private and public services, and particularly 
 our evening meetings, her whole heart was with 
 the world. Her li})s only gave confession of the 
 trutli. Tilings were in tliis state with her when 
 she heard my sermon on Good Friday. She was 
 struck by these words, which 1 repeated more than 
 once : * Go to Golgotlia, and tlieie yoii will see 
 how odious sin istoCiod?' V^v i1m* first time 
 she und(;rstood, in th(! sufferings of our Lonl. the 
 terrible demunds of the holy law of God. in \\ui 
 l>itterness and anguish of lier soul, >\n' ^lied many
 
 72 SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 tears during the service, and her heart was on fire 
 when she left the church. During the whole of 
 the day her uneasiness increased, though she did 
 all she could to give another turn to her thoughts. 
 She cursed the hour when she had asked God to 
 give her a knowledge of her heart. She continued 
 in this state without disclosing her feelings to any 
 body till the Tuesday morning afterwards. It was 
 in vain that I endeavoured to find an opportunity 
 of speaking to her. She avoided me. Her parents 
 and friends tortured themselves to divine the cause 
 of her disquietude. At last, on the Tuesday morn- 
 ing, I made her search for some passages in my 
 Testament, and in turning over the leaves she 
 found the text on which I had preached. Mat. v. 
 20. ' It is too true,' said she, ' that our righteous- 
 ness does not surpass that of the Scribes and 
 Pharisees : it is even less than theirs.' 
 
 " 'And St. Paul says,' I rejoined, ' that no 
 flesh shall be justified by the works of the law.' 
 
 " Upon this she made many objections to the 
 doctrine, not being able to understand how we are 
 excited to good works by it. 
 
 " I then read to her the passage in St. Paul's 
 Epistle to Titus, and I reminded her of the exam- 
 ple of true Christians who are rich in good works, 
 although they do not attribute any merit to them. 
 I explained to her the motives of love and grati- 
 tude, which incline them to obedience, and to a 
 renouncement of the world.
 
 SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 73 
 
 *' ' Do you think, 'added I, ' that they, who have 
 such sentiments as these, can find any pleasure 
 in the things of the workl ? ' 
 
 " 'No,' said she, ' but I do.' 
 
 " I then endeavoured to make her perceive how 
 the consideration of the truths of the Gospel ought 
 to make us serious. 
 
 " ' It does not make me serious ! ' she exclaimed, 
 bursting into tears. 
 
 " ' I return thanks to God for the disposition in 
 which I now find you, for those who weep shall be 
 comforted. Be of good cheer, there is a Com- 
 forter. He, whom Jesus Christ promised to his 
 disciples, will be sent to you also.' 
 
 " ' His disciples did his will, but as for me, I do 
 it not, and I have never done it.' 
 
 " ' His disciples did not only do his will, they 
 believed.' 
 
 " ' Yes, and I do not believe.' 
 
 " ' They did not believe as much as they ought, 
 for Jesus reproached them with not having faith 
 as big as a grain of mustard seed. But they did 
 as you ought to do : they asked the Lord to in- 
 crease their faitli.' 
 
 ** ' But tli(;y, at that time, had a little, and 1 
 have none at all.' 
 
 " Here her tears burst fortli anain, and all that 
 I said aj)peared to have no eiiect upon her. She 
 continued ;ill day in such a melancholy mood as 
 to alarm in r jjarents. She could scarcely utter
 
 74 spiRrn'Aj- conflict. 
 
 a word ; she avoided company, and ate scarcely 
 any thing. 
 
 '' The next morning she tohl me that she was 
 in the same frame of mind, and when I urged 
 her to tell me what it was which so afflicted her, 
 she exclaimed, sobbing, ' I am too proud, I never 
 can be saved.' 1 assured her that I was rejoiced 
 to find that she had attained this knowledge of 
 her own heart, and then I opened before her all 
 the treasures of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. 
 But she persevered in objecting the excess of her 
 pride and vanit}'. She could not believe in the 
 glad tidings, she could not believe that her prayers 
 would be heard. 
 
 " ' Poor Emily, you are very unhappy at pre- 
 sent, but your sadness shall be turned into joy. 
 The Lord will comfort j'ou.' 
 
 " ' But if I should die in this condition ? ' 
 
 " ' Be not afraid ; I am as sure as I am of my 
 own existence, that God does not light the candle 
 and take the broom, to leave the piece of silver in 
 the dust. He wdll finish the work which he has 
 begun in you. He wdll call j-ou to himself, after 
 he has purified you.' 
 
 *' It was in vain that I endeavoured to console 
 her by such discourse as this ; I could not succeed, 
 and I left her with these words. ' My dear Emily, 
 I am very sorry to have to quit you at this moment, 
 but I leave you in the hands of the Lord, who 
 will comfort you better than I can. Go to him 
 
 1
 
 SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 75 
 
 \vitli perfect confidence. I recommend you to ac- 
 quaint your mother with the cause of your distress, 
 in order to remove any unpleasant suspicion.' I 
 then parted with her, and went to La Mure, where 
 I preached at one o'clock, and in the evening- I 
 slept at La Baume, near the Drac, where I held 
 a numerous meeting in the house of the mayor of 
 the commune. All the inhabitants of this little 
 village are Protestants ; and not one of them staid 
 at home, even mothers attended with children at 
 the breast, for in the memory of man, there had 
 never been any preaching performed in this place, 
 which is very remote from any road, and has no 
 church near it. The next morning I set out at a 
 very early hour, the maj^or accompanied me as far 
 as the Drac, and I ascended the mountain towards 
 St. Jean d'Heran, to visit a sick person. He was 
 a wicked old man, who had all his life boasted of 
 his irreligion, but the fear of death had softened 
 him. I found him in full possession of his intellect, 
 although he was very near his end. I read to him, 
 and I explained to him the parable of the labourers 
 in the vinevard, and dwelt upon those wlio were 
 liircd at the eleventh hour. He listened, and then 
 made some objections. He did not appear to be 
 persuiMlrd. J |)i-;i\«'(l witli liim. and llicii took my 
 leave, after having addresse< I liim witli ^rcat earn- 
 estness, and I lioj)(! witli affection. I do not know, 
 whether llie Lord, wlio came five or six lioiirs 
 afterwards, found liini elotlied witli tin; while
 
 76 THE PENITENT. 
 
 garment, or naked. 1 also visited another sick per- 
 son, whom 1 found much better disposed, and then 
 returned to Mens, to receive my catechumens. 
 In the course of my excursion I did not forget 
 Emily. At one time I felt rejoiced, and blessed 
 God for his dispensation of mercy to her. At 
 another time I was afraid lest this sudden awaken- 
 ing should produce bad effects, especially if her 
 anguish of mind should continue, and effect her 
 health, which is but feeble even now. 
 
 *' In the midst of these reflections I arrived at 
 home, fearing to find Emily in her bed, and her 
 parents miserable, but I found her full of joy. 
 * Oh how happy I am,' she exclaimed, the mo- 
 ment she saw me. ' You have not left me in the 
 hands of a severe judge. How gracious the 
 Lord has been ! Oh ! he is rightly called the 
 Saviour : — but what agony ! what sufferings ! Oh ! 
 what he must have suffered ! He who drank the 
 cup of bitterness even to the dregs. Now I un- 
 derstand what he meant to say, when he ex- 
 claimed, ' My soul is full of heaviness, even unto 
 death.' I should never have done, if I were to 
 endeavour to transcribe all the expressions of 
 gratitude and admiration, which poured from her 
 mouth : from that mouth, which heretofore had 
 been full of the attractions of the world. Not 
 only was her language new, but her air and 
 aspect were changed. The vain and self-import- 
 ant deportment had now given way to modesty
 
 THE PENITENT. 77 
 
 and sweetness. It was no long-er the same Emily, 
 My first movement was natnrally to bless the 
 Father of Mercies and the Saviour of Sinners." 
 
 The reader will be glad to know that the im- 
 provement, which had been now going on for a 
 week, and which had been assisted so judiciously, 
 and with so much tenderness and supplication by 
 her pious instructor, continued until she began to 
 bring forth the fruits of a holy life, and that she 
 remained a faithful servant of her God and Re- 
 deemer. 
 
 As an accompaniment to the method used by 
 Neff of gently leading on those, who were slow^ to 
 approach the Lord, I subjoin his account of the 
 language he was wont to hold with those, who 
 appeared to be declining from their devout resolu- 
 tions. " After having been awakened, D 
 
 seemed to be on the point of relapsing into her 
 former state. I asked her, what will become of 
 the soul which neglects the means of grace, after 
 having received them. ' It w^ill fall into condemn- 
 ation,' said she, in a faint voice. ' You ought,' 
 said I to lier, ' to know something of this by expe- 
 rience ;' and then I spoke to her of her defection, 
 niid oi" the fate wliicli awaits the branch which 
 does not abide in tlic vine. Yesterday, at the 
 evening catechising. I pnrsiicd a similar course 
 with I., . Slic had rcjjcatcd tlio verse con- 
 taining thos(; words oi.Iesus, — ' Even tlie Spirit of 
 Truth, wliicli the world cannot receive, because it
 
 78 Tin: relapsed. 
 
 south liiin not, ncitluT kiioNvetli him, for lie dwell- 
 etli with you, and sludl be with you '.' After she 
 had explained Mdiat is meant by the habitation of 
 the Spirit, I asked her if that Spirit was given for 
 a time only ? 
 
 " ' No,' said she, ' He is to abide witli us for 
 ever ^' 
 
 " ' But if this Spirit will not depart of himself, 
 may we not lose him V 
 
 " She had great difficulty in making any reply. 
 At length she answered in a low voice, and witli 
 tears in her eyes, ' Yes,' 
 
 " ' Yes,' replied I calml}^, but with considerable 
 emphasis, ' and you are a proof of it. The Lord 
 has enlightened you with his Spirit. You have 
 been made sensil)le of the weight of your sins ; 
 and the time was, when you found rest at the feet 
 of the Redeemer. You have known him. You 
 had his seal set upon you, and now you have 
 fallen back again into a state of spiritual death. 
 You have only preserved the form of Christianity, 
 by which you may more easily deceive the chil- 
 dren of God ! But beware ! Woe unto him by 
 whom the Son of man is betrayed !' — This apos- 
 trophe had a striking effect upon L , and all 
 
 who listened to it." 
 
 One of Neff's Journals contains these interest- 
 ing remarks upon the village of La Baume. 
 
 ' John xiv. 17. " Vcr. 16.
 
 LA BAUME. 79 
 
 " For nine months I have made frequent visits to 
 tliis place, but I have been heard without oppo- 
 sition, and witliout producing any positive good. 
 The mayor has received me with perfect frank- 
 ness, and the whole population have listened to 
 me attentively. Lately, however, I have perceived 
 something like signs of life in three or four young 
 persons. At my last visit, when I had finished 
 my exposition and my prayer, instead of going 
 away, as they had hitherto done, at the termina- 
 tion of the service, all the people kept their seats, 
 and remained silent. Full of real concern for 
 these poor creatures, I rested my head upon my 
 hands, and offered up a secret prayer to God in 
 their behalf. They thought I was taken ill, and 
 many anxious inquiries were put to me. I lifted 
 up my head, and said, ' I am not ill, my friends, 
 but I am distressed on your account. I am 
 thinking that most of you have already forgotten 
 tliut whitli you have just heard, and it is this 
 whicli grieves me.' "
 
 CHAPTER 111. 
 
 Kejfs difficidties as to Ordinalion — His reasons for not being 
 ordained hif the Gcneixin Clergy — Goes to I'ln gland for his 
 diploma — His return to France and reception at Mens — His 
 nomination as Pastor of the High Alps — His first visits to the 
 mountain hamlets of his jmrish. 
 
 Neff had now made sufficient proof of his incli- 
 nation and powers. He had discharged the duties 
 of a probationer and catechist for more tlian four 
 years, and in the course of this ministry, first in 
 his native country, and next in one of the pro- 
 vinces of France, he found, by happy experience, 
 that God had given him both strength and wil- 
 lingness to do his work. He, therefore, took his 
 departure from Mens, in April 1823, with tlie 
 intention of seeking for the imposition of hands, 
 and of devoting himself to the service of the 
 church by a solemn act of consecration. He 
 believed himself to be called, and tried, and he 
 humbly hoped, that he possessed such qualities as 
 were requisite for the responsible station, which 
 he was desirous to fill. 
 
 The great difficulty, however, was this. By 
 whom should he be ordained ? By the authorities 
 of the National Cliurch of Geneva, the land of
 
 THE CHURCH OF GENEVA. 81 
 
 his birtli ! But these had avowed principles from 
 which his soul shrunk : and he felt a strong- 
 reluctance to derive authority to preach the 
 Gospel from those who, in his opinion, had be- 
 trayed the Gospel, by ceasing to uphold the 
 divinity of Jesus Christ, and the essential doc- 
 trines of the Book of Life. Should he present 
 himself before those seceding pastors of Geneva, 
 who had separated from the national church, and 
 who declared themselves the members of a new 
 church ? A reference to Neff "s letter, on the sub- 
 ject of national establishments, will show that he 
 was likely to have scruples here, and that he was 
 unwilling to take any step, which could be re- 
 garded as inconsistent with his declared opinions 
 on the subject of disorganization. He could not 
 wish, by any act of his, to be impairing the 
 maintenance of the church in w^hich he himself 
 had been baptized, wdiicli had once been the in- 
 strument of much good, and might again, by a 
 reformation within itself, become as illustrious for 
 its orthodoxy, as it then was for its learning. 
 
 For further explanation of Neff 's unwillingness 
 to l>e ordaini'd by tlie hands of ministers of the 
 establislied church of his native country, I must 
 hrrc ofler a few statements, touching tlie departure 
 of" tliat cliui-cli IVoiii its aiiciciit |)riiici|»Ic-. l'\)r 
 K€*\<Tal \car> pa-l, a-piiMl. li<»lilc totlic riiiida- 
 nn'Utal doctrines S('ttlc(l at llic period ot tlie lie- 
 forniatioii, and sanctioned by tlie subscription of 
 
 (j
 
 82 THE cTirRcii or geneva. 
 
 names illustrious in the ecclesiastical history of 
 Geneva, such as Farel, Calvin, Viret, and Beza, 
 has been openly avowed by many of the national 
 pastors. Even the cardinal article of the Christian 
 creed, the divinity of Jesus Christ, which the 
 most distino-uished confessors of every branch of 
 the universal Church have agreed in receiving, 
 from the apostolic times to our own, has been 
 disputed, and the belief of WiclifT, Huss, Luther, 
 and Fenelon, has been publicly controverted from 
 the theological chair of the academy of Geneva. 
 In 1817, the venerable company of pastors took 
 upon themselves to declare, that the following 
 subjects were not to be discussed in the pulpits, 
 viz. 
 
 " The Divinity of Jesus Christ." 
 " Original Sin." 
 " The Operation of Grace." 
 " Predestination." 
 From this period the departure from apostolical 
 Christianity has been so undisguised, that out of 
 twenty-two recent elections to pastoral charges, 
 there has been but one minister elected, who has 
 ventured to preach the divinity of Christ. Under 
 such circumstances, it is not to be wondered that 
 Neff felt scruples of conscience, and could not 
 consent to receive ordination in a church, in which 
 it was prohibited to enlarge upon the great mystery 
 of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. Within 
 a few months, some of the brightest ornaments
 
 THE CHURCH OF GENEVA. 83 
 
 of the establishment, who have all along refused 
 to be silent upon the prohibited topics, have been 
 deprived of their functions, because they formed 
 the committee of an association, which determined 
 at last to take measures for the revival of the 
 ancient principles of their church, and to institute 
 a school of theology, in w^hich those principles 
 shall be taught. The association has declared its 
 strict adherence to the doctrines, which the Pro- 
 testant churches of Holland, England, Scotland, 
 France, Germany, and Italy, profess with one 
 accord, in their respective articles of faith. 
 
 I subjoin the contents of a paper lately circulated 
 by the Rev. Richard Burgess, the English chap- 
 lain at Geneva, in which the lamentable falling 
 off of the Geneva church and academy, and the 
 views of the association are ably stated. 
 
 " Tlie decline of the orthodox faith in the 
 ' national church ' of Geneva, and the consequent 
 deterioration in the religious instruction of youth, 
 have, for several years, been subjects of painful 
 interest to the friends of the Protestant cause in 
 Eurojx'. Hitherto, however, they have remained 
 almost passive spectators of the conflict whicli has 
 been carried on between the Unitarian principles of 
 the great hodv ol" ilu; clergy and a few individuals 
 among them, wlio ' have earnestly contended for 
 tlu' faith once (h-livcrcd to the saints :' for the 
 priiifi])h'S of tli(? ' nalioiiai cliurc li," allliough evi- 
 dently to l>e trac(.'d in every act ol its constituent 
 
 a 2
 
 84 THE " SOCIETE EVANCjELIQUe" OF GENEVA. 
 
 l)0(ly, were not openly avowed, and tlic formal 
 abolition of all creeds kept many persons in doubt 
 as to the real doctrines of the majority of the clergy. 
 At length, a series of publications, emanating 
 from the professor of divinity and other influential 
 members of the ecclesiastical body, have placed 
 the doctrines of that majority in a graduated scale 
 of heterodoxy between Arianism and Socinianism. 
 It then became imperative for such of the clerical 
 and lay members of the ' national church ' as re- 
 tained and cherished the true doctrines, and who 
 conscientiously felt that to be silent any longer 
 were to betray the sacred cause of the Gospel, to 
 form a religious union for their edification, whilst 
 they might maintain their principles and dissemi- 
 nate them amongst their fellow -citizens. A society, 
 called the Societe Evangclique, was accordingly 
 formed, and in a very short time received an ac- 
 cession of more than two hundred members. The 
 committee of the society is composed of three 
 ministers of distinguished zeal and piety, and 
 several laymen of rank and consideration as citi- 
 zens and as Christians, ' strong in the grace that 
 is in Christ Jesus. ' The great object of the Societe 
 Evangclique is to restore the true and orthodox 
 doctrines of the Gospel (which, through a vain 
 philosophy, have been so long lost) to the Genevan 
 church, and one of the most effectual means for 
 accomplishing this end is the establishment of a 
 theological academy, to train up young men for
 
 NEW THEOLOGICAL ACADEMY OF GENEVA. S5 
 
 the ministry in sonnd and ortliodox principles. 
 This institution has ah'eady been set on foot ; the 
 professors engaged are men of distinguished talent, 
 expressing their firm adherence to the doctrines 
 contained in the articles of the church of England 
 and the Helvetic confession of faith." 
 
 The three members, to whom Mr. Burgess 
 alludes, Messrs. Gaussen, Merle d'Aubigny, and 
 Galland, were ejected from the church of Geneva, 
 by an act of consistory, dated 11 th October, 1831, 
 and confirmed by the council of state. The al- 
 ledged ofience was the following passage in their 
 circular. 
 
 " We have said that this school was indis- 
 pensable ; and it is but too easy to prove the fact. 
 If the youths who go to the academies of France 
 and Geneva to qualify themselves for the ministry 
 of the Word of Life, are there taught the Unitarian 
 doctrines : — if the very truths, for the sake of 
 whicli our professorships were founded, our schools 
 opened, and our institutions formed, are there 
 condemned : — if the studies in tliose schools are 
 not free, that is to say, if tlie pupils attached to 
 the faitli of tlie apostles and refornuirs are not at 
 liberty to follow the instructions which correspond 
 with their faith and satisfy their (consciences : — 
 if pious parents, desirous of devotinn tlicir sons to 
 tli«' iiiiiii-frv oi" tlic ( lospcl, arc coiniicllcd lo coii- 
 denin llirni to consuiiic the luiir best years of their 
 voutb ill -litdic-' wbicli -iilixcil tin- foiiiKbilioii-' of
 
 S6 NEW TIIEOLOCJICAL ACADEMY OF GENEVA. 
 
 our faith : — in a word, if it be true that Arianism 
 saps the very foundations of the Gospel, — then 
 assuredly the establishment of a new school of 
 theology was indispensable. 
 
 " In thus saying, we are but stating a fact well 
 known to the Church of Christ. Indeed, those 
 who teach the new doctrines in the theological 
 chairs, have themselves proclaimed it in recent 
 publications ; and, while we appreciate the can- 
 dour which has at length brought to light such 
 an evil, we consider it to be obligatory on all 
 Christians, not only to desire, but to labour assi- 
 duously to provide a remedy. 
 
 " If, then, we have presumed to propose a 
 remedy, it is because it behoved some one to offer 
 it : and if we entertain the persuasion that God 
 will take this work into his all-powerful hands, it 
 is because it is his own cause, and not ours." 
 
 Neff's eyes, in his reluctance to be ordained by 
 clerg}^ holding doubtful opinions, Avould next be 
 turned to the Protestant Church of France, and 
 as he had been a humble Levite in her temples, 
 and hoped yet to serve before her altars, it must 
 have been his devout wish, to receive orders under 
 her sanction. But he was a foreigner, and with- 
 out the process of naturalization, it was not then 
 easy, perhaps not practicable, to be admitted into 
 her bosom. 
 
 One door only seemed to be open to him. 
 To go to England, where his name and merits
 
 NEFl- IN LONDON. 87 
 
 had been made known through the means, origi- 
 nally, of the Continental Society I believe, and 
 of Mr. Cook, and Mr. Wilks, two eminent dis- 
 senting ministers ; and to ask for a public recog- 
 nition as a devoted servant of God, in one of 
 those independent congregations, whose minis- 
 ters are received in the Protestant churches of 
 France, as duly authorized to preach the word of 
 God, and to fulfil all the duties of the pastoral 
 office. 
 
 Neff had no other mode of satisfying his con- 
 science, and of assuming the functions of a minis- 
 ter " lawfully called,"' according to the regula- 
 tions of the country where he looked forward to 
 pursue his professional career. He therefore pro- 
 ceeded to London in the beginning of May, and 
 without being acquainted with a single word of 
 the English language, we find the catechist of 
 the mountains embarking on board a steam-boat 
 at Calais, landing at Dover half dead with sea- 
 sickness, consigning himself to the chances of a 
 night-coach, and arriving in the metropolis on a 
 Sunday morning, with no other aid to help him 
 tlirougli the mazes of a city, (whicli is more em- 
 barrassing to a strant;er than anv other capital in 
 Europe,) tlian ;i (lircclion lo the lioiisc of Mr. 
 Wilks. Aftc)- |)ii/,/.lin<j,' out bis \\:iv lo liis IVicnds 
 
 aljodf. jll(l<_iC wliiil liiii-t li;i\(' been Ilis tol'lol-n 
 r<M*Hn<'" MixHi lf;irnin<'' lb;it Mr. W ill\> \\;is nol at 
 bouK', and tbal nobods' in ibf lioiisc could speak
 
 88 NEFl" IN LONDON. 
 
 French, Soiuuliow or other the intelligent stran- 
 ger, after many questions put to such passengers 
 as, he hoped, might be able to reply to him in a 
 language he could understand, got a clue, through 
 the labyrinth of streets and lanes, to a French 
 Chapel, where, he calculated, that, as it was Sun- 
 day, he should find somel)ody who could hold in- 
 tercourse with him, and put him in the train of 
 profiting by his letters of introduction. The ex- 
 cellent Mr. Scholl was the preacher at the chapel 
 upon this occasion, and to him NeflP addressed 
 himself after the service with the modest request, 
 that he would direct him to an hotel where 
 French was spoken. The wanderer's delight 
 must have been excessive, when Mr. Scholl 
 kindly accosted him by name, and told him that 
 he was aware of the errand upon which he had 
 come, and that every thing should be done to pro- 
 mote his views. He was placed in comfortable 
 lodgings, and on the return of Mr. Wilks he was 
 introduced by that gentleman to the ministers 
 who were to receive him into their body. But 
 though he received every attention from his new 
 friends, during the interval that elapsed before 
 the puljlic ceremony which brought him to Eng- 
 land, yet one or two only could hold conversation 
 with him, and his time hung heavily on his hands. 
 " My visits," said he in one of his letters, " are 
 very insipid, I cannot talk English, nor they 
 French, and the sooner I can get away, the hap-
 
 A THEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION. 89 
 
 pier 1 shall be ; but I will remain as long as I can 
 be forming connections, which may prove useful 
 in promoting the reign of Christ in France." 
 
 It was on the 19th of May, 1823, that Neff, to 
 use his own terms, " received a diploma in Latin, 
 signed by nine ministers, of whom three were 
 doctors in Theology, and one was a master of 
 arts, and was ordained in a chapel in the Poultry 
 in London." 
 
 The questions proposed to him, in examination, 
 were : — 
 
 How do vou know that you have been called by 
 God ? ' 
 
 What is it which has induced you to devote 
 yourself to the ministry ? 
 
 What are the doctrines which you regard as es- 
 sentials ? 
 
 To the two first he gave answers, of which the 
 following: is the substance. " I have embraced 
 the vocation of a minister of the Gospel, because 
 the Sovereign Bishop of Souls has implanted an 
 ardent desire in me to preach the Gospel, and be- 
 cause, whenever 1 have directed my thoughts to 
 otlier professions, I have felt my conscience bur- 
 tlieued, and a secret voice has commanded me 
 to announce the kingdom of (lod. Because God 
 has been pleased to ]>]<■>> my labours, and many 
 souls have already Ijeeii brouglit to a know lc(|g«> of 
 the Word, wliich he has permitted me to declare in 
 his name : because he lias graciously opened
 
 90 neff's confession of faith. 
 
 many doors to me, and in tlic course of the last 
 two years I have been invited many times, by 
 consistories and churches, so that I shall not enter 
 the vineyard of myself, and without a lawful 
 calling." 
 
 To the third question, he replied : — " I do not 
 pretend to penetrate into the secret of God, nor to 
 explain how or why evil entered into the world : 
 but I know that it exists, and that it dwells in our 
 hearts ; that we carry it with us from our birth, 
 and that, excited by tlie example of the world, 
 and the influence of Satan, it reigns in our souls, 
 and makes us bring forth evil fruits to our con- 
 demnation. I believe that in this state man is 
 neither capable nor worthy of having any part in 
 the kingdom of God, but that he deserves the 
 Divine wrath, according to the justice of the Most 
 High. I believe that there does not exist in our- 
 selves, or in any created being, the means of es- 
 caping from this state of perdition, but that God, 
 loving us when we were his enemies, has sent into 
 the world the Eternal Word, by which he made 
 all things, and that this Word dwelt among 
 us, under the name of Jesus, which signifies 
 the Saviour. I believe that this Saviour is our 
 righteousness and redemption, and that his death 
 and atonement have appeased the wrath of God. 
 I believe that the true faith consists in being 
 thoroughly convinced of, and deeply affected by, 
 our state of corruption, and of the justice of our
 
 neff's confession of faith. 91 
 
 condemuatioii — in putting our whole trust in the 
 sufferings of Jesus Christ, — and in the righteous- 
 ness which is through Him and of Him. I be- 
 lieve that we are not saved because we love God, 
 but that we may love him, and that if we are 
 saved by faith without the works of the law, we 
 are created again in Jesus Christ to do the good 
 works for which God has prepared us. I believe 
 that, in order to answer this object of our Saviour, 
 it is absolutely necessary that he should write his 
 law in our hearts. I believe that a change of 
 heart is the result of true faith. 
 
 " After these principal points, I believe that we 
 ought, in the course of our instructions, 1. To 
 convince men of their guilt by all scriptural and 
 reasonable means : 2. To conduct them to Jesus : 
 3. To ena:ao;e them to read and meditate on the 
 word of God, and to pray for them that know not 
 the truth. I believe that we ought to announce 
 Jesus Christ and him crucified, without entering 
 into unedifying discussions on points of doctrine 
 contested among- Christians. I believe that it is 
 the duty of a good steward to give to each the 
 nourishment wliich lie requires, milk to l)abes and 
 strong meat to men. Finally, I subscribe, both 
 ill matter of faitli and practice, to the confessions 
 of fjiitli ot" flu; reformed (liurches of France and 
 Swit/erlainl, in the which I was born, and to 
 whicli I desire to dedicate tiie services of my 
 iniiiistrv. '
 
 92 NEFF RETURNS TO DAUPHINE. 
 
 Neff lost no time in returning to France, and 
 to the scene of his first labours in that country : 
 but his journey to England had nearly been the 
 means of defeating all his hopes and plans. He 
 was represented to the French government as an 
 agent of England, and when he presented him- 
 self before the prefect of the department of the 
 Isere at Grenoble, to meet any charge that might 
 be made against him, that functionary candidly 
 told him, that the minister of the interior had re- 
 ceived information, that all the preachers not 
 French, and more especially those who had re- 
 ligious connections out of the kingdom, were in 
 the pay of England, and were charged with some 
 political mission. The prefect was at the same 
 time polite and kind in his manner, and strongly 
 advised Neff to take up letters of naturalization, as 
 the best answer to the calumny, and the only way 
 of securing his object in regard to a pastoral ap- 
 pointment. 
 
 The reception which the Protestants of Mens 
 gave to their former catechist, on his re-appear- 
 ing among them, would have been felt like a 
 triumphal entrance to any but a person of his 
 gentle and unassuming spirit. They left their 
 shops and their husbandry work to meet him. 
 They crowded round him, some half-stifled him 
 in their embraces, others kissed his hand, others 
 wept with joy, and all signified the sincerity of 
 their affection and respect. When he called upon
 
 HIS RECEPTION THERE. 93 
 
 his acquaintances in the villages, similar testi- 
 monies of veneration were displayed. 
 
 At St. Jean d'Heran, he was obliged to repress 
 the out-bursting of delight with which he was 
 welcomed. His approach had been announced 
 by somebody who ran before to give the joyful 
 intelligence, '" he is coming," and on drawing 
 near the village, he saw the bottom of the little 
 hill, on which it stands, full of people, who were 
 waiting to greet him. With his usual prudence 
 and good sense, he foresaw that an unfavourable 
 construction might be put upon these public indi- 
 cations of esteem, and he begged one of his friends 
 to go forward, and to request that the honest vil- 
 lagers would return to their houses, where he 
 would visit them successively, and receive their 
 cordial assurances of affection. For eight days, 
 previously to his arrival, the inhabitants of St. 
 Jean d'Heran had been anxiously expecting him, 
 and its population had turned out more than once 
 to hail his approach. 
 
 But the cabals, of which some mention has 
 been made in a preceding page, rendered it unad- 
 visable for Neff to remain either in Mens or its 
 iiiiiiK.'diate neighbourhood. The principal inha- 
 bitants of St. Sebastian presented a requisition, 
 in wliicli tliey urged liim to accept tlie office of 
 pastor in tliat commune, and un(h.'rtook to raise 
 his sahiry among themselves, but he declined 
 their generous oflers, for the same reasons tliat
 
 i)4 THE DEPARTMENT OF THE HIGH ALPS. 
 
 induced him to remove himself from Mens. Per- 
 haps it was no great act of self-denial to make up 
 his mind to quit the department of the Isere, for 
 though his affections were strongly fixed there, 
 yet his anxious desire to be at the post, where 
 he could most effectually be of use, made him 
 frequentl}^ turn a longing eye towards the section 
 of the High Alps. " I am always dreaming of 
 the High Alps," said he in a letter of the 8th Sept. 
 1823, " and I would rather be stationed there 
 than in the places which are under the beautiful 
 sky of Languedoc. In the higher Alpine region 
 I shall be the only pastor, and therefore more at 
 liberty. In the south, I should be embarrassed 
 by the presence and conflicting opinions of other 
 pastors. With respect to the description which 
 B — has given of those mountains, it may be correct 
 as to some places, but still the country bears a 
 strong resemblance to the Alps of Switzerland. 
 It has its advantages and even its beauties. If 
 there are wolves and chamois, there are also cattle 
 and pasturages and glaciers, and picturesque spots, 
 and above all an energetic race of people, intelli- 
 gent, active, hardy, and patient under fatigue, 
 who offer a better soil for the Gospel, than the 
 wealthy and corrupt inhabitants of the plains of 
 the south." 
 
 At length his ardent wishes were gratified, and 
 while he was staying at Grenoble, in October, 
 1823, he received intelligence that the elders of
 
 NEFF ELECTED PASTOR OF THE HIGH ALPS. 95 
 
 the Protestant cliiirclies of Val Qiieyras and Val 
 Fressiniere had made application to the Consistory 
 in his behalf, and that he might shortly expect to 
 receive his appointment from the president. " To- 
 morrow," says the last sentence of one of his jour- 
 nals, " with the blessing of God I mean to push 
 for the Alps by the sombre and picturesque valley 
 of Loysan." Within a few days after the first news 
 of his intended destination, the impatient minister 
 was on the scene of his future labours, exploring 
 hamlet after hamlet, and forming plans for his 
 conduct in that sacred office, which had so long 
 been the subject of his hopes, and pra^^ers, and 
 hourl}' contemplation. To Fressiniere he first di- 
 rected his steps, next to Guillestre, where he met 
 the elders of Val Queyras, and was hailed as their 
 pastor elect. From Guillestre he lost no time in 
 traversingthe formidable pass that leads to Arvueux. 
 Here all his enthusiasm was called into action by 
 officiating in a church, which had recently been 
 constructed on the ruins of that which was de- 
 stroyed at the revocation of the edict of Nantes. 
 At La Chalp, a hamlet of Arvieux, they showed 
 liini a new cottage, which was just finished for 
 thf residence of the expected minister, and 
 four leagues further to tlu^ east, he found himself 
 at San Veraii, on tlic frontiers of France and 
 Italy, and at flic foot of a snowy ri(l;j,(', win'cli 
 was th«' boundary line hctwccn flic Frcncli Alpine 
 vallcvs. and those of I'ieniont ; l)iif here he shall 
 
 1
 
 96 THE MOUNTAIN PARISH. 
 
 speak tor liiinselt", in a letter dated Guillestre, Oct. 
 31, 1823. 
 
 '' I have only had a transient view of the 
 churches of Qiieyras and Fressiniere, l)ut they 
 seem to be extremely interesting. I do not think 
 that all the Protestants together, in this section, 
 would amount to more than 600 or 700, and they 
 are divided into six groups, and are at a great 
 distance from each other. In summer these dis- 
 tances are less, because you can cross the mountains ; 
 but in the winter you are obliged to follow the 
 valleys, which greatly lengthen the journey. The 
 country nearer to Brian^on is cold, and Queyras 
 much more so, but there are some agreeable 
 situations. La Chalp, in particular, where the 
 pastor is to reside, faces the south, and is within 
 a vast amphitheatre of mountains, where there is 
 good milk, and excellent meat. The bread and 
 the wine are brought from Brian^on, or Guillestre. 
 Besides his habitation, they supply their pastor 
 with fuel." 
 
 But before our candidate, for the most arduous 
 piece of ecclesiastical preferment in Christendom, 
 could be established in his mountain parish, 
 there were many preliminary steps which he had 
 to take. He must receive his diploma from the 
 consistory of Orpierre, and his naturalization from 
 the office of the minister in Paris ; and these 
 doubts frequently crossed his anxious mind. Would 
 the president of the consistory sanction the election
 
 NEFF S LETTER TO HIS MOTHHR. 97 
 
 of the elders of the parish .' Woukl the minister 
 of the interior confirm it ? Would the keeper of 
 tlie seals grant liim letters of naturalization ? 
 Would he not be obliged to make many an ex- 
 cursion to Orpierre, and even to undertake an 
 expensive and weary journey to Paris, to press his 
 suit, and perhaps to repeat this more than once ? 
 Still he travelled on in hope, and resolved, until 
 all the formalities could be settled, to take charge 
 of these churches provisionally, and to run the risk 
 of receiWng the government stipend or not, as it 
 might happen. In fact, some of the necessary 
 forms never were regularly obtained ; but the con- 
 sistory, and the elders, and the inhabitants of the 
 communes were so well satisfied that the churches 
 could not be better served, than by this active and 
 right-minded foreigner, that Ijysome management, 
 wliich the higher authorities winked at, he re- 
 mained in undisturbed possession of his cure of 
 souls ; but I have not been able to ascertain, 
 whether or not he received the government stipend, 
 or whether he drew from the funds of the Conti- 
 nental Society only for his subsistence'. 
 
 A letter to his mother, written on the lOtli of 
 December, 1823, gives a lovely ])icture of the 
 cheerful and ener<jretic state of his mind, at this 
 
 ' Since the above was written I liave been informed, tliat 
 Neff did not receive the government stipend, but tliat his salary 
 from the Continental Society, of about AO/. a year, was his 
 principal, if not his sole maintenance. 
 
 H
 
 98 neff's first visit to his alpine churches. 
 
 period, and contains some touches in it, which re- 
 mind us botli of patriarchal times, and of the apos- 
 toh'cal era of Christianity, when the messengers 
 of the Gospel sallied forth with their scrips and 
 their staves, preaching- as they went, that the 
 kingdom of heaven was at hand ; and when they 
 were received into the houses of the faithful as 
 angels of God, and were ministered unto with all 
 the hospitality and attention of primitive sim- 
 plicity. 
 
 " Since my last letter, I have been constantly 
 on foot to the present hour. After having made 
 several visits to my Alpine hamlets, I received a 
 note from Blanc, which urged me to take the 
 letters of the elders of Queyras and Fressiniere to 
 Orpierre, and to lay them before the president of 
 the consistory. I crossed the Col d'Orsiere (pro- 
 bably from Gap) on the 27th of November, and 
 went to our friend Eloi Cordier, who gave me an 
 introduction to the president. On Saturda}^, the 
 29th, I was at Fressiniere, when the elders added 
 their signatures to those of the principal people of 
 Queyras, and M. Barridon fortified my testimo- 
 nials with the letter, which Professor Bonnard had 
 written to him concerning me. On Sunday, the 
 30th, I preached at Dormilleuse, the remotest 
 village in the valley, and on Monday morning, at 
 day-break, I set out to pass the Col d'Orsiere 
 again, which separates Fressiniere from Champ- 
 saur, a valley through which the Drac flows. I
 
 THE COL d'oRSIERE. 99 
 
 took two guides with me, to assist in the passage 
 of the mountain, which is one of the highest in 
 France, and very seldom practicable at this time 
 of the year. After leaving the village of Dormil- 
 leuse, we walked three hours througli snow, some 
 of which had lately fallen, at the foot of a glacier, 
 and incessantly on the ascent. The sky was 
 clear, and the cold not excessive, although the 
 elevation was so great. In many places the snow 
 was hard, but in some we sunk above our knees. 
 The peasants had protected my feet with slips of 
 woollen cloth tied round my shoes, and we were 
 well provided with provisions and good wine for 
 the journey. Since the first fall of snow this 
 season, which took place in September, only two 
 men had effected the passage of the mountain. 
 We could occasionally track their path, wliich 
 also showed the foot-marks of wolves and chamois, 
 and of some marmot-catchers. When we reached 
 the summit of the Col, we had two hours of rapid 
 descent before we amved at the foot of the snow- 
 line, where we entered the first handet of the Val 
 dOrsiere, near tlie source of the Drac. Here we 
 dined, and mv pfuides took their leave. I con- 
 tinued inv route along the Drac until nightfall, 
 when I I'ortunately came upon tlie higli road l)e- 
 tween (iaj) and (^Jrenoble. The next morning, at 
 the dawn of lin;lit, I nsninod my journey, and 
 where do you tliink 1 turned my stc'j)s ( Can you 
 pncBS ? Towards Mens ! (This was in the direc- 
 
 n 'J
 
 100 VISIT TO MENS. 
 
 tioii the very reverse of Orpierre, but Neff 's affec- 
 tionate yearnings after his beloved catechumens 
 in that quarter were irresistible.) It was my wish 
 to induce Blanc to fulfil his promise, and to accom- 
 pany me to Orpierre. I walked for five or six 
 hours on the hioh road, and then havino; crossed 
 the Drac, I took to the bye-paths, and towards 
 sunset I arrived at Peyre, at the foot of Mont 
 Chetel, about three quarters of a league from 
 Mens. Paul, the uncle of Peter Baulme, was 
 working near the village, and as soon as he per- 
 ceived me, he left his cart, and ran to meet me. 
 Nothing could exceed his surprise or joy. I 
 then went to Baulme's house. Peter's father and 
 mother, and several of the neighbours were in tlie 
 garden ; they did not perceive me till I was in 
 the midst of them. Their astonishment was as 
 great as that of Paul. The wife of the elder 
 Girard, who happened to be there, ran to call 
 her husband — another person went in search of 
 Peter Baulme, who was looking after the sheep. 
 After supper, a party of the neighbours assembled 
 at Baulme's house, and I discoursed for a long 
 time on the kinodom of God. Our conversation 
 was in the patois. At ten o'clock at night, I 
 proceeded on to Mens, accompanied bj^ Peter 
 Baulme and the elder Desloix. I did not wish 
 to arrive during the day, for fear of the eclat. 
 The door of Pelissiers house was closed for the 
 night. Tlie next day I had visitors in abundance.
 
 VISIT TO MENS AND ORPIERRE. 101 
 
 Never did the arrival of a beloved father, who 
 had been long* absent from his family and long 
 expected, produce greater joy. For myself, 
 although I am not easily affected, yet I could not 
 suppress certain strong emotions, on finding my- 
 self once more amono- these dear friends and dear 
 children. Poor Madame Bonnet, my former 
 hostess, on hearing of my arrival, was seized with 
 her old complaint, and was confined to her bed 
 till mv departure. Her temperament would never 
 allow her to bear any great excitement. It was 
 determined that Blanc and 1 should go to Orpierre 
 next day, Thursday ; but in the morning I found 
 myself unwell. These frequent and long journeys 
 had knocked me up. I took a warm bath, and 
 found myself the better for it. Notwithstanding 
 this delav, we meant to have set out the same 
 day, but so much was said to Blanc, that he 
 agreed to stop till the following morning. I, 
 therefore, performed the Thursday service. A 
 large congregation was present, although the 
 country people had not been apprized of my 
 arrival. In the evening 1 held a meeting of our 
 l)rethr(*ii at the Jiouse of Louis Pagen, and at a 
 later hour 1 iield a meeting of our sisters at that 
 of Madame DiiseigiKMir. I meant to liave j)ro- 
 cecd('<l f)ii foot, but llic kind laiiiiK ol" l^dis^icr 
 insisted oil jiiidinu :t |ioii\ loi* me ; and at Miiirise, 
 with IManc bv iiiv si<i<'. mounted on a large grey 
 horse, we were on the road for ( )rpiei-i"e.
 
 102 VIslT TO iMENS AND ORPIERUE. 
 
 The interviews with the prefect and with M. 
 D'Ahlcbert, the president of the consistory of 
 Orpierre, were satisfactory, and we have now to 
 contemplate Neff in a new character, as an autho- 
 rized pastor of the department of the High Alps.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Description of the department of the High Alps — Restitution of 
 Protestant rights — Organization of Reformed Churches of 
 France — Nature and extent of Neff's pastoral charge — 
 Henry Oberlin — Description of the Vallej/s of Fressiniere and 
 Queyras, and of Neff's parish — The pass of the Guil — Neff 
 at Arvieux, and in his presbytery at La Chalp. — His pro- 
 gress through his parish — San Veran — Pierre Grosse — Fous- 
 sillarde — The Pastor s manifold duties — Neff's winter journey 
 to Fal Fressiniere — Palons — The Rimasse — Dormillcnse — 
 Neff's description of Dormilleuse, and of the condition in 
 which he found the remains of the j^rimitive Christians there — 
 His perilous labours there. 
 
 Having now brought Neff to his land of promise, 
 and placed him in that sphere of action so suitable 
 to his character, it is necessaiy to fill up the out- 
 line which I have sketched in the introduction, 
 and to delineate the locality and condition of the 
 group of Protestant villages, which constituted his 
 pastoral charge. 
 
 The department of tlic High Alps is so called, 
 {"njin its beiiie: within the rej^ion of that branch of 
 the Alps wliich separates France from Italy. The 
 two h)ftiest mountains, on this part of the chain, 
 are Mont Cicnevre and Mont Viso. 'I'Ik- latter is 
 one of flie most conspicuous in I'lnrope, from its 
 elevation and bri«j,lit sno\v\' aspect and conical 
 form. It rises as high as 13,000 lect above the
 
 104 FRENCH IMIUTESTANTS. 
 
 level of the sea, and there being no gigantic pin- 
 nacle in the neighl)ourhood which rears his head 
 to the same heiglit as Mont Visoj it appears to be 
 exalted to tlie very sky, and to leave all the other 
 summits in the plains below. As the eye is 
 directed towards Mont Genevre on the left, and 
 towards Mont Viso on the right hand, from Gap, 
 we will say, wliich is nearly the centre of the 
 department, it ranges over a succession of jagged 
 peaks and icy ridges, which seem to be utterly 
 inaccessible to the foot of man. But in the 
 gorges of these mountains, there are spots which 
 the necessities of man have rendered habitable. 
 These, as I have shown in my preliminary re- 
 marks, have been the asylum of families, who 
 have suffered oppression for conscience sake at all 
 periods of persecution, from the persecutions of 
 Marcus Aurelian in the second century, to those 
 of Louis XIV. and Louis XV. In the year 1786, 
 the successor of these monarchs published an act 
 of toleration, and for the first time since the revo- 
 cation of the edict of Nantes (a century before), 
 Christians, who were hot Roman Catholics, were 
 permitted to worship God in public without 
 molestation. But so little intercourse did the in- 
 habitants of this remote and secluded quarter hold 
 with the rest of the world, that I was assured by 
 an aged Protestant of San Veran, a French village, 
 at the foot of Mont Viso, that he and his family 
 did not hear of it till four years after. And many
 
 RESTITUTION OF 1>1U)TESTANT RIGHTS. 105 
 
 years subsequently to tliis, the Protestants of the 
 department had no other opportunity of receiving 
 the consolations of religion, according to the ordi- 
 nances of the Church, than that which was afforded 
 them by the precarious visits of the Vaudois minis- 
 ters from the Italian side of the Alps. During 
 the hundred years of persecution from 1686 to 
 1786, and up to the period of the establishment 
 of a native ministry, these services had been cheer- 
 fully rendered by the pastors of the valleys of Pie- 
 mont, as often as they could ; but the distance 
 and the danger (while it was at the risk of the 
 heaviest personal penalty' to perform these duties,) 
 rendered them necessarily few and far between. At 
 leno'th the consular s-overnment of France, in the 
 year 1802', conferred privileges on the members of 
 the reformed religion, which })roved a new era 
 for Protestantism. The Protestant churches were 
 so far put on a level with the Roman Catholic 
 cliurches, that they were to have an organization 
 sanctioned by the state, and their pastors were to 
 
 ' The French reformed church, therefore, after the year 1802, 
 became a national, legalized, establislied ehurcli, governed ])y 
 its own laws, and at liberty to follow its own movements. Its 
 ministers were recognized, protected, and paid l)y government, 
 but still in a certain degree the regulations, according to which 
 it was to entitle itself to its privileges, fettered it. After the 
 restoration of the Bcjurbons, a jealous court took care to have 
 it tied fast to rule, and by the technical obstacles whicii were 
 thrown in the way of organization and church Imilding, retarded 
 the progress of Protestantism.
 
 lOG ORGANIZATION OF PHo'l'KSTAN'r CHURCH. 
 
 receive sti}3eiuls from the public treasury. But 
 at the same time, it was enacted, that these privi- 
 leges could be enjoyed under certain regulations 
 only. The principal of these were : — 
 
 That none but Frenchmen should exercise the 
 ministerial functions. 
 
 That no pastoral appointment should take place, 
 except under the seal of a local consistory, and 
 with the sanction of the government. 
 
 That a consistory should consist of not less than 
 6000 souls of the same communion, and might be 
 divided into sections. 
 
 That each consistory might have a certain num- 
 ber of pastors — (six, the greatest number,) and 
 that this number should not be augmented without 
 the express permission of government. 
 
 That where a consistory had not been established, 
 and there were Protestants enough to constitute 
 one, the heads of twenty-five of the principal 
 families might proceed to carry their wishes into 
 effect, by a requisition to the prefect or sub-pre- 
 fect. 
 
 That the discipline of the churches, thus organ- 
 ized, should be the same as that of the reformed 
 churches of France previously to the revocation of 
 the edict of Nantes, and that there should be no 
 change in the discipline, without the authority of 
 government. 
 
 That the amount of stipend to be allotted to 
 each pastor should depend upon the population of
 
 NEFFS PARISH. 107 
 
 the coiiimune wherein the pastor should officiate, 
 and that 3000 francs should be the highest, and 
 1200 francs the lowest amount of stipend. 
 
 That a house, or presbytery, and garden, might 
 be provided for the pastor, at the expense of the 
 commune, in addition to his stipend. 
 
 That the expense of building and repairing 
 churches and presbyteries, should be defrayed by 
 the commune, according to a fixed assessment. 
 
 That all persons born in foreign countries, who 
 are descended from Frenchmen or Frenchwomen, 
 exiles on account of their religion, may obtain the 
 rights of French subjects, on fixing their residence 
 in France, and taking the oath of allegiance. 
 
 The Protestants of the department of the High 
 Alps were not able to establish a consistory till the 
 year 1805, and though the department is eighty- 
 four miles in lengtli, and fifty-seven in breadth, it 
 has never had but two ecclesiastical sections, or 
 divisions, since the restitution of Protestant rights, 
 to which pastors have been appointed, viz. those of 
 Orpierre and Arvieux. The section of Arvieux (so 
 called because the presbytery is in the commune of 
 Arvieux,) is nearest to the frontier of Italy, and 
 spreads over two civil divisions or arrondisse- 
 ments, — the arrondissement of Embrun, and the 
 anoudissement of Brian(^f)n. This constituted the 
 ixirlsk of Neff : it consisted of seventeen or eighteen 
 villages, occujjving an extent of sixty miles, taken 
 ill a straigiit gcograpliical line from east to west,
 
 108 IIENIIY OBLRLIN. 
 
 but nearly eiglitv miles must be traversed through 
 the windings of the mountains, in the journey from 
 one extreme point to the other. Up to the time 
 when Nefl' took charge of this laborious parish, 
 there had been no regularly appointed and resi- 
 dent minister for any length of time together. It 
 had been occasionally served by the pastor of 
 Orpierre, and at one period a son of Oberlin had 
 taken charge of it for a few months. Every thing 
 connected with the name of Oberlin, the celebrated 
 pastor of the Ban de la Roche, is so precious, that 
 it will be a matter of painful interest to the reader 
 to know, that this son of his, Henry, of w4iom 
 mention is here made, fell a sacrifice to his exer- 
 tions amons: the Protestants in the south of France. 
 His dying moments form a beautiful episode in 
 the memoirs of Oberlin, which I gratefully transfer 
 to these pages. 
 
 " The immediate occasion of Henry's death was 
 supposed to arise from a cold, which he took in 
 assisting to extinguish a fire that had broke out in 
 the night in a town on his route, as he was making, 
 in 1816, a circuit of 1800 miles in the s^outh 
 of France, with a view to inspect the state of the 
 Protestant churches, and to ascertain the means 
 of supplying them with the Holy Scriptures. The 
 fatigue attending the remainder of the journey, 
 added to the seeds of incipient disease, so shat- 
 tered his constitution, that soon after arriving in 
 his native valley, he was induced to remove to
 
 HENRY OBERLIN. 109 
 
 Rothau, instead of remaiiiiiig- at Waldbacli, in 
 order to receive the benefit of his brother Charles's 
 advice, who, in addition to his clerical functions, 
 was a medical practitioner. On perceiving, liow- 
 ever, that the complaint rapidly gained ground, 
 he desired, with the greatest resignation and com- 
 posure, to be conveyed home again to Iiis father's 
 house, that he might die there. So universally 
 was Oberlin beloved, tliat his parishioners seized 
 every opportunity of proving their attachment to 
 him and his family, and on this occasion a truly 
 afi'ecting scene presented itself. No sooner was 
 Henry's request made known in the village, than 
 twelve peasants immediately presented themselves 
 at the parsonage-house, and offered to carry him 
 upon a litter to Waldbach, which is about six 
 miles distant from Rothau. He could not, how- 
 ever, bear exposure to the open air, and it was 
 therefore found expedient to place him in a 
 covered cart, but as it slowly proceeded through 
 the valley, the faithful peasants walked before it, 
 carefully removing every stone, that the beloved 
 invalid miglit experience as little inconvenience 
 as ])o>sil)l(i from jolting over the rough roads. 
 
 A few weeks after his airi\ al under the paternal 
 roof, his life, wliidi Iiad promised such extensive 
 uscfidness, drew near its close. Faith min«iled 
 with pious resignation to tlu; will of his licavcnU- 
 I'atlicr, who \\a< tints early pleased to call him 
 to liiiiiself, wa> strikingly exhibited in his last
 
 1 10 THE VALLKY OF QUEYRAS. 
 
 moiiK'iits, and on the 16th of Nov. 1817, without 
 a struggle or sigh, he sweetly slept in Jesus." 
 
 For want of a regular pastor, the people of Vals 
 Fressiniere and Queyras used to assemble on 
 Sundays in the churches and oratories, of whicli 
 there were six of the former, and two of the latter, 
 and some one or other read the service. Such 
 was the general situation and the condition of the 
 parish which NefF undertook to serve, and in 
 which he first made trial of his strength in the 
 winter season. But before I proceed with my 
 narrative, I wdll run over the names and relative 
 positions of the several villages, inhabited by 
 Neff's scattered flock, reserving the description of 
 them till 1 accompany him to those scenes of his 
 arduous duties. 
 
 The valley of Queyras (which communicates 
 directl}^ with tlie Protestant valleys of Piemont 
 by the pass of the Col de la Croix), extending 
 from the foot of Mont Viso to Mont Dauphin, 
 along the whole length of the river Guil, and com- 
 prising the glens which follow the course of the 
 mountain torrents which roll into the Guil, forms 
 the eastern quarter of the section of Arvieux. The 
 Protestant families dwell principally in the com- 
 mune of Arvieux, and its hamlets La Chalp and 
 Brunichard, and in the commune of Molines, 
 and its hamlets San Veran, Pierre Grosse and 
 Fousillarde. They have a church at Arvieux, 
 one at San Veran, and another at Fousillarde. The 
 
 1
 
 EXTENT OF KEFf's CHARGE. Ill 
 
 distance between the churches of Arvieux and San 
 Veran is not less than twelve miles. The western 
 quarter of the section consists pf the valley of Fres- 
 siniere, and its hamlets Chancelas, Palons, Violins, 
 Minsas, and Dormilleuse, which occupy the 
 banks of a torrent that pours its waters into the 
 Durance, half way between Brian^on and Em- 
 brun : and of the commune of Champsaur, sepa- 
 rated from the valley of Fressiniere by a mountain 
 and glacier. ' In the valley of Fressiniere, there 
 are two Protestant churches, those of Violins and 
 Dprmilleuse ; and in the commune of Champsaur, 
 there is a church at St. Laurent. Sixty miles 
 nearly of rugged road must be trodden, before 
 the pastor, whose residence is at La Chalp, beyond 
 Arvieux, can perform his duties at Champsaur. 
 But besides these two principal groups of Protes- 
 tant villagres, there are two outlvili"* branches of 
 the section, that of Vars, which is eight miles 
 south of Guillestre, or twenty from Arvieux, and 
 that of La Grave, wliicli is beyond Brian^on, and 
 twenty-one miles north ofGuillestre, or thirty-three 
 miles from the ministers presbytery. Suppose, 
 then, that the pastor has fixed his abode at the 
 house \shich is provided for him at La Chalp, in 
 tlie conmiune of vVrvieux, lie. lias a jouriicv of 
 twelve miles before he can reach the scene of liis 
 labours in a western direction, and sixty before he 
 can arrive at it in the opposite (piaiter. lie has 
 alw) a distance of twenty miles towards the soutli,
 
 11"2 ALPINE SCENERY. 
 
 and tliirty-thrcG towards the north, when his 
 services are required by the little flocks at Vars 
 and La Grave. A man of Netf's zeal could not 
 but sink under the weight of such a burthen. 
 And who does not glorify God on reflecting, that 
 if the seeds of real piety could spring up in this 
 rugged ground, it is only to the protecting culture 
 of the Great Sower, that any production can be 
 ascribed ! There is a twofold lesson to be learnt 
 in following the steps of a pastor through these 
 wilds. It is well that we should see, how hard 
 some of our brethren work, and how hard they 
 live ; and that we should discover, to our humili- 
 ation, that it is not always where there is the 
 greatest company of preachers, that the word 
 takes deepest root. 
 
 There is this difference between the vallej^s of 
 Piemont, and those of Fressiniere and Queyras. 
 The former are for the most part smiling with 
 verdure and foliage, the latter are dark and sterile. 
 In each, alp rises above alp, and piles of rock 
 of appalling aspect block up many of the defiles, 
 and utterly forbid any further advance to the 
 boldest adventurer. But the Italian valleys are so 
 beautifully diversified by green meadows and rich 
 corn fields, and thick foliage of forest and fruit 
 trees, that the eye is perpetually relieved and de- 
 lighted. Add to these the herds of cattle in the 
 pasturages, and the innumeral)le flocks of goats 
 and sheep browsing upon the mountain sides, and
 
 THE PASS OF THE GUIL. 113 
 
 skipping' from rock to rock, and you have an 
 animated picture of life and enjoyment which 
 cannot be surpassed. The Piemontese valleys 
 form a garden, with deserts as it were in view : 
 some of them indeed are barren and repulsive, but 
 these are exceptions. On the contrary, in the 
 Alpine retreats of the French Protestants, fertility 
 is the exception, and barrenness the common 
 aspect. There the tottering cliffs, the sombre and 
 frowning rocks, which, from their fatiguing con- 
 tinuity, look like a mournful veil, which is never 
 to be raised, and the tremendous abysses, and 
 the comfortless cottages, and the ever present 
 dangers, from avalanches, and thick mists and 
 clouds, proclaim that this is a land which man 
 never would have chosen, even for his hiding- 
 place, but from the direst necessity. 
 
 NefTs Journal has noted the 16th of January, 
 1824, as the day on which he arrived at Arvieux, 
 to take possession of the hal^tation provided for 
 the pastor of the district. I have stated in more 
 places than one, that a taste for magnificent 
 scenery formed a strong feature in his character, 
 and it never couhl liavc been more gratified tlian 
 on his journey from Gup, through Guillestre to his 
 new abode. The road from the latter is by the 
 pass of tin; riuil, mikI in the w liole range oi" Al|)iiie 
 Bcenery, rich ;i> it i- in the wdiidcrs dl nutiirc, 
 then; is notliing iikhc tcrrildy sublime lliaii lliis 
 mountain j)atli. A liaveUer would be aiii|ilv re- 
 
 I
 
 114 THE PASS OF TIIC GUIL. 
 
 paid in visiting this region, for the sole })urpose of 
 exploring a defile, which in fact is one of the keys 
 to France, on the Italian frontier, and is therefore 
 guarded at one end by the strong works of Mont 
 Dauphin, and at the other by the fortress of 
 Chateau Queyras, whose guns sweep the entrance 
 of the pass. For several miles the waters of the 
 Guil occupy the whole breadth of the defile, which 
 is more like a chasm, or a vast rent in the mountain, 
 than a ravine, and the path, which in places will 
 not admit more than two to walk side by side, is 
 hewn out of the rocks. These rise to such a 
 giddy height, tliat the soaring pinnacles, which 
 crown them, look like the fine points of masonry- 
 work on the summit of a cathedral : meantime 
 the projecting masses, that overhang the wayfar- 
 ing man's head, are more stupendous, and more 
 menacing than the imagination can conceive. 
 Many of these seem to be hanging by you know 
 not what, and to be ready to fall at the least con- 
 cussion. 
 
 duos super atra silex jamjam lapsura, caclentique 
 Imminet assimilis. 
 
 Perhaps they have been so suspended for centuries, 
 and will so continue for centuries to come ; but be 
 that as it may, enormous fragments are frequently 
 rolling down, and as the wind roars through the 
 gloomy defile, and threatens to sweep you into the 
 torrent below, you wonder what power it is which
 
 THE PASS OF THE GUIL. 115 
 
 holds together the terrifying; suspensions, and pre- 
 vents your being crushed by their fall. Much 
 has been related of the peril of traversing a pass on 
 the summit of a mountain, with a precipice yawning 
 beneath your feet ; but in fact there is no danger 
 equal to a journey through a defile like this, when 
 you are at the bottom of the Alpine gulf, with 
 hundreds of feet of crumbling rock above j'our 
 head. But terribly magnificent as this pass is, 
 and though it must at other times have made a 
 powerful impression on Neif 's mind, his journal 
 does not contain a word either of its grandeur or 
 its terrors. He forced his way through it in the 
 middle of January, when it is notoriously unsafe 
 to attempt the passage. Several travellers lose 
 their lives here almost every year ; but our pas- 
 tor's anxiety to be at his post of duty was the 
 strongest feeling that moved him, and he thought 
 of nothino; but the field of usefulness which was 
 now before him. 
 
 On issuing out of the depths of the defile, the 
 fro^^^ling battlements of Chateau Queyras, l)uilt on 
 a lofty projecting cliff", on the edge of the torrent, 
 and Ijacked by the barrier wall of Alps, which at 
 this season of the year towers like a bulwark of 
 ice between the dominions of France, and the king 
 of Sardinia, present a picfiirc of the ludst strik- 
 ing magnificence. Every thing combines to give 
 an interest to the scene. In the; far distance are 
 the snowv peak< of Mont Viso, of da/./.linu: wliito, 
 
 I '2
 
 116 ARVIKUX. 
 
 and, in tlic foregronnd, tlic rnstic aqneducts, 
 composed in tlie simplest manner of wooden 
 troughs, supported on lofty scaffolding, and cross- 
 ing and recrossing the narrow valley, which form 
 a striking contrast between the durability of the 
 works of God's hands, the everlasting mountains, 
 and tlie perishable devices of men. About a mile 
 and a half, on the Guillestre side, from Chateau 
 Queyras, a rough patli, on the left, conducts to 
 Arvieux : and here a different prospect opens to 
 the view. The signs of cultivation and of man's 
 presence increase : some pretty vales, and snug 
 looking cottages please the eye ; and in one spot 
 a frail but picturesque foot-bridge of pines care- 
 lessly thrown across a chasm, invites the stranger 
 to approach and inspect it. He is almost appalled 
 to find himself on the brink of an abyss, many 
 fathoms deep, at the bottom of which a body of 
 water foams and chafes, which has forced itself a 
 passage through the living rock. The narrow- 
 ness and depth of this chasm, and the extraor- 
 dinary manner in which it is concealed from ob- 
 servation, till you are close to it, form one of the 
 greatest natural curiosities in a province which 
 abounds in objects of the same sort. 
 
 Neff followed the custom of those who directed 
 him to his pastoral dwelling-place, and called it 
 Arvieux in his journals. It is not, however, 
 situated in the principal village of the commune 
 so called, but at La Chalp, a small hamlet beyond.
 
 THE PASTORS HOUSE. 117 
 
 The church is at Arvieiix, but the minister's resi- 
 dence is, with the majority of the Protestant popu- 
 lation, higher up the valley ; for in this glen, as 
 in all the others where the remains of the primi- 
 tiv^e Christians still exist, they are invariably found 
 to have crept up to the furthest habitable part of 
 it. In the Valley of Fressiniere, the Protestants, 
 in like manner, have penetrated to the edge of the 
 glacier, where they were most likely to remain 
 unmolested ; and again, in the commune of Mo- 
 lines, Grosse Pierre, and Fousillarde, are at the 
 very furthest point of vegetation, and there is 
 nothing fit for mortal to take refuge in, between 
 San Veran and the eternal snows which mantle 
 the pinnacles of Mont Viso. 
 
 In the page which records his arrival at the 
 humble white cottage, which had been recently 
 prepared for the pastor, in La Chalp, Neff has not 
 inserted any observation about the comforts or 
 conveniences of the habitation designed for his 
 future dwelling place. It is a small low building, 
 without any thing to distinguish it but its white 
 front; such at least was its aspect when I saw 
 it ; but there was an air of cheerfulness in its 
 situation, facing the south, and standing in a warm 
 sunny spot, which contrasted strongly with the 
 dismal li<)\tl.- of Donnilleuse, where he afterwards 
 spent most of tlie winti-r months. It is most pro- 
 bubh.' tliat h(.' found it totally devoid of every thing 
 which administers to comfort, beyond locality, for
 
 118 LA CHALP AND BRUNICHARD. 
 
 a ineiiioraiiduiii, ^vl•itten a few days after his arrival, 
 mentions his having made a journey to Guillestre, 
 for the purchase of some household utensils. Once 
 for all, therefore, I may remark, that the reader, 
 whose notions of the happiness of a pastor's life 
 have been formed in the smiling parsonage, or 
 snug manse, or who has considered it as deriving 
 its enjoyment from a state of blissful repose and 
 peacefulness, has widely erred from the mark in 
 Neff's case. His happiness was to be busily em- 
 ployed in bringing souls to God : he seems not 
 to have set the slightest value on any of the com- 
 forts of a home : or, if he valued them, to have 
 sacrificed them cheerfully to his sense of duty. 
 One of the principal charms in the recital of a 
 good clergyman's life, is the character of the clergy- 
 man at home. But NefF had none of the comforts 
 of this life to cheer him. No family endearments 
 welcomed him to a peaceful fireside after the toils 
 of the day : nothing of earthly softness smoothed 
 his seat or his pillow. His was a career of anxiety, 
 unmitigated and unconsoled by any thing but 
 a sense of duties performed, and of acceptance with 
 God. The commune of Arvieux, and the cheer- 
 ful hamlets of La Chalp and Brunichard, were 
 the brightest spots in his extensive parish ; but they 
 were not the fairest to his eye, for he complains in 
 several of his letters, that the people there were 
 spoilt by the advantages of their situation, and 
 were by no means so well inclined to profit by his
 
 LA CHALP AND BRUNICHAKD. 119 
 
 instructions, as the inliabitants of less favoured 
 spots. 
 
 The natives of Arvieux itself are almost all Roman 
 Catholics, those of La Chalp and Brunichard are, 
 for the most part, Protestants. There were eight 
 families in the former, and eighteen in the latter, 
 who waited on Neff's ministry ; and two families 
 in a small hamlet between Arvieux and Chateau 
 Queyras, were converted from the Romish to the 
 Protestant faith, b)^ the force of his reasoning, and 
 the consistency of his holy life. His gentle spirit 
 had no relish for that kind of controversy, whose 
 object is the mere triumph over an adversary by 
 the force of argument ; and his success among the 
 members of the other church, which was far greater 
 than was ever known before in the different quar- 
 ters where he explained the word of God, pro- 
 ceeded, in a great measure, from the mild and 
 affectionate manner in which he directed their 
 attention to the only name in whom, and through 
 whom, they might receive health and salvation. 
 The impression which he left behind him, even in 
 this quarter, wlicrc he thought that lie did not per- 
 ceive the most abundant fruits of his ministry, con- 
 tinued to be discerned when I visited Arvieux in 
 1829, in the amicable relation wliich still subsisted 
 between the Roman Catholics and l^rotestants of 
 the commune. Th<; kindest iut«jrchaijgc of friendly 
 and charitable ofHc(; took |)lHce between them ;
 
 120 A SNOW STORM. 
 
 the children of the two churches went to the same 
 schools, and read the Bible together, without 
 interruption ; and a young man, who would not 
 quit my side for a whole day, when he found that 
 I took an interest in his late venerated pastor, 
 spoke of the Cure as a kind good man, whom 
 every body respected. 
 
 It was on Friday, the 16tli of January, 1824, that 
 Neff established himself at La Chalp, as the pastor 
 of the section of Arvieux ; on the Monday following 
 we find him, a second time within four days, 
 encountering the fearful pass of the Guil, and on 
 the evening of the same day looking after his little 
 flock at Vars, twenty miles from Arvieux. He 
 remained at Vars on the Tuesday, and part of Wed- 
 nesday, organizing little associations for mutual 
 instruction during his absence. On Thursday and 
 Friday in the same week, he was at his post again 
 at Arvieux, La Chalp, and Brunicliard, catechis- 
 ing the children, and making himself acquainted 
 with his people ; and on Saturday, in spite of a 
 fall of snow, and a storm of wind which swept the 
 valley, he directed his steps towards San Veran, 
 that he might take the earliest opportunity of ad- 
 ministering the public Sunday service in the 
 church, which was situated in the farthest western 
 boundary of his parish, twelve miles from his head- 
 quarters. 
 
 " The snow," says his journal, " was from
 
 SAN VERAN. 121 
 
 seven to ten inches deep, and the wind, which blew 
 a hurricane, raised and tossed it about in clouds. 
 Not a trace could be seen of the paths, and I was 
 six hours performing twelve miles. But this was 
 the only bad journe}'^ that I have yet made in the 
 Alps, and notwithstanding the exposure, I arrived 
 perfectly well at San Veran, and held a meeting in 
 the evening. The next day I preached in the 
 church, catechised in the afternoon, and assembled 
 some willing hearers around me in the evening, 
 whom I addressed on the one thing needful, so 
 tliat I did not lose a single hour in this commune, 
 during my stay there. It is the highest, and con- 
 sequently ^ the most pious callage in the Valley of 
 QuejTas ; in fact, it is said to be the most elevated 
 in Europe, and it is a provincial saying, relating 
 to the mountain of San Veran, ' La piu alta ou Ti 
 mindgent pan,' i. e. it is the highest spot where 
 bread is eaten. The air is sharp, but though it was 
 the 25th of Januar}'^, the weather was so fine that 
 the snow melted on the ground as it does in April. 
 There are about twenty-three Protestant families 
 here. The men are intelligent, well read in scrip- 
 ture, and very anxious to converse on spiritual 
 su})jects. Some of the women are the same, but 
 lur the most part the females are ignorant, and eon- 
 fined ill tlicir notions. llii'ou<j,Ii llie whole of this 
 countrv. I Iijinc been niueii nratilled h\ my e.\- 
 
 ' A Kimilar obHcrvatioii was made to lue by more than one 
 VaudoiH pastor in Piemont, on the rehitive degree of piety in the 
 lower and more elevated mountain hamlets.
 
 12*2 SAN VKRAN. 
 
 cursions to this place, which I have ah'eady visited 
 four or five times." 
 
 The date of these observations was the 10th of 
 February, so that from the 16th of January, in the 
 course of twenty-five days, this indefatigable ser- 
 vant of God had paid four visits, at the least, to 
 his flock at San Veran, having, during the same 
 period, as I shall presently show, displayed an 
 equal share of anxiety for his parishioners in 
 quarters still more distant. It was by these means 
 that he was so successful in winning souls, and 
 having favour with the people : he was in constant 
 intercourse with them, going from house to 
 house ; praying with the sick, discoursing with 
 those in health on religious topics, and inspiring 
 a relish for pious conversation, and instructing 
 the young with all the tenderness and assiduity 
 of a parent. The reception which he met at 
 San Veran, was exactly what might be expected 
 from the descendants of those men, who used to 
 put their own lives in jeopardy by receiving the 
 fugitive Vaudois pastors, when they were obliged 
 to fly from persecution in ' their own valleys, 
 and a day's journey by the pass of Mont Viso, or 
 
 ' The Protestants of the valleys of Piemont and Dauphine 
 afforded each other mutual shelter, when they were pursued by 
 their enemies. Gilles relates an affecting incident of the refugees 
 from Italy throwing themselves on the protection of their poor 
 brethren of Fressiniere in 1566, who most kindly received and 
 shared their scanty pittance with them, fearless of the double 
 perils of starvation and the vengeance of their connnon foe.
 
 SAN VERAN. 123 
 
 the Col de la Croix, brought them to this seclud- 
 ed A-illage. It is so secluded, so fenced in by rock 
 and mountain barriers, that up to this hour there 
 is not a road approaching it, over which a wheel 
 has ever passed. Thus situated, on the very out- 
 skirts of human society, and at a distance from its 
 vices, refinements, and luxuries, its natives rarely 
 quit their own haunts to settle elsewhere, and 
 strangers have no attraction to guide them to a 
 corner, where none of the comforts, and very few 
 of the conveniences of life, have yet been intro- 
 duced. I believe one Englishman only had found 
 his way to San Veran before myself; and when my 
 wife and I entered it, the sight of a female, dressed 
 entirely in linen, was a phenomenon so new to 
 simple peasants, whose garments are never any 
 thing but woollen, that Pizarro and his mail-clad 
 companions were not greater objects of curiosity 
 to the Peruvians, than we were to these mountain- 
 eers. The women gathered round us, and ex- 
 amined first one part of Mrs. Gilly's dress and then 
 another, with an inquisitiveness and admiration, 
 whicli were sufficiently amusing. We saw no 
 symptoms of want, but every thing indicated that 
 the necessaries of life are far from abundant, either 
 in San Veran or the contiguous hamlets of Pierre- 
 Gro.sse and Fousillardc, and that great abstinence 
 at fillies, and moderation always, are re(piired to 
 di.^ciplinc them against the long winters, and the 
 scanty supply of food, whicli result from the cli- 
 mate and soil of a I'cgion, inucli better adapted to
 
 1*24 SAN VEUAN. 
 
 the habits of the bird of prey, and the wild beast, 
 than of man. 
 
 But San Veran is a garden, and a scene of de- 
 lights, when compared with Dormilleuse, to which 
 the pastor hastened, as soon as he had put things 
 in order in this part of his parish. Here the 
 houses are built like log-houses, of rough pine 
 trees, laid one above another, and composed of 
 several stories, which have a singularly picturesque 
 look, not unlike the chalets in Switzerland, but 
 loftier and much more picturesque. On the 
 ground floor the family dwells, hay and un- 
 thrashed corn occupy the first story, and the 
 second is given up to grain, and to stores of bread- 
 cakes and cheeses ranged on frame-work sus- 
 pended from the roof. But at Dormilleuse, the 
 huts are wretched constructions of stone and mud, 
 from which fresh air, comfort, and cleanliness 
 seem to be utterly excluded. Cleanliness, indeed, 
 is not a virtue which distinguishes any of the 
 people in these mountains ; and with such a nice 
 sense of moral perception as they display, and 
 with such strict attention to the duties of religion, 
 it is astonishing that they have not yet learnt to 
 practise those ablutions in their persons or habita- 
 tions, which are as necessary to comfort as to 
 health. Even among the better provided, for 
 they are all peasants alike, tillers of the earth, 
 and small proprietors, the wealthiest of whom 
 (if we can speak of wealth, even comparatively, on 
 such poor soil,) puts his hand to the spade and
 
 SAN VERAN. 125 
 
 hoe witli the same alacrity as the poorest, the 
 same inicleanlincss prevails ; their apartments are 
 unswept, their woollen garments unwashed, and 
 tlieir hands and faces as little accustomed to cold 
 water, as if there was a perpetual drought in the 
 land. I should fear that the excellent Neff, 
 with all the improvements which he introduced 
 into his parish, either omitted, or failed to con- 
 vince the folks there, that cleanliness is not a 
 forbidden luxury, but one of the necessary duties 
 of life. 
 
 But though tlieir habitations and their persons 
 are, thus far, likely to leave some disagreeable im- 
 pressions in those, whose sensations have been 
 rendered quick and impatient by English habits, 
 yet the simplicity, amiability, and good manners 
 which prevail among these children of nature, 
 are so winning, and the images and associations 
 that rise up in the mind, in this retreat of Pro- 
 testantism in France, supply such profuse enjoy- 
 ment, and give such a grace, as well as a charm, 
 to any intercourse with them, that it is impossible 
 not to write down the time, that may l)e spent in 
 Sail Vcran and in its contiguous hamlets, among 
 tlie most interesting of one's life. To those who 
 understand tlie j)atois, or to whom it is accurately 
 translated, as it was to us, the poetical and elegant 
 turn wlii( li is given to conversation, by the con- 
 stant us(^ of figures and iii('taj)liors derived from 
 mountain scenery, and from tiie accidents and
 
 1'2() riKRRE-GROSSE AND FOT'SILLARDE. 
 
 exposures of Alpine life, enhance the pleasure, 
 and send the traveller home well satisfied with his 
 excursion. In short, it is the moral and intellec- 
 tual refinement about these mountaineers, which 
 renders their society interesting in a high degree, 
 and furnishes matter for reflection long afterwards. 
 The pastor devoted Monday and Tuesday of 
 his second week in the Valley of Queyras to 
 Pierre-Grosse and Fousillarde, which, like San 
 Veran, are frontier villages ; and there too, he 
 organized little companies of the well disposed, 
 who were to meet at stated times to read the 
 Bible, and to do such things for their mutual 
 improvement, as he thought might profitably be 
 done, when they had not the benefit of his pre- 
 sence. He was obliged to perform divine service 
 in a barn or large stable, for want of a better 
 place of worship. He saw that he could not 
 render his ministrations efl&cient in such a widely 
 extended parish, unless he resorted to such mea- 
 sures as these, and therefore he began at once 
 upon a system which he pursued as long as he 
 remained. The good effects were soon manifest, 
 for the inhabitants of Pierre-Grosse and Fousil- 
 larde, who were first collected together for public 
 worship in a rude stable, were anxious to gather 
 round their pastor in a more suitable place. They 
 willingly taxed themselves, and out of their slender 
 resources built a neat little church, twenty-seven 
 feet long by twenty feet wide, and thus added
 
 ALPINE POVERTY. 127 
 
 one more to the Protestant sanctuaries of God in 
 this department. The cost in money was 24Z. 
 or 600 francs. Materials, such as the country- 
 afforded, and labour, were easily supplied, but it 
 was far from easy to provide the extraneous ad- 
 juncts and the money contribution ; and when I 
 was there, the year Neff died, there was still a 
 debt of 300 francs, or 12/. upon the building, 
 which the twenty-five humble families of the two 
 hamlets will probably be long before they liqui- 
 date. Money is necessarily very scarce among a 
 people, who can seldom raise more corn than will 
 meet their own demands. The few cattle that 
 they rear are driven far before they can be sold, 
 and the return in coin will barely pay the taxes, 
 and purchase the indispensable household articles 
 and implements of husbandry of which they stand 
 in need. Oftentimes even the ordinary resources, 
 scanty as they are, fail them, and, for this reason, 
 the poor Alpine is obliged, like the swallow, to 
 migrate during the long winter, and to leave his 
 barren rocks in search of subsistence, where the 
 climate is more favourable to the wants of human 
 nature. Tliis was the case in 1824. The unpro- 
 ductiveness of the soil, and the dearth, were so 
 great, tliat many were obliged to sell their cattle 
 at a very l<»\s j)iice, because the forage failed, and 
 they had not tin; means of getting- flicni int(> a 
 saleable condition ; and Xeff freijuentlv iiu't large 
 parties, consisting ol young men, and even of 
 1
 
 1'28 VALE OF THE DURANCE. 
 
 fathers of families, moving from their own ham- 
 lets, and going to seek work on any terms in 
 distant provinces. 
 
 On the evening of Tuesda}^, the 27th of January, 
 Neff returned to Arvieux ; and after catechising 
 his young people, and putting things in a satis- 
 factory train there, he set out for the eastern 
 division of his charge ; and having again traversed 
 the formidable pass of the Guil in safety, reached 
 the Valley of Fressiniere in time to preach at 
 Violins, on Sunday the first of February. 
 
 After leaving Guillestre, which is not far from 
 the junction of the Guil and Durance, at the foot 
 of Mont Dauphin, the traveller, whose steps are 
 directed towards the Valley of Fressiniere, pursues 
 his path for about five miles northwards, along 
 the high road which leads from Embrun to Brian- 
 ^on. This is a cheerful route, enlivened by the 
 impetuous waters of the Durance, and a view of 
 ever-changing mountain scenery, the lofty and 
 rugged summits assuming new forms at every 
 turn of the road. There are also some remark- 
 able pretty spots in the vale, through which the 
 river flows with turbulent force, and among the 
 rest, the village of La Roche, with its small lake, 
 cannot fail to please the eye. After passing 
 through La Roche, and crossing the Durance by 
 a long timber bridge, the ascent to the Valley of 
 Fressiniere begins. A steep acclivity rises so 
 abruptly from the river, that at first sight there is
 
 VALLEY OF l-RESSINIERE. 129 
 
 no appearance of any practicable mode of advanc- 
 ing, but the eye presently discerns a shepherd's 
 path, which creeps up the mountain in an oblique 
 direction. This leads over some very ruo'o-ed 
 ground to a defile, through which a rocky tor- 
 rent rushes with the noise of thunder. On each 
 side of these wild waters, which roar and fling 
 their spray about in clouds, there are groups of 
 cottages, and an alpine bridge with a cascade 
 above it. These, with the background of rocks, 
 form as complete a picture of mountain life, as the 
 imagination can require. This hamlet is Palons, 
 and the torrent called the Rimasse, is the guide 
 which conducts to the Valley of Fressiniere : there 
 is no mistaking the way. The next village, at the 
 distance of a league, is Fressiniere, which gives 
 its name to the valley. Another league brings to 
 Violins ; two miles beyond is Minsas ; and then 
 comes the toilsome, rough, and clambering route 
 of three miles to Dormilleuse ; so that, in fact, from 
 La Roche to Dormilleuse is one continued ascent 
 of five hours, or supposing that a league an hour 
 is the pace, fifteen miles. Between Palons and 
 Fressiniere, there is a lovely fertile vale, enclosed 
 on each side by steep mountains, and })roducing 
 several kinds of grain and iVuit trees ; bnt this 
 cheerfnl [)rospect soon clianges, and every step 
 leads to scenes wbicli ;ire more and more drearv. 
 Ai"t(;r j)assiiig tlirongli Minsas, llic lace of" tlie 
 coiMifrv is perfectly savaLCe and ajt|»alliii^. Blocks 
 
 K
 
 130 DORMILLEUSE, 
 
 of stone detaclied tVoin the overhanging rocks, 
 strew tlie ground and threaten to impede all fur- 
 ther progress. The signs of productiveness are 
 fewer and fewer. Here and there some thin patches 
 of rye or oats bespeak the poor resources of the 
 inhabitants, who have been driven up into this 
 desert, and the occasional track of the wolf, and 
 the heavy flap of the vulture's wing over head, tell 
 who are its proper natives. If such is its summer 
 welcome, what must have been its chilling aspect 
 when Neff" made his journey thither on the last 
 day of January ? But he had that within him 
 which warmed his heart, and animated his spirits, 
 as he penetrated through the pathless snows of the 
 defile, and crossed the raw gusty summit that lay 
 in his way. His was a work of love — he was going 
 to preach that word, of which the ancestors of the 
 Dormilleusians had been the depositories for cen- 
 turies, when all France rejected it, and to trim the 
 lamp which had been left alight here, when the 
 rest of the land was in darkness. 
 
 The rock on which Dormilleuse stands is 
 almost inaccessible, even in the finest months in the 
 year. There is but one approach to it, and this is 
 always difficult, from the rapidity of the ascent, 
 and the slipperiness of the path in its narrowest 
 part, occasioned by a cascade, which throws itself 
 over this path into the abyss below, forming a sheet 
 of water between the face of the rock, and the 
 edge of the precipice. In the winter season it
 
 nORMILLEUSK. 131 
 
 must be doubly liazardous, because it then leaves 
 an accumulation of ice. Perhaps, of all the habit- 
 able spots in Europe, this wretched village is the 
 most repulsive. Nature is stern and terrible, 
 without oflPering any boon but that of personal 
 security from the furv of the oppressor, to invite 
 man to make his resting-place here. When the 
 sun shines brightest, the side of the mountain 
 opposite to Dormilleuse, and on the same level, is 
 covered with snow, and the traveller, in search of 
 new scenes to gratify his taste for the sublime or 
 the beautiful, finds nothing to repay him for his 
 pilgrimage, but the satisfaction of planting his foot 
 on the soil, which has been hallowed as the asylum 
 of Christians, of whom the world was not worthy. 
 The spot which they and their descendants have 
 chosen for their last stronghold, is indeed a very 
 citadel of streng-th. 
 
 But- the eye wanders in vain for any one point 
 of fascination. The villaoe is not built on the 
 summit, or on the shelf of a rock. It is not like 
 Forsythe's description of Cortona, " a picture 
 hung upon a wall.' It does not stand forth in 
 bold relief, and fling defiance upon the intruder 
 as he ap])roaches. It ii^ not even seen, till the 
 upper pass is cleared, uud then it disappoints ex- 
 pectation by its mean disclosure of a few poor 
 huts, detached fn»iii c-.u-li otiicr, witlioiit any one 
 building as an object of attraction, or any strongly 
 marked feature to give a character to I he scene, 
 
 K 2
 
 132 DORMILLEUSE. 
 
 neither is tliere any view which it commands, to 
 make amends for this defect in itself : all is cold, 
 forlorn, and cheerless. Thus the eye has no en- 
 joyment in gazing- on this dark waste, but the 
 imagination roves with holy transport over wilds, 
 which have sheltered the brave and the good from 
 the storm of man's oppression, a thousand times 
 more to be dreaded than those of the elements. 
 Hence the spell thrown over the mind, for it is a 
 place of fearful and singular interest. But still, 
 great must have been the love which filled the pas- 
 tor's bosom, to make him prefer this worse than wil- 
 derness, this concentration of man's wretchedness, 
 to all the other hamlets of his parish. He turned 
 from the inviting Arvieux, and the affectionate 
 hospitality of San Veran, and the magnificent 
 grandeur of Vars, to make his chief residence in 
 the bleak and gloomy Dormilleuse, because there 
 his services appeared to be most required. Be- 
 cause there he had every thing to teach, even to 
 the planting of a potatoe. But his whole life was 
 a sacrifice ; he lived for nothing else than to be 
 useful to his fellow-creatures, and to be a labourer 
 in the service of his Redeemer. 
 
 An extract from Neff 's journal shall make him 
 speak for himself. 
 
 " Sunday, Feb. 1. I preached at Violins. In 
 the afternoon I delivered a catechetical lecture, 
 and in the evening I performed a service at 
 which the inhabitants, who are all Protestants,
 
 DORMILLEUSE. 133 
 
 attended ; and so did those of Minsas, who are 
 also Protestants. We sung a psalm, and I ex- 
 pounded a chapter to them. At ten o'clock most 
 of them retired, those who came from the greatest 
 distance having brought whisps of straw with them, 
 which thev lighted to guide them through the 
 snow. Some stopped till midnight, we then took 
 a slight repast, and two of them, who had three- 
 quarters of a league to return home, set out with 
 pine torches, indifferent to the ice and snow which 
 lay on their path. 
 
 " The next day I followed the route to Dormil- 
 leuse, with a man belonging to that village, who 
 had remained all night at Violins, to accompany 
 me. Dormilleuse is the highest village in the 
 valley, and is celebrated for the resistance which 
 its inhabitants have opposed for more than 600 
 years to the Church of Rome. They are of the 
 unmixed race of the ancient Waldenses', and never 
 bowed their knee before an idol, even when all 
 the Protestants of the valley of Queyras dis- 
 sembled their faith. The ruins of the walls and 
 forts still remain, whicli they built to protect them 
 against surprise. Tliey owe their preservation in 
 part to the nature of the country, which is almost 
 inaccessible, it is defended by a natural fortifi- 
 cation of glaciers and :irid rocks. The population 
 
 ' The Waldcnscs of Dauphinc ; a distinct branch of the j)rinii- 
 tive Church of Gaul.
 
 134 UORMILLEUSE. 
 
 ot" the village consists of 40 families : every one 
 Protestant, The aspect of this desert, both terri- 
 ble and sublime, which served as the asylum of 
 truth, when almost all the world lay in darkness ; 
 the recollection of the faithful martyrs of old, the 
 deep caverns into which they retired to read the 
 Bible in secret, and to worshi]) the Father of Light, 
 in spirit and in truth, — every thing tends to ele- 
 vate my soul, and to inspire it with sentiments 
 difficult to describe. But with what grief do I 
 reflect upon the present state of the unhappy de- 
 scendants of those ancient witnesses to the cruci- 
 fied Redeemer ! A miserable and degenerate 
 race, whose moral and physical aspect reminds 
 the Christian, that sin and death are the only true 
 inheritance of the children of Adam. Now, you 
 can scarcely find one among them who has any 
 true knowledge of the Saviour, although they al- 
 most all testify the greatest veneration for the holy 
 Scriptures. But though they are nothing in 
 themselves, let us hope that they are well-beloved 
 for their fathers' sakes, and that the Lord will 
 once more permit the light of his countenance, 
 and the rays of his grace, to shine upon these 
 places, which he formerly chose for his sanctuar3\ 
 Many of them have already become sensible of 
 their sad condition, and have thanked God for 
 sending me among them to stir uj) the expiring 
 flame of their piety. It is some years since Henry 
 Laget paid them some visits, and when, in his
 
 DORMILLEUSE. 135 
 
 last address, he told them that they would see his 
 face no more, ' It seemed," said they to me, 
 using one of those beautiful figures of speech in 
 which their patois abounds, ' as if a gust of wind 
 had extinguished the torch, which was to light us 
 in our passage by night across the precipice.' 
 It is strange that althougli they have been visited 
 by several pastors of late years, yet there has been 
 no preparation for receiving the young people at 
 the Sacrament. I have therefore employed my- 
 self in giving the necessary instruction, and have 
 taken down a list of all the young persons between 
 the ages of 15 and 30. The number of catechu- 
 mens amounts already to 80. On Tuesday (Feb. 
 3d) I preached in the church of Dormilleuse, 
 and some of the inhabitants from the lower part of 
 the valley attended. The narrow path, by which 
 they climb to this village is inundated in the sum- 
 mer by magnificent cascades, and in the winter 
 the mountain side is a sheet of ice. All the rocks 
 also are tapestried with ice. In the morning 
 before the sermon, I took some young men with 
 mo, and we cut steps in the ice with our hatchets, 
 to nnider the passage less dangerous, that our 
 friends from the lower hamlets niioht mount to Dor- 
 milleuse witli hiss fear of accident. There was a 
 large (•(jiigrci^iitioii. In the alicnioon 1 calccliized 
 in a stabh'. ScNcral |)('()])1(' lioni below remained 
 all night, and thcrciorc i took tin; opportunity of 
 ])ursuiiig niv iu'^tniction'- in the evening, and the
 
 136 i'ALONS. 
 
 next day (Wednesday) was spent like Tuesday. 
 Thursday morning was devoted to similar exer- 
 cises of instruction and devotion, and then T de- 
 scended towards the lower valley, with about a 
 dozen of my elder catechumens, who persisted in 
 accompanying' me to Minsas, that they might be 
 present at the lecture there. At night I took up 
 my quarters in Fressiniere, at the house of M. 
 Barridon, who is the Receiver of the Commune. 
 His eldest son is the only person in my parish, 
 whose education gives liim a claim to the title of 
 monsieur. In garb and exterior he differs nothing 
 from the others, and is the very antipodes of a 
 petit-maitre : a young man of good sense ; a zeal- 
 ous protestant, but Frenchman-like, not yet seri- 
 ous enough to answer my views of a Christian. 
 The inhabitants of the High Alps, like those of 
 the other provinces of France, have ver}^ little 
 gravity, and though they are more pious than 
 others, they are gay and full of humour : so much 
 so, that very often a sally of wit, or a bon mot 
 will burst out very unseasonably, and excite a 
 laugh in the midst of the most serious conversa- 
 tion. It is necessary to be on one's guard (which 
 naturally I am very little qualified to be), or to 
 be in danger of being disconcerted every moment. 
 On Friday I went to Palons, on my return to Val 
 Queyras, the first hamlet of the valley, where 
 there are only eight Protestant families, l)ut I col- 
 lected some catechumens, and others, as soon as
 
 ARVIEUX. 137 
 
 I coukl, and gave them a sermon, and after^va^ds 
 catechized them. Palons is more fertile than the 
 rest of the valley, and even produces wine. The 
 consequence is, that there is less piety here, there- 
 fore I addressed them very seriously upon their 
 condition, from the eighth chapter of St. John, ver. 
 23, 24. In the evenino- we assembled too;etlier 
 again, and I gave them another service. There 
 are some young females here, who have an ear, 
 and love music. , It is always an advantage to a 
 minister to find such aid, and experience has 
 taught me, that we may hope for some degree of 
 success, when we liave this help. On Saturday, 
 Feb. 7, I set out very early in the morning, to 
 return to Arvieux, and arrived there in the course 
 of the evening. Such is the history of one of my 
 rounds. I shall have to make the same continually. 
 It is an affair of twenty-one daj^s. Arvieux, where 
 I am expected to take my principal residence, is 
 likely to yield a less return than other parts of my 
 parish. The inhabitants have more trafliic, and 
 the mildness of the climate appears somehow or 
 other not favourable to the growth of piety. They 
 are zealous Protestants, and show me a thousand 
 attentions, but they are, at present, absolutely im- 
 penetrable." 
 
 Sucli is the history, as Neff called it, of liis first 
 three weeks" labour in liis nioiiiilaiii j)arish. We 
 find him, not only preaching, and pcrronniug 
 j)id)lic service, in every village between Dormil-
 
 138 NEFFS ARDUOUS DUTIES. 
 
 leuse and the troutier Alps, where there was a 
 church, but gathering the young people about 
 him ; classing them, and instructing them in the 
 first elements of Christianity ; making lists of 
 those who had not yet appeared at the Lord's 
 table, and preparing them for that solemn ordi- 
 nance ; visiting from house to house ; putting- 
 families in a train to pursue devotional exercises 
 by themselves ; inspiring them with the love of 
 pious conversation and reading ; and performing 
 all those little offices of kind attention, and pas- 
 toral duty, which have the sure effect of endearing 
 a parochial clergyman to his flock, by proving 
 that he takes a real and an aft'ectionate concern in 
 all that interests them. This earnestness in 
 " seeking for Christ's sheep that were dispersed 
 abroad," through the far scattered hamlets of his 
 burthensome charge, and in " using both public 
 and private monitions and exhortations, as well to 
 the sick as to the whole, within his cure," was 
 displayed in the winter season ; and we may un- 
 derstand what a winter is in the Alps, from the 
 pastor's description of his journey to San Veran, 
 through the snow storm, and of his employing a 
 party of village pioneers, himself working at their 
 head, to cleave a passage through the ice for 
 those who had to clamber up the rock of Dormil- 
 leuse. Four times too, in these twenty-one days, 
 did Neff encounter the pass of the Guil, an un- 
 dertaking more serious than braving the snow 
 
 1
 
 THE HOPE REALIZED. 139 
 
 storm, or the icy slope of a mountain, and there 
 was but one accessible quarter of the section which 
 he did not visit, — La Grave. He was entirely 
 cut otl' from Champsaur, for there is no means of 
 crossing the mountain of Orciere in the winter 
 months. 
 
 We shall see that Neff did not relax in his 
 efforts, and that the remainder of his ministry was 
 a repetition of, or an improvement upon his first 
 exertions, in the great work of winning souls. 
 And here I cannot but call to mind, and lay be- 
 fore my readers the expression of a prophetic hope, 
 recorded a century and a half ago, and when all 
 was dark and threatening, that the Almighty 
 would be pleased to remove the cloud which then 
 huno; over this reo-ion. 
 
 " And it is my hope after all," said Allix, at 
 the end of his remarks on the ancient Churches 
 of the South of France, '' that as God hath illus- 
 triously displayed the care of his providence in 
 raising the Church of Piemont from those ruins, 
 under which the spirit of persecution thought for 
 ever to have buried it, so he will be pleased to 
 vouchsafe the same protection to those desolate 
 Hocks, whom the violence of the Romish party 
 hatli constrained to dissemble their faith, by 
 making a >lio\v of ciiibracing the Roman religion, 
 to avoid the cxti-ciiiitics of" ihcir jxTscciition." 
 Tliis lio])f lias b(M'U rrali/.cd, and Dormilk'use lias 
 Ix'cn made a jiiUar in tbc temple of" our (Jod, 
 round which the scattered of the Lord lia\e ga-
 
 140 
 
 PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN FRANCE. 
 
 thered. Those timid families, too, in Val Quey- 
 ras, which have had a little strength, and have 
 kept God's word in secret, have been blessed, 
 by being kept from the hour of temptation. 
 
 Note. — State of the Protestant Churches in France, extracted 
 from Soulier's Statistique of 1828. 
 
 DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 Aisne, Seine et Marne • • • 
 
 Hautes-Alpcs 
 
 Ardeche '• 
 
 Aveyron 
 
 Arriege 
 
 Bouches-du-Rhone 
 
 Calvados et Orne 
 
 Charente 
 
 Charente-Inferieure 
 
 Dordogne 
 
 Drome - 
 
 Gard 
 
 Haute-Garonnc 
 
 Gironde 
 
 Herault 
 
 Isere 
 
 Haute-Loire 
 
 Loire-Inferieure et Vendee 
 
 Lot-et-Garonne 
 
 Lozere •••• •••• • 
 
 Basses Pyrenees 
 
 Bas-Rhin 
 
 Haut-Rhin 
 
 Rhone 
 
 Seine 
 
 Seine-Inferieure 
 
 Deux-Sevres ••••.- 
 
 Tarn 
 
 Tam-et-Garoniie 
 
 Vaucluse 
 
 Vienne • ■ 
 
 Carried over 81 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 5 
 
 17 
 1 
 3 
 4 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 3 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 G 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 01 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 11 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 1.-) 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 7 
 9 
 13 
 8 
 3 
 2 
 
 283 
 
 17 
 
 1.5 
 
 17 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 28 
 
 13 
 
 32 
 
 75 
 
 4 
 
 13 
 
 Hi 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 {) 
 
 21 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 23 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 17 
 
 7 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 404 
 
 CB o 
 
 ■e o 
 c ^ 
 
 1 
 3 
 3 
 
 23 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 71 
 
 U C3 O 
 S O J 
 
 -2 ^ c« 
 
 8 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 24 
 
 110 
 
 4 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 IG 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 23 
 
 2G 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 15 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 G 
 
 372
 
 PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN FRANCE. 
 
 141 
 
 DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 Brought over 
 
 DEPARTEMENS REUNIS. 
 
 Loiret, Cher, Loir-ct-Ch. ) 
 
 Eure-et-L J 
 
 Xonl, Pas do Calais 
 
 Moselle, Meurthe 
 
 Doiihs 
 
 ORATOIRES ANCIENS. 
 
 Ardennes 
 
 Gers 
 
 Sonime 
 
 Ain 
 
 ORATOIRES RECEMMENT 
 ETABLIS. 
 
 Bouches-du-Rhone 
 
 Oise 
 
 Gironde 
 
 Vosges 
 
 Puy-de-D6me 
 
 Seine-et-Oise 
 
 C6te-d'-0r 
 
 Total 
 
 81 
 
 96 
 
 283 
 
 303 
 
 ■3 2 
 
 404 
 
 71 
 
 438 78 
 
 >> he 
 
 c "H o 
 oj a o 
 ? P .a 
 
 WdS 
 
 372 
 
 392 
 
 It will be seen from this statement, that the number of pas- 
 tors in the French Established Protestant Church in 1828, was 
 only 303, less by one half than the number in the very worst 
 times, between the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the Revo- 
 cation of the Edict of Nantes. 
 
 A statistique of the number of Roman Catliolic Clergy, pub- 
 lished by authority in \H'2U, rmders an account of more than 
 30,000 of tliat order.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Neff organizes Reunions, or Prayer-meetings. — His opinion of 
 the necessity of such meetings. — Neff's last exhortation to his 
 Jlock on the subject. — His exhortations examined. — An in- 
 quiry into the effects and titility of Prayer-meetings. — The 
 sentiments of Thomas Scott not in favour of them — Those of 
 Bishop Hehcr the same. — Observations on Family Worship. 
 
 In whatever part of his parish ' Neff was plying his 
 ministerial work, whether it was in the commune 
 of Arvieux, or in that of Molines and San Veran, 
 or in the cheerless vicinity of Dormilleuse, there 
 was one object which he kept steadily in view, 
 — to promote associations, (reunions) among his 
 flock, for purposes of mutual improvement in de- 
 votional exercises, that is to say, in reading the 
 Bible, in the practice of sacred music, in pious 
 conversation, in joint prayer, and in all other 
 things which answer to the apostolical admonition, 
 " Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and 
 
 ' I use the word parish, in the ancient ecclesiastical sense 
 of the term, signifying the particular charge of a minister of God. 
 I have already explained that NelTs charge extended over many 
 communes, or parishes, in the civil acceptation of the word, and 
 in each commune there were several villages and hamlets.
 
 REUNIONS. 143 
 
 edify one another, even as also ye do'." He 
 was so persuaded in his own mind, not only of 
 the expediency, but of the absolute necessity of 
 this practice, that I find him expressing himself 
 thus emphatically in one of his Journals. " I am 
 confirmed in the opinion, that whosoever, even were 
 he an angel, should neglect such meetings, imder 
 any pretext whatever, is very little to be depended 
 on, and cannot be reckoned among the sheep of 
 Christ's fold. It is to be wished that the faithful 
 would never forget the 133d Psalm, or that promise 
 of our Saviour, ' Where two or three are met 
 together in my name, there I will be in the midst 
 of them." "" 
 
 It is impossible not to respect the opinions of 
 such a man as Neff, but here I think he has de- 
 parted from his usual discreet and cautious rules, 
 and has stretched the point much too far. That 
 there may be a considerable dejrree of o-ood result- 
 ing from such meetings, when they are prudently 
 conducted, is a truth which will be readily con- 
 ceded, but it is doubtful, whether meetings of 
 the kind are likely to be soberly directed in most 
 cases, and therefore to insist, that there can be no 
 firm and steady religious principle without their 
 aid, is an unguarded assuiMj)tion. Many sound 
 and single-minded Christians have seen reason 
 to doubt, wlictlicr there be not some ri>k in pru- 
 
 ' I Thess V. 11.
 
 144 REUNIONS. 
 
 motiiig such meetings, as those whicli Neff coin- 
 meuded so highly, even when they are vigilantly 
 superintended by an experienced pastor, and much 
 more so, when the pastor is not at hand to direct 
 them. In the destitute region where Neff's own 
 lot was cast, the want of regular spiritual in- 
 struction might render many expedients absolutely 
 necessary, which would be questionable in other 
 parts ; and of the two evils, — shall the scattered 
 members of a mountain church be left without any 
 provision to quicken their devotion, and increase 
 their religious knowledge, during the absence of 
 their appointed guide, or shall they be advised to 
 have recourse to a practice which may lead to 
 error, or to extravagant transports of over-heated 
 and ill-directed piety ; — perhaps that is the least, 
 where the mischief is only contingent. Without 
 helps of some kind, the piety of a flock, left without 
 a shepherd, must decline ; but it is no more than 
 conjectural that it will run wild under imperfect 
 guidance. NefF never found reason to make any 
 change in his own sentiments on this subject ; on 
 the contrary, to the last hour of his life, he attached 
 the greatest importance to the practice of holding 
 such assemblies. When this world, and all its 
 hopes and fears, its prejudices and its predilec- 
 tions were rapidly passing away from him, and he 
 felt that his end was drawing near, he addressed 
 a farewell letter to his beloved Alpines, in which 
 he most solomnlv recommended them to persevere
 
 REUNIONS. 145 
 
 in the system. I transcribe the whole of the pas- 
 sage. It will explain his method and his reasons. 
 
 " I exhort you most particularly, not to neglect 
 the assemblino; yourselves too'ether. I do not mean 
 by this to recommend those assemblies only, where 
 one speaks, and all the others listen : these, doubt- 
 less, where the Gospel is faithtuUy preached, are 
 so greatly blessed, and are such powerful means 
 of awakening and confirming souls, that you ought 
 not to require any admonition touching them. But 
 this service is not enough for the Christian, nor is 
 it that which is described and enjoined in those 
 passages, 1 Cor. xii. 5—12, 22, 28. xiv. 23, 24, 
 26, 27, 31, ike. The assemblies, of which I now 
 desire to speak, are those, where all may exhort, 
 and where all are edified ; where each may com- 
 municate to his brethren his own sentiments, and 
 the illumination and the grace which he has re- 
 ceived from God ; in a word, where each gives 
 and takes, teaches and learns in turn. These are 
 the only assemblies wliich can strictly be called 
 iiuitiial : it is licrc that tliere is a communion 
 between brethren, and tliat God has promised to 
 give his blessing, Psalm cxxxiii. I repeat to you, 
 then, my dear friends, take care to encourage such 
 assemblies among you : and let them consist 
 severally, as far as ihcy can, of cM-ry age and 
 of each sex, tliat tlics mav !••• more siniplr, more 
 unreserved, and nior<' coiirKlin^. lie who goes 
 
 L
 
 146 REUNIONS. 
 
 to an assembly only when a stranger, or one of 
 more than common eloqnence makes his ap- 
 pearance there, and who neglects the duty, when 
 none but the humble and the simple attend, can- 
 not be said to be spiritually-minded. You would 
 then, indeed, be an assembly where the Lord 
 woukl be in the midst of you, if each of you wouhl 
 bring with you a spirit of prayer and meditation, 
 and your assembly would be as abundantly blessed 
 as that of the first disciples was, when they met 
 together in an upper room on that day of the out- 
 pouring of the Holy Spirit, and on that other day, 
 when the Apostles returned from the council, re- 
 joicing that they had been permitted to suffer for 
 the name of Jesus Christ, Acts iv." 
 
 I have not introduced many discussions in inter- 
 ruption of a narrative, which is meant to be a sim- 
 ple relation of the practical good, done by a good 
 man ; nor would I willingly pass censure upon any 
 of Neff's proceedings, or opinions, because the 
 general tenor of his ministerial career was so un- 
 exceptionable, and so wonderfully beneficial, that 
 I should be inclined to doubt my own judgment 
 when opposed to his. But in the case now before 
 us, I have no hesitation in saying, after much 
 reflection, that his reasoning is defective. The 
 quotations, which he adduced in the passage above 
 cited, are by no means happily chosen. Those 
 from the second and fourth chapters of Acts, do not
 
 REMARKS Ox\ NEFf's EXHORTATION. 147 
 
 apply to the case in point, and the others, from the 
 tAvelfth and fourteenth of 1st Corinthians, admit of 
 a construction very little to his purpose. The gifts 
 of God, and the manifestations of the Spirit, there 
 mentioned, were distinct from the ordinary opera- 
 tions of grace, and they were enumerated by the 
 apostle as such, not as spiritual gifts to be com- 
 monly expected in religious assemblies, by means 
 of which the possessors of them may be mutually 
 benefited, but as miraculous endowments, con- 
 ferred on a few pre-eminently, that the Church 
 at large might be edified, as occasion should re- 
 quire. The working of miracles, and the powers of 
 healing, and the talent of speaking in an unknown 
 tongue, and of interpreting unknown tongues, and 
 of discerning spirits, are not gifts which Christians 
 are taught to look for in the ordinary dispensations 
 of grace. Nor can the passage 1 Cor. xii. 28. 
 where it is said, that God first set apostles in the 
 Church, secondarily propliets, thirdly teachers, after 
 that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, govern- 
 ments, diversities of tongues, be fairly represented 
 as giving encouragement to assemblies, where 
 flicrc Clin be no exercise of authority, and where 
 no manifestation of extraordinary powers is likely 
 to be displavcd. The reproof at the end of tliis 
 chapter, and more parti(,'ularlv the general tone of 
 icbiikr wliicli p(*rvades tlie lourfccntli cliaj)!!'!' ol" 
 the same Kpistle, would seem to enjoin the greatest 
 
 l2
 
 148 UH.MAUKS ON NEl-FS liXIlORTATION. 
 
 caution upon the very sul)ject which Neff ap- 
 proached by far too confidently. 
 
 The practice of holding prayer-meetings, or 
 assemblies of Christians for mutual edification, 
 has been frequently put to the proof, but 1 have 
 heard of very few instances (and those only where 
 tlie organization and proceedings were under tlie 
 most sage control), in wliicli they have not proved 
 a temptation and a snare to some of those who 
 have been engaged in them, for want of being 
 kept under proper and competent management. 
 There is a seductive tendency in them, which 
 ministers to vanity and fond conceits, and while 
 the humble and the diffident are rendered uneasy 
 and distrustful of their condition, because they 
 cannot take a ready part in the conversation, or 
 act of supplication in behalf of the rest, the for- 
 ward are puffed up, and indulge in lofty opinions 
 of their own attainments. I remember well, that 
 in my visit to Dormilleusc, my companions and 
 myself brought away an unfavourable opinion of a 
 young man, who represented himself as leader in 
 one of these assemblies, and who certainly held 
 himself in high estimation above his companions, 
 because of the fluency which he had acquired. 
 Whether it was simplicity, or forwardness, he 
 made no hesitation in telling us, that the prayer- 
 meetings could not be maintained without him. 
 
 A clergyman of our own church, whose name,
 
 THOMAS SCOTT ON I'UAYEH MEETINGS. 149 
 
 in many places, is one of no small authority, the 
 late Thomas Scott, was once the curate of a parish 
 where the system liad been tried, under the most 
 cautious and prudent superintendence, but he 
 found himself constrained to refuse g-ivino; his 
 countenance to it. For modest reasons of his own, 
 he did not oppose himself to the practice, in that 
 parish, but he watched its effects, and pronounced 
 decidedly upon its inutility. He afterwards went 
 so far as to declare, that he thought it very un- 
 likely, that prayer-meetings, even under any re- 
 gulations, " could be conducted in such a manner 
 tliat the aggregate good would not be counter- 
 balanced, or even overbalanced by positive evil." 
 His opinion is of the greater value, because of the 
 diffidence with which he offered it, and of the 
 reasons he assigned for it. " But I am, I fear, 
 prejudiced," said lie, " as the evfls which arose 
 from those meetings at Olney, induced such an 
 association of ideas in my mind, as probably never 
 can be dissolved Two or three effects were undeni- 
 able. 1. They proved hot-beds, on which super- 
 ficial and discreditable preachers were hastily 
 raised up, who going forth on the Lord's day to 
 neighbouring parishes, intercepted those who used 
 to attend Mr. Newton. '2. Men were called to 
 pray in j)iiblic, wlio^c coikIiicI afterwards brought 
 a deep disgrace on flie (iospel. ;}. Tluiv pro- 
 duced a captious, criticising, self-wise spirit, so 
 tliat e\en Mr. \e\st<tii liiiii^cir could Seldom pleas(>
 
 150 HEBER OX PRAYER MEETINGS. 
 
 them. These things had no small effect in lead- 
 ing him to leave Olney. 4. They rendered the 
 people so contemptuously indifferent to the worship 
 of God at the church, and indeed many of them 
 to any public worsliip in which they did not take 
 a part, tliat I never before or since witnessed any 
 thing like it, and tliis was one of my secret reasons 
 for leaving Olney ^" 
 
 The necessities of his mountain parish, and its 
 deprivation of ministers and regular serv^ices, may 
 in some degree justify Neff for proposing an ex- 
 pedient of so doubtful a nature, but one who, like 
 himself^ went forth into a region wliere the 
 harvest was ready, and the labourers few, has left 
 his testimony on record, that even in extreme 
 cases, we must not resort to measures which are 
 liable to abuse. " The effect of them,"' said 
 Bishop Heber, when consulted upon this subject, 
 '' is not only often confusion, but what is worse 
 than confusion, self-conceit and rivalry : each 
 labourino; to excel his brother in the choice of 
 expressions, and th^ earnestness of his address : 
 and the bad effects of emulation mixing with ac- 
 tions in which, of all others, humility and forget- 
 fulness of self are necessary. Such too is that 
 warmth of feeling, and language derived rather 
 from imitation than conviction, which under cir- 
 cumstances which 1 have mentioned, are apt to 
 
 ^ Life of Scott, seventh edition, p. 518.
 
 THE FAMILY RE-LMON. 151 
 
 deg;enerate into enthusiastic excitement, or irre- 
 verent familiarity."* 
 
 But whatever may be the doubts of the pious 
 and the reflecting, as to the effects produced by 
 prayer-meetings, or by other religious associations 
 for mutual edification, composed of persons brought 
 together from ditierent families, and subject to the 
 emulations of which Heber was apprehensive, or 
 to the discreditable admixture, and self-conceited 
 forwardness of which Scott complained, there is 
 one kind of re-union, or of assembling ourselves 
 together, which will admit of no objection, and 
 which of all others is most likely to be blessed in 
 its consequences ; that of the family circle. This 
 may admit within its bosom, a few familiar friends, 
 or near and intimate neighbours, whose sentiments 
 are congenial, and whose character, knowledge, 
 and religious progress arc mutually understood. 
 In such there is always some respect and vene- 
 ration attached to one or more particular indi- 
 viduals, some opinion prevailing as to the superior 
 piety and intellectual superiority of one of the 
 party, which has at the same time a controlling 
 and stimulating influence extremely beneficial to 
 all present. 
 
 A domestic association, sucli as I am supposing, 
 which combines the advantage of family prayer, 
 and edif'ving reading ami coincrsation. is one of 
 tiic most efhcacioii- means, not onl\ (»!" awaken-
 
 152 THE FAMILY RE-UNION. 
 
 ing' and establishing religious feeling, but oi" 
 increasing religious knowledge. It gives, with 
 the Divine assistance, force and permanency to 
 holy impressions : it draws out a spirit of self-ex- 
 amination, and quickens and directs it : it pro- 
 duces habits of religious vigilance : it inspires a 
 taste and a preference for devout conversation and 
 reflection . It leads to a communication of thought, 
 and to an explanation of doubts, emotions, and 
 opinions, and to an interchange of knowledge and 
 acquirement, which enriches the whole circle. 
 The intlividuals, composing a family meeting of 
 this kind, are too well acquainted with each other's 
 foibles and weaknesses, and virtues and talents, 
 to venture beyond the bounds of good sense, or to 
 indulge in emulous or exciting transports, which 
 are the bane of prayer-meetings composed of per- 
 sons not well known to each other, and the mutual 
 confessions which the former make, and the en- 
 couragements which they dispense, are all within 
 the limits of sober and serious piety. 
 
 ^ I lately heard of three young clergymen, (and I trust there 
 are many such) who are residing in adjoining parishes near lion- 
 don, and who meet at regular times, to read together, and to 
 improve each other, according to the various modes of mutual 
 edification, which open out upon such occasions. These, and 
 the like, are meetings together of two or three to which the 
 Lord has promised his presence.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Neff at Champsaur — His difficulties there — From Champsatir 
 to Vol Fressiniere — His Employments from break of day to 
 midnigh' — His account of the Consecration of the new Church 
 of Violins — His discussion with a Vaudois Pastor — Wretched 
 condition of the Natives of Val Fressiniere — y/« affecting Inci- 
 dent — Xeff institutes associations of the Bible and Missionary 
 Societies among his Alpines — Passage of the Col d'Orsiere — 
 Progress of his Catechumens at Champsaur — Laments over 
 the levity of some of his Flock — Prevents the apj)ointmcnt of 
 an unworthy Pastor at Champsaur. 
 
 It has been stated in a former chapter, that Neff 
 was not able to include Champsaur, the most 
 western quarter of his parish, in his first parochial 
 circuit. The direct path to that commune would 
 have been over the Col d'Orsiere from Dormil- 
 leuse : but the state of the mountain would not 
 permit it, lie therefore returned to the valley of 
 Qu(!vras ; and there remained, for a few weeks, 
 perforniin<^ the renular services of his vocation, 
 liut in the middle of Marcli, 1824, his stirrintr 
 spirit would not permit him to remain stationary 
 ill one (juaitcr of liis cliarf»;e any lonj^er. llere- 
 (piir»(l constant action, and tlic cxcitciiu'iit of 
 locomotion, and w(! find liini making- his way to 
 ( 'li;iiiij)saiir. I)\ tlic circiiihjus route of" I'lmlinin and
 
 154 CHAMPSAUR. 
 
 Gap. The Nvliole country was still covered with 
 snow, and a keen north wind rendered the pastor's 
 )t)urnev an enterprize of no common difficulty, 
 althoug'li he followed the high road from Mont 
 Dauphin, for there was no avoiding the pass of 
 the Guil, and avalanches continualh^ menace the 
 traveller in that gloomy defile during the snowy 
 season. But to NefF's ardent mind every tiling 
 was resolvable into good. " Although the winter 
 is prolonged," said he to one of his correspondents, 
 " and its severity is very disagreeal)le, yet it is 
 favourable to my w^ork. The peasants are at 
 leisure to attend my instructions." At Champsaur, 
 as at other places, his invariable practice was to 
 have morning service and a sermon, afternoon 
 catechizing, and a familiar evening lecture or ex- 
 position, every Sunday and Thursday in the week, 
 and catechizings or expositions every other day. 
 Here he found his flock so intelligent, that they 
 made as much progress in eight days as some did, 
 elsewhere, in two or three months ; but it was the 
 march of the understanding, and not the move- 
 ment of the softened heart; " for alas," said the 
 pastor, making use of one of those beautiful 
 images of Scripture, which give a peculiar charac- 
 ter to the style of his Journals, *' my words are not 
 those of the Spirit, which can change stones into 
 children of Abraham." 
 
 In another place, after remarking that they were 
 for the most part more Protestants in name than
 
 CHAMPSAUR. 155 
 
 in spirit, he added ; '' An elder asked me the 
 other day, ' how do the affairs of our religion go 
 on at present ? ' ' Very badly,' said I, ' in France.' 
 ' How so/ he rejoined. ' Because one finds no- 
 thing but lukewarmness and indifference.' ' Oh 
 that is not what I meant. ' ' I know very well what 
 you mean, but my estimate of what is going on 
 well or ill is very different from your's.' " 
 
 He thought that the fertility of the commune of 
 Champsaur, and its proximity to the high road, and 
 to Gap, were great stumbling-blocks ; but when- 
 ever he was constrained, by the love of the truth, 
 to remark upon the defects of any of his flock, his 
 gentle and affectionate disposition always shone 
 forth in some such apologetic note as this. " But 
 notwithstanding their levity and worldly-minded - 
 ness, they are always attentive hearers ; they 
 testify the greatest kindness towards me, and 
 press me to repeat my visits as often as I can." 
 
 From Champsaur, proceeding ever and anon 
 in his endless round, Neff went to the valley of 
 Fressiniere, and there remained a fortnight. It 
 was during this visit to tliat secluded district, 
 where the inliabitants are centuries behind in all 
 the useful arts, as well a.s in the refinements of 
 life, that the hands whicli were so often spread 
 fortii to give the apostolical benediction, wen,' now 
 emplov(;d in ibc nicchaiiicul work of giving the 
 hist finisli to the new churcli at Violins, Wlien 
 tlic biiildiiiLi" was romplctcd cxtrniallv. not a soul
 
 156 MIDNIGHT LAliOURS. 
 
 there, either workmen or others, knew how to 
 give the interior the proper air and character of a 
 house of worship. To fashion and place the pul- 
 pit, to plan and arrange the seats, and not only to 
 direct and to superintend, but to labour with the 
 smiths and carpenters, so called, was the pastor's 
 occupation, when lie could spare time from his 
 preaching, and his catechizing, and his visiting 
 from hamlet to hamlet, and from house to house. 
 Nothing was too much, too great, or too little 
 for this citizen of two worlds ; this man of God, 
 and servant of servants. From break of day to 
 midnight he was toiling in one way or other, with 
 unyielding perseverance, and as the season had 
 now permitted some of his catechumens to return 
 to their labours, the young men to their fields, or 
 their slate quarries, and the young women to 
 their flocks, in the few sunny corners, where a 
 thaw had taken place, his evening expositions 
 began later, and were extended far into the night. 
 The ardour of the teacher and his scholars seemed 
 to be equal : both stole from their hours of rest : 
 and the long glare of blazing pine-wood torches, 
 and the shouting of voices, directing the footsteps 
 of the timid, or of the tottering, often broke the 
 silence and the darkness of the night in those 
 wild glens, and announced that the pastor's cate- 
 chumens were finding their way home from one 
 hamlet to another, after the sacred lessons that 
 followed upon the manual labours of the day.
 
 THE PASTORS CIRCUIT. 157 
 
 Even the return of summer, which was very 
 late, for there was a heavy fall of snow in the 
 beginning of .Time, brought no intermission of toil 
 to this indefatigable man. If his journeys were 
 less painful, they were more frequent ; and the 
 perpetual variation in the date of his journals, 
 from Pierre-Grosse to Dormillcuse and Champ- 
 saur, and from La Grave to Vars, shows that he was 
 perpetually on the move, looking after one part 
 of his flock, and then another, and never resting 
 satisfied unless he was assured, by his own obser- 
 vation, that his system was working w-ith regularity. 
 The climate meantime was so variable, tliat when 
 the flowers were blooming atGuillestre andPalons, 
 not a green bud or a blade of corn w as to be seen 
 at San Veran or Dormilleuse. One day's walk, 
 however, would frequently bring him from the 
 drifting snows of the mountain side, to the enjoy- 
 ment of ricli foliage and verdure in the vale of 
 the Durance, and he would then exclaim, in the 
 cheerfulness of his heart, " the winter is past, the 
 flowers appear on the earth, the fig tree puttcth 
 forth her green figs, and the vines, with tlie ten- 
 der grape, give a good smell." 
 
 In August 1824, an event took place, which I 
 will relate in the pastor's own words, because mat- 
 ters are mixed uj) with it which cannot be iiitro- 
 duc<Ml bv anv body .so well as hy himself; and 
 })ecause his sinq)le narrative will carry ns np to 
 the mountain^, and into tlie midst of Alpine life.
 
 158 CONSECRATION OF NEW CHURCH. 
 
 This was the consecration of the new church of 
 Violins, in the valley of Fressiniere — the building 
 whose internal arrangement owed all its propriety 
 to his taste and judgment, when he acted the part 
 of master- workman, and gave it the finishing hand. 
 
 Guillestre, 24th September, 1824. 
 
 " I must have mentioned to you, in one of my 
 former letters, the intended dedication of the new 
 temple ' of Violins, in the valley of Fressiniere. 
 A dedication is no common solemnity in France. 
 After having had all their temples demolished, and 
 being obliged to assemble in secret, and at the 
 peril of their lives, in forests, and in caverns, and 
 in mountains, and now to behold their sanctuaries 
 rebuilt under the sanction, and with the pecuniary 
 assistance of the government, is it not natural that 
 the Protestants should testify their sense of the 
 mercies of Almighty God, and their gratitude to 
 the king in the best manner that they are able ? 
 We expected, upon this occasion, that M. Blanc, 
 pastor of Mens; M. Bonifas, pastor of Grenoble ; 
 M. Best, pastor of La Tour, and moderator of the 
 Waldensian Churches of Piemont, with some of his 
 colleagues ; and that M. d'Aldebert, president of 
 our consistory, would be present to do honour to 
 
 ' The term temple is used by the Protestants to distinguish 
 their consecrated buildings from the church of the Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 1
 
 CONSECRATION OF NEW CHURCH. 159 
 
 the festival. The sub-prefect of Embnin, although 
 a Roman Catholic, had promised to assist at the 
 ceremony. But of all those who had engaged to 
 come, the sub-prefect, and an aged Vaudois pastor, 
 were the only personages there ; all the rest, under 
 some pretext or other, were absent. Had it not 
 been for this good old man, who, at seventy -three 
 years of age, had not hesitated to pass the Alps, 
 and to make a journey of two days to be with us, I 
 should have been the only officiating pastor, and the 
 members of the church of Fressiniere would have 
 felt themselves sorely neglected. The solemnity 
 took place on Sunday, the 29th of August. On 
 the previous evening I had begun to make the 
 necessary preparations. A bower of oak branches, 
 in full foliaoe, decorated and shaded the front of 
 the building, and protected those who could not 
 find room inside, from the heat of the sun. Many 
 stranjiers had arrived on the mornina; of the day 
 before, and among the rest our friend Ferdinand 
 Martin, of Champsaur, with his uncle and several 
 others of that commune. Late in tlie evenins: 
 came the venerable Vaudois pastor, accompanied 
 by the two brothers and uncle of our friend Blanc, 
 and otlicr laymen from the valleys of Piemont. 
 My flock were sadly disappointed at not seeing 
 the Moderator Bert, and the I^resident D'Alde- 
 bert, for wliom we waited a lonn- time in \aiii. 
 Early on Simdav tlic tciiijilc was tilled witii pco- 
 [)1»' from all the nci'^hlxmrinti' vallr\s, Roman
 
 160 CONSECRATION OF NLW CHURCH. 
 
 CatlioHcs as well as Protestants. I ascended the 
 pulpit at nine o'clock, and began with a prepara- 
 tory service or form of prayer. I then expounded 
 some verses of the eighth chapter of the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews, and drew a parallel between the 
 two covenants, the old and the new. After this 
 service the sub-prefect arrived, and as there was 
 no appearance of the president, I requested the 
 Vaudois pastor to perform the ceremony of dedi- 
 cation. It was a compliment due to his age. 
 He ascended the pulpit, and preached from Jere- 
 miah vii. 4 — 7. ' Trust ye not in lying words, 
 saying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the 
 Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye 
 thoroughly amend your ways and your doings ; if 
 ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man 
 and his neighbour ; if ye oppress not the stranger, 
 the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not inno- 
 cent blood in this place, neither walk after other 
 gods to your hurt ; then will I cause you to dwell 
 in this place, in the land that I gave to your fa- 
 thers, for ever and ever.' Old as he is, the Wal- 
 densian minister preached with all the ease and 
 force of a young man. After the sermon, I de- 
 livered the prayer of benediction, and the Lord 
 assisted me therein, — and 1 felt that I was asking 
 for those things for which we ought to ask. This 
 ended, the Vaudois pastor read some verses of his 
 own composition to the congregation, which w^ere 
 exceedingly touching, by the recollections which
 
 CONSECRATION OF NEW CHURCH. 161 
 
 they called up. The service concluded with a 
 psalm, and the apostolic benediction. We then 
 left the temple, and took our dinner in company 
 with the sub-prefect, who was anxious to return 
 to Embrun that evening. This magistrate is very 
 amiable and frank in his manners, and has there- 
 by acquired great popularity. He shook hands 
 with all, even with the humblest mountaineer ; 
 talked patois, and replied with great good-humour 
 and wit, to the compliments which were paid 
 him. He is an excellent botanist, and he takes 
 great interest in the commune of Fressiniere, 
 which he frequently visits to inspect a flock of 
 Thibet goats which belong to the king, and are 
 kept here. Perhaps it will be useful to me to have 
 made his acquaintance upon this occasion. 
 
 ".After dinner, which was soon despatched, the 
 prefect took his leave, and we returned to the 
 temple, where Ferdinand Martin had been con- 
 ducting some psalmody. I learnt afterwards, 
 that while we were at dinner, he had addressed 
 those who were in the tent, near tlie door of the 
 temple, on the salvation which is through Jesus 
 Christ, and lie did this in the hearing of so many, 
 that it was mentioned to me afterwards by several 
 persons in the diflerent valleys. Hav ing expected, 
 like every body else, that we sliould Iiunc tlnce 
 presidents of consistory, 1 never supposed that I 
 should liave to prcacli at all this day, iiitich less 
 twice, and therefore 1 was \>y nv means prepared, 
 
 M
 
 16:2 CONSECRATION OF N FAV CHURCH. 
 
 altliou«2,li I have been in the habit of preaching ex- 
 tempore. But no doubt it was the will of God that 
 this large assembly should hear the Gospel of Truth 
 delivered with simplicity, and without any turning 
 aside from it. I })reaclied therefore from Hebrews 
 viii. 2. 'A minister of the sanctuary, and of tlie 
 true tabernacle, v/liich tlie Lord pitched, and not 
 man.' In my exordium I defined the material 
 Church made with hands, both according to the 
 old and the new covenant, and I anticipated that 
 which 1 did not wish to dwell upon in the body of 
 my discourse. After this, 1 divided my sermon 
 into three heads : — 1. Christ is the minister of the 
 heavenly sanctuary, into whicli lie is entered, as 
 the priest and the victim. 2. The Church mili- 
 tant and triumphant is called a temple holy unto 
 the Lord. 3. Our hearts are called the temples 
 of the Holy Spirit. In discussing the second head, 
 the Lord put into my mouth some happy and im- 
 portant expressions, as to wliat is the Church, 
 and at the end of each division, particularly of the 
 last, I took the opportunity of addressing a press- 
 ing invitation to my hearers to receive the proffered 
 grace of Christ, and to go to him. 
 
 " After the third and last service, there was an 
 ample repast for the principal members of the 
 Church, and for the strangers who came from a 
 distance. I sat down to table with the rest, and 
 then we went down the valley to Fressiniere, with 
 M. Marchand, and all the Vaudois, to the house
 
 DISCUSSION WITH A VAUDOIS PASTOR. 163 
 
 ol'M. Barridoii, the receiver. Our friends from 
 Champsaiir, with some others, remained atViohns, 
 and in the evening- they returned to the tem- 
 ple, with the people of the village, to sing psalms. 
 Ferdinand offered up a prayer, and tliey remained 
 in the performance of their devotional exercises 
 till ten o'clock at night. The next day the Champ- 
 saur people returned home by the Col d'Orsiere. 
 
 " Here I must not omit to tell you of a discussion, 
 which arose between the Vaudois pastor and my- 
 self, on the Saturday evening before the dedication 
 of the temple. He was praising Protestants most 
 lavishly, and especially the Vaudois, whom he 
 exalted to the very skies in comparison with the 
 Roman Catholics. I ventured to make some ob- 
 servations on the danger of flattering people, and 
 the little good whicli arises from elevating them 
 above their adversaries ; and 1 reminded him of 
 the admonition of our Lord, ' that we had better 
 
 first cast the beam out of our own eye.' Mr. 
 
 retorted, and displayed at once the fallacy of his 
 principles. I felt myself awkwardly situated : on 
 the one hand, it was scarcely decent to enter into 
 a controversy publicly, (for a great many })ersons 
 were present,) with a respectable old man, who bad 
 been so kind as to come tVom a <j,i'cat distance lor 
 our sakes ; and on the otlicr hand, I could not 
 suffer error to pi-(\ail. and to witiihold niy testi- 
 mony from tiic trnlli. I tluTcibrc tried to ex- 
 press myself with mildness and frankness at the 
 
 M '2
 
 1()4 DISCUSSION WITH A VAUDOIS PASTOR. 
 
 same time, and, in tact, the old man was the only 
 one who put himself in a passion. — (I decline in- 
 serting the particulars of the controversy, because 
 they are not entirely creditable to the aged pastor, 
 who is still alive, and w^hose sentiments may have 
 been misunderstood l)y Neff.) — After the discus- 
 sion had lasted a long time, he rose up in anger 
 and left the room. But as I was unwilling that 
 this dispute should become a subject of scandal 
 to the weak, and throw a cloud over the festival, 
 I followed him to the door of the apartment, and 
 wished him good night. Touched by those ad- 
 vances of mine, and perceiving that he was wrong- 
 to manifest any signs of displeasure, he embraced 
 me affectionately, and exclaimed, ' my dear friend, 
 I admire your principles, but entertain a better 
 
 opinion of '.' I laughed, and promised to do 
 
 so, on condition that he would say no more about 
 them. We then separated for the evening, w ithout 
 any ill humour, to the great satisfaction of all who 
 were present. From that time to his departure, 
 no other altercation took place between us. I 
 endeavoured to treat him w^th every mark of re- 
 spect, and, on taking his leave, he pressed me, 
 with great sincerity, to pay him a visit in his native 
 valleys*." 
 
 After the dedication of the new temple of Vio- 
 
 * Two French authors, whose names were frequently men- 
 tioned during the discussion. 
 
 ' See note at the end of this chapter.
 
 THE PASTORS CIRCUIT. 165 
 
 lins, on tlie 29tli of Auoust, Neff spent tlie whole 
 of September in visiting first one hamlet and then 
 another, going from house to house, in the faithful 
 discharo'e of his functions. There was no one 
 comer of his parish which he did not inspect, in 
 the course of this month, from SanVeran toChamp- 
 saur, and from La Grave to Vars. Several of the 
 villages were \dsited twice during this interval. 
 But September, which is so delicious a month in 
 most countries under the same latitude, wore the 
 garb of premature winter in many of the hamlets, 
 whither this good shepherd directed his steps, in 
 search of the scattered sheep of his flock. It was 
 not in Val Fressiniere, as in more favoured lands, 
 that autumn gave to the declining year a rich and 
 mellow glory. Few of the balmy airs of the 
 south of France breathe there at any time. Either 
 a fierce and a suffocating heat prevails, which 
 makes the narrow glens feel like a fiery oven, 
 or a rushing blast, that shivers the rocks, and 
 uproots the fir, and threatens to make the fugitives' 
 last retreat still more desolate and comfortless. 
 Even in the heiglit of summer, when vegetation is 
 most rich and fresh, there is so little of it here, that 
 the arid rock, and the grim and blackening sides 
 of tlic iiioiiiitaiu, rivet the eye, and give a sombre 
 sadness, not to say, deadness, to tlie landscape, 
 which makes one even prefer the season of frost 
 and siH)w, as beiiio; more congenial to the ri'gion. 
 On tlie IMli of Scplciiilx'r Nctl" crossed the Col 
 dOrsiere, niidrr a lall of -now. Mich, ii<' re*
 
 1()G MINSAS. 
 
 marked in his Diary, as is never known in his 
 native land, (Geneva,) but in the depth of winter. 
 At Dormilleuse, the peasants were driven from 
 their fieUl works by the severity of the weather, 
 and when he descended to Minsas, the dreary 
 aspect of that hamlet, lyino; deep in snow, wrung 
 from him many sympathetic expressions of com- 
 passion, which are recorded in the pages of his 
 Journal. It was the wretchedness of these poor 
 mountaineers, in the three highest villages of Val 
 Fressiniere, which induced him to devote more of 
 his time to them, than to any other quarter of his 
 parish : seeing them deprived of almost every tem- 
 poral enjoyment, he determined to give them all the 
 spiritual comfort that he could impart. "Their 
 village, (speaking of one of these three, Minsas,) 
 is squeezed up in the very narrowest gorge of 
 the valley, and is now buried in snow, without the 
 hope of seeing the sun during the rest of the winter. 
 The houses are low, dark, and dirty : and the 
 people themselves seem to be stupified with the 
 utter misery of their condition." And yet it was 
 in this forlorn place, that one of the two brothers, 
 Besson, whom he describes, as having displayed 
 great anxiety to know more of the way of sal- 
 vation, but whose understanding and attainments 
 were of an ordinary scale, and who stammered in 
 his speech, addressed the following mournful con- 
 fession to him, in the rich patois of his valley. 
 " You have come among us, like a woman who 
 attempts to kindle a fire with green wood. She
 
 MINSAS. 167 
 
 exhausts her breath in blowing it, to keep alive 
 the little Hame, but the moment she quits it, it is 
 instantly extinguished." 
 
 In another place, he writes thus of the temporal 
 and spiritual condition of Dormilleuse and Min- 
 sas. " ' The wilderness and the solitary place 
 shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and 
 blossom as the rose.' This dreary and savage 
 valley seems to have realized an accomplishment 
 of the prophecy. Desiring to have the inhabit- 
 ants supplied with some good sermons for their 
 use, on those Sundays when I could not perform 
 the public service in their valley, I sent to Paris 
 for some copies of Nardin's Sermons, but when 
 they arrived, I was afraid that the price, fifteen 
 francs the four volumes, would stand in the way 
 of their sale. At first they were received coldly, 
 but when I had read a few of the sermons, every 
 body was anxious to know more of them. I pro- 
 posed that four families should join in the pur- 
 chase of one set, and offered to wait their own time 
 for the payment. This was caught at with avidity, 
 and the books were soon disposed of, and a fresh 
 packet ordered. At Minsas, the Bessons having 
 bought two volumes, were anxious to purchase 
 the other two, l>ut though tlicy an; the wealtliiest 
 ill the liaiiil<t. ihcv li;i<l ii<^ more sj)are money 
 left. * Have we not laid by some francs lo buy a 
 ]n<xV said one of thr sons ; ' Let us give up tbc. 
 pig, and get tiie books." All the rest accjuiesced,
 
 168 AN AFFECTINCi INCIDENT. 
 
 ami they comi)leted their set. At Dormilleuse I 
 witnessed similar instances of self-denial. One 
 young man said, ' I will devote all my earnings 
 in the slate quarries to the purchase of Nardin.' 
 Another said, ' In the spring I will go into Pro- 
 vence, in search of work. I shall raise twenty- 
 four francs, and will apply part of the money to 
 the acquisition of the books.' Others determined 
 to go without salt, and to devote the purchase 
 money to the sermons. The services, both public 
 and private are attended better and better. Their 
 neighbours observe a manifest change in their 
 manners. At Minsas in particular, the least civi- 
 lized and most wretched hamlet in the valley, the 
 improvement is so striking, that it may literally 
 be said of them, ' The last shall be first.' " 
 
 During my rambles in the valley of Fressiniere, 
 I saw some of the identical copies of Nardin 's 
 Sermons, which were thus purchased at the cost 
 of personal comforts, and the reader may judge 
 with what feelings I turned over their pages, and 
 fixed my eyes upon their owners. 
 
 An affecting incident which took place one 
 Sunday, displays the character of these simple 
 people to the greatest advantage. Neff had been 
 performing tlijiee services in the church of Dor- 
 milleuse, to a congregation which filled the little 
 sanctuary, and he was afterwards proceeding to- 
 wards Romas, the upper part of this mountain 
 village, followed by many of the inhabitants of
 
 AN AFFECTING INCIDENT. 169 
 
 that quarter, who had been among his hearers. 
 Suddenly they were alarmed b}" some loud cries 
 behind them. These were occasioned by the sud- 
 den illness of a young woman of the party, who 
 was stretched upon the ground, without any signs 
 of life. In fact, the vital spark had fled, and thus 
 a young person of twenty-six years of age, of a 
 robust frame, who had been present at the three 
 services in the course of the day, and who had 
 been joining in the psalmody, with great anima- 
 tion but a few minutes before, was now carried 
 home a breathless corpse. The consternation of 
 her parents was extreme, for she had been the 
 only strong and healthy member of the family, 
 and the principal support of it ; but they bore 
 their loss without a murmur, and what they most 
 lamented, was the suddenness of her death, with- 
 out havino- time to commend her soul to God. 
 The poor mother, in particular, testified the ut- 
 most submission to the blow, although she had 
 three children nearly blind, and her husband 
 was feeble and in bad health. During the 
 two nights that the corpse remained unburied, the 
 house was filled with people, who came to otl'er 
 their condolence, and esj)ecially with young wo- 
 iiK'ii. Ncli' embraced tlic ()])})oitui}ity of reading 
 appropriate passages of Scripture, and dl" poiiiiiig 
 in such consolalicjHS and admonitions, as were 
 most aj)])lical>h;, and «'.\liorled them to watch and 
 pray, and to keep themselves in readiness against.
 
 170 AN AFFECTING INCIDENT. 
 
 the coming of the Lord. When the time came 
 for pkiciiig the corpse on the bier, the unhappy 
 mother repeated aloud a prayer, in French, for 
 the dying, and then all of a sudden she burst out 
 in patois — " Alas ! my poor child had not time 
 to utter these words. Death has seized her, as 
 the eagle snatches up the lamb, as the rock which 
 falls and crushes the timid kid of the chamois ; 
 oh ! my dear Mary, the Lord has taken thee at 
 the very gate of his temple. Thy last thoughts 
 were therefore, we hope, directed towards him. 
 Oh ! may he have made thy peace before the throne 
 of God, and received thee in paradise !" All the 
 inhabitants of Dormilleuse attended the melan- 
 choly procession to the grave, and their pastor 
 read the ninetieth Psalm, as the earth closed upon 
 the coffin, and then delivered an address, which 
 the mourners are not likely to forget. 
 
 In several of his Journals, Neff speaks of the 
 extreme poverty of the people, but poor as the 
 district was, the pastor was successful in raising- 
 some small contributions in aid of religious so- 
 cieties. His good sense, and right feeling would 
 not allow him to squeeze out the widow's mite, 
 or weekly or monthly penny from the father of a 
 family, in cases where it could ill be spared, but 
 he understood the value of sympathetic concern in 
 the religious condition of others, and therefore 
 encouraged, where he could consistently, the in- 
 terest which any of his flock might be inclined to
 
 NEFF INSTITUTES A BIBLE SOCIETY. 171 
 
 take in the spiritual wants of their countrymen, 
 and of others, who stood in need of that Gospel, 
 whose light warmed their own hearts. The sum 
 raised was very small, but Neffhad the gi'atifica- 
 tion to inform the committees of the Bible Society, 
 and of the Missionary Society, that such feeble 
 support as they could render to the cause, was 
 cheerfully proffered by the shepherds and goat- 
 herds of the High Alps. 
 
 The following account, transcribed from one of 
 the reports of the Continental Society, of which 
 Neff was an agent, is his own relation of the 
 manner in which he established an association of 
 the Bible Society ; and annexed to this account, 
 is a detail of some of his proceedings at Champ- 
 saur, which may very properly be introduced in 
 this place. 
 
 " I left off in my last, I believe, at the joyful 
 epoch of the revival here ; but I think I have not 
 spoken of the Bible Society, which was formed at 
 the same time. In concert with Mr. B. jun. we 
 called together ten of the principal inhabitants 
 of the different Protestant hamh^ts. I explained 
 to them, in a few words, the design and progress 
 of tiic Bible Society, and finding them well-dis- 
 posed to co-operate, we immediately organized our 
 committee, of which Mr. B. was appointed presi- 
 dent. ( )ii flic 5fb of April, an account was taken 
 of all ibt; ((jpics ol the Holy Scrij)turcs ; at the 
 same time noticing the demands for tlieni. Be-
 
 17'2 NKFF INSTITI TES A lUIJI-E SOCIETY. 
 
 lore the ibnnatioii of the Society, there were not 
 ill all the valley twelve Bibles (almost all from 
 Lou vain), and a very small number of New Testa- 
 ments, most of them Father Amelot's edition, and 
 all in a very bad state. Since the remittances 
 from the London Society, and especially, since 
 the formation of that in Paris, half of the families 
 have been provided with Bibles, and almost all 
 with New Testaments. Most of these books have 
 been paid for at the ordinary price, and have 
 reached us through the kindness of Messrs. Lissig- 
 nol and Laget. Now, almost all those who still 
 want Bibles, have set down their names for them. 
 We afford them the accommodation of paying for 
 them by instalments, which, in the case of the 
 poorest, extends to two or three years. In these 
 countries we must not speak of weekly subscrip- 
 tions for payments of this sort ; the mountaineers 
 scarcely ever touching money, but at the time they 
 sell their cattle ; all the rest of the year, most of 
 them have not a sol at their disposal. Having 
 reduced all this business into the form of a report, 
 I addressed it to the president of our consistory at 
 Orpierre, in order that he might forward it to the 
 Paris Bible Society ; but foreseeing that this 
 course would take some time, I addressed myself 
 directly to the committee for one hundred pocket 
 New Testaments, saying, that we impatiently 
 waited for them, because, as I expressed it, " the 
 young shepherds of the Alps were languishing to
 
 PASSAGE OF THE COL d'oRSIERE. 173 
 
 be able to furnisli their scrip with the bread that 
 eiulureth to eternal life.'" And now the Christian 
 traveller visiting the glacier valle}^ of Fressiniere, 
 will see, not without emotion, the humble shep- 
 herdess seated at the foot of a block of granite, 
 and surrounded by her lambs, reading with her 
 eyes bathed in tears, the history of the Good 
 Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep. 
 
 " On Wednesday, the 6th, I passed the defile 
 of Orsiere. Several of my catechumens were my 
 guides. Our conversation was very edifying. I 
 was struck with the Christian reflections, whicli 
 the difficulties of our way, and tlie savage aspect 
 of the glaciers that surrounded us, suggested to 
 them. ' How many times,' said one of them, 
 ' have I braved danger in following the wild goat 
 among these precipices ! I spared neither my time 
 nor trouble ; I endured cold, hunger, and fatigue; 
 I traversed the most frightful rocks, and exposed 
 my life hundreds of times ! Shall I do as mucli 
 for Jesus ? Shall I pursue eternal life with as much 
 ardour ? And yet, what comparison is there be- 
 tween the two objects ! ' 
 
 " I arrived the same evening at St. Laurent, 
 where I immediately held a meeting. I thought 
 on coming to Champsaiir, to rest a little from tlie 
 fatigues of the preceding week, but by the grace of 
 Ciod, I liad still enough to (h). Our cxcclh'nt Fer- 
 dinand liad not rehixed his exertions. I round the 
 zeal of tlie peoj)U; increased, and their manners
 
 174 ST. LAURENT, 
 
 improved. These people, so worldly, so proud of 
 their riches, their strength, or their beauty, are 
 not insensible to the voice of the Gospel. Although 
 the Protestants are only a small minority, their 
 example, nevertheless, influences the Roman 
 Catholics. Dancing has disappeared ; gaming 
 and drunkenness, which had passed into a proverb 
 among them, have sensibly diminished ; and one 
 seldom hears any more of those sanguinary quar- 
 rels, once so frequent in this valley. On Thursday 
 and Friday I catechised ; I visited the school and 
 several families, and held a meeting each evening. 
 On Saturday, the day of admitting the catechu- 
 mens, I held a meeting in the morning. Several 
 of them, the least instructed, live in the neigh- 
 bouring mountains among Roman Catholics, and 
 have no means for their education, and the dis- 
 tance preventing their often repairing to St. Lau- 
 rent, they are able to be present only at the cate- 
 chising. I addressed them in the dialect of the 
 country, in a very simple manner, and endeavoured 
 to bring near to them the truths of the Gospel. 
 They appeared very attentive, so did their parents, 
 not less ignorant than themselves, who accom- 
 panied them. I afterwards admitted, at the morn- 
 ing service, fifty-two catechumens, for the most 
 part pretty well instructed, and some of them 
 really impressed with divine truth. The afternoon 
 was passed mostly in the church, and on account 
 of the numbers, we were obliged to hold the meet-
 
 CHAMPSAUR. 175 
 
 iug there in the evening. On Sunday, the 10th, 
 we had a veiy numerous meeting at the com- 
 munion. Notwithstanding an opening I had got 
 made in the ceiling of the church, it was with 
 great difficulty that I could breathe. In the 
 afternoon, the meeting was, contrary to usual 
 custom, ahnost as numerously attended as in the 
 morning, and the upper part of the church was 
 again almost full. I saw only one Protestant 
 playing at bowls. Several of the inhabitants of 
 the neighl)ouring hamlets, who had come for the 
 first time to the evening meeting, said, as they 
 were returning, ' If this man often came hither, 
 the public-house keepers would not get rich.' 
 
 " In the midst of all this outward zeal, the truly 
 spiritual work goes on slowly ; and I think, that 
 excepting Ferdinand, few have become established 
 in grace.'* 
 
 The last observation was forced from the pastor, 
 because he found in the people of Champsaur a 
 levity at times, which rent his heart. For ex- 
 ample, in a family where there were several young- 
 people, one of whom had shown symptoms of 
 growing piety, he was making some earnest ap- 
 peals to their religious feelings, and was imploring 
 till iji to seek God in prayer, when a youth, w ho 
 was a celebrated sportsman, exclainu'd, pointing 
 to his dogs and his gun. " look, these ;ire my 
 gods ! Such unpronii-ing >igns often led him 
 into a train of painful tiioiight, and then he \m-
 
 176 C IIA^IPSAIK. 
 
 burtlR'iictl his iiiiiul ])y comiiiittiiin' such inoiiriiful 
 reflections to paper as these. " Oh! M^hen will 
 the Gospel find in these southern provinces of 
 France, such a soil for its reception, as among the 
 faithful hearers in Alsace. Even those, who are 
 more fit for the work of an evangelist than I am, 
 find the same difficulties. The few that seem to 
 be awakened, are for the most part languishing 
 and irresolute. Lively and trifling, the French 
 peasant appears at first to be moved and influenced 
 by the word of life, but he soon grows tired of it, 
 and he suffers his attention to be distracted. The 
 most brilliant show of blossoms gives but little fruit, 
 and if the fruit ripens, it is Init very slowly." 
 
 Some transactions, in which Nefl" took a very 
 decided part, occurred during one of his visits to 
 Champsaur, towards the latter end of the year 
 1824, which illustrate both his own character, 
 and the low state of religion among too many of 
 the Protestants of the south of France. Champ- 
 saur was served by Neff" provisionally, until a 
 pastor could be found, who would undertake the 
 duties of the commune. A clergyman of very 
 indifferent character, whose proffered services had 
 been rejected by many of the Protestant sections, 
 presented himself as a candidate for the parish of 
 Champsaur. The president of the consistory of 
 Orpierre, knew that he was an unfit object for the 
 charge, but, under the influence of that indeci- 
 sion, which too frequently marks the bearing of
 
 CHAMPSATR. 177 
 
 official persons, who are less the heads than the 
 organs of a representative body, he was disposed 
 to act against his own better judgment, and to 
 yield to the importunity of two members of the 
 board, who were personally interested in behalf 
 of the unworthy applicant. The discussion lasted 
 for several days, and, as is often the case, the 
 pertinacity of the minority triumphed over the 
 indifference of the majority. They were on the 
 eve of gaining their point by dint of out-talking 
 the better thinking. Happily, Neff was in the 
 neighbourhood at the time, and the president 
 sent a message to entreat him to repair to Orpierre 
 without loss of time, and to throw his weight into 
 the right scale. A wild mountain was to be 
 traversed at the shortest notice in the month of 
 December, and some very severe weather had 
 affected Neff's health ; but he cheerfully set out 
 upon his dreary journey before day-light, to avoid 
 the keen north wind, which usually blew at cer- 
 tain hours. But rude Boreas was earlier than 
 our traveller. He had iniicli difHculty in acliiev- 
 ing the ascent, and when he arrived at the summit, 
 lie was so weak, and the wind was so violent, and 
 the ridge so slippery with ice and frozen snow, 
 that it was an affair of no small danger to proceed. 
 He persev(M*('(l, however, and liis presence and 
 arguments tni'ncd flic scale Tbc nndc^crxing 
 candidate was a man ol" cdn-idcrablc addi'os and 
 powers of mind, and at a lurnicr pniod <il" lite,
 
 178 ClIAMPSAUR. 
 
 bc'tore lii^ iiiunoralitics iiniiiaskcd him, hud ob- 
 tained testimonials from some persons of emi- 
 nence, which he now exhibited. Armed with 
 these, and supported by the suffrages of those 
 who tliouglit more of talent and lively manners 
 tlian sound ministerial usefulness, he would have 
 succeeded, if the remonstrances of Neff had not 
 shamed the consistory into a decision, which saved 
 the flock from one, who would neither have 
 " healed that which was sick, nor bound up that 
 which was broken, nor sought that which was lost." 
 
 Note. — In the summer of 1H26, XefFpaid a visit to the Wal- 
 denses of the Valleys of Piemont. He did not bring away an 
 opinion entirely favourable to their spiritual condition. To those 
 who are inclined to pass severe sentence upon the Vaudois, 
 because they are not all that they ought to be, and who judge 
 of the whole community from a few degenerate descendants of 
 that noble race of confessors and martyrs, I would recommend a 
 perusal of the following remarks, from the conclusion of Captain 
 Cotton's Letter, published in the ninth report of the Continental 
 Society : — 
 
 " I should be sorry indeed, if, in informing the committee of 
 what fell under my observation, and of the opinion I have thence 
 formed of the state of religion in the valleys, it should in any 
 degree contribute to stop the current of charity from England : 
 there is much need of foreign assistance. It is of the first neces- 
 sity that the schoolmasters should be qualified to instil ideas 
 with the lessons they teach the children ; a better pay should be 
 attached to their situations in the hamlets, and they should be 
 themselves instructed. It will be very difiicult to find spiritually- 
 minded men proposing to themselves the glory of the Redeemer, 
 in bringing little children to believe on him. They may, how- 
 ever, be trained to follow a good system, and watched over ; and
 
 CHAMPSAUR. 179 
 
 to God must be left the increase. Far from me be the desire to 
 weaken the charitable feeling existing ^^^th regard to the Vaudois ; 
 they have, on many grounds, a claim to our sympathy : for their 
 fathers' sake, from whom I believe evangelical light penetrated 
 into England ; for the long period in which they were witnesses 
 for the truth in times of repose as well as of persecution ; for the 
 manifest favour with which God has regarded them in the most 
 critical circumstances of their history ; for their former mis- 
 sionary spirit, their poverty, and their civil disabilities. It has 
 been insinuated, that the pastors are enemies to the truth ; I 
 witnessed no such thing. It does not appear that they took any 
 
 steps to drive ^lessrs. and from the valleys. They 
 
 must have been denounced for admitting strangers into their 
 pulpits ; those two ministers were prevented from preaching any 
 longer by an order from government, and consequently left the 
 valleys. Their visit was not without some degree of fruit : a 
 
 brother of Mr. , to whom I am indebted for an introduction 
 
 to several pastors, and four or five other converts to the faith. 
 They meet occasionally to edify each other, at the house of an 
 
 excellent man, Mr. , a retired pastor. If the spirit of true 
 
 religion is become cold, the effects of the religious state of their 
 forefathers have not ceased to be visible. The Vaudois are far 
 superior in moral character to the Roman Catholic inhabitants ; 
 they are from ancient habit, honest, civil, and quiet ; and from 
 their situation and necessity, simple and laborious : it is highly to 
 their credit, that they took no part in the late revolution, although 
 emissaries were sent into the mountains to seduce them. Should 
 foreign assistance be withdrawn, the light still twinkling amid 
 the snows of the Alps may expire ; they may not long resist the 
 encroachments of the Church of Rome, now exerting herself in 
 every quarter to bring again the Cliristian world into the same 
 subjection as in ancient times ; whereas, by strengtliening tlie 
 Vaudois church, it may become, in more favourable circumstances, 
 an instrument for enlightening Italy, in which country, tliough 
 now there appears but a few gleaniijg grajjcs on the upixrniost 
 boughs, the fruit tluTcof may, hereafter, sliake like I.il)an(in." 
 
 N 2
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Nejfs method and good imdcrsland'inir tvith the Roman Catholics 
 — Wis inter i-iav with a Roniisit priest — A faviihj sketch — The 
 convert oJArvicux — A dealh-hrd scene — The Mission — Con- 
 troversies — Anecdote — The Cure — Palons — The shepherdess 
 Manette. 
 
 Upon several important occasions, the pastor of 
 the High Alps obtained as much influence by the 
 sweetness of his temper, as by his firmness, and 
 by that kindness of manner which never deserted 
 him, however trying might be the juncture, in 
 which it w^as necessary to display it. We have 
 seen, that after the discussion with the Vaudois 
 minister, who was inclined to take himself away 
 in a pet, Neff's conciliatory deportment brouglit 
 him to his good humour, and they parted with 
 mutual feelings of respect and good will. It was 
 his second nature, if not his original disposition, 
 to suffer long and to be kind. His charity never 
 failed — it displayed itself in a thousand trifles, so 
 much so, that it oftentimes softened the animosity 
 of those wlio had most reason to be jealous of his 
 presence. As the Mahomedans and Hindoos 
 crowded round Heber in India, to hear his per- 
 suasive and mikl reasonings, when they would 
 have shrunk from angry polemics, so did Roman
 
 THE ROMISH I'UIEST. 181 
 
 Catholics take delight in listemug to Neff's truly 
 Catholic discourses. The popish clergy lost many 
 of their flock during his sojournment in Dau- 
 phine, but it was some time before they resented his 
 proselyting exertions. When they were inclined 
 to give reins to their displeasure, his meekness 
 took the sting out of their indignation. He never 
 reviled them, or spoke disrespectfully of them — on 
 the contrary, he was forward to place even their 
 errors in the best light, and whenever he found 
 them labouring usefully at their posts, he gave 
 them their meed of praise. It once happened 
 that he preached at St. Laurent, in Champsaur, 
 on the day of the patron saint, a festival which, in 
 general, produces a great deal of dissolute con- 
 duct. On that occasion, however, the people 
 were more orderly, and there were fewer scenes 
 of drunkenness and disorder than usual. A note 
 in his Journal observes upon this, and attributes it 
 as much to the exertions of the cure, as to his 
 own, which were uniformly employed in promot- 
 ing the sanctity of the Sabbath. An interesting 
 j)r<)()r of tlic good footing uj)on which lie stood for 
 a long time with the priests of the other Cliurch, 
 occurred at Fressinierc in October of the year 
 now under notice, 1824. it cannot be better re- 
 lated than in liis own words. 
 
 " At Fressinien; a strange adNciilurc awaited 
 me. I \\a> iii\ile(l to -ii|) willi the priest, a iiio>l 
 fanatical and rude -oil ol |)ei>oii. It is some
 
 18*2 THE UOMJSll PRIEST. 
 
 time since that the cure of Chancekis had re- 
 quested me to pay him a visit in his own parish, 
 which lies on my route. I went there, and we 
 passed several hours in serious conversation. He 
 afterwards accompanied me across the Durance. 
 This young man, wlio is full of good sense, and 
 well informed, appeared to have a perfect com- 
 prehension of the essential principles of the Gospel, 
 and did not depend upon the outward works of 
 devotion, or upon the intercession of the saints for 
 his acceptance with God, but he was a staunch 
 upholder of the sacrifice of the mass, and of the 
 hierarchy of the Roman Church. He had pressed 
 me very much to renew- my visit, but 1 had not 
 seen him again, until the time of which I am 
 going to speak. On this day he came to the 
 house of M. Barridon with the priest of Fressi- 
 niere. The latter is so intolerant, that every 
 body in the commune tliouglit that he w^ould 
 insult me, if we should ever meet, for he used to 
 revile the Protestants, and all that belonged to 
 them, in the most unsparing terms, and a hundred 
 times he has abused our people in the very gross- 
 est language, even at their own doors. I do not 
 know what he thought upon seeing me there, but 
 as he found that his colleague expressed some 
 friendship for me, he could not do otherwise than 
 conduct himself civilly ; and the cure of Chan- 
 celas having asked me, in his hearing, to visit 
 him, he thought he must exercise the same polite-
 
 A FAMILY SKETCH. 183 
 
 ness. He therefore oave M. Barridoii and me 
 an invitation, and engaoed his brother of Chan- 
 celas to stay \vith liini till the next day. We went 
 to his house, and to our great surprise the conver- 
 sation was quite amicable, although we did not a))- 
 stain from religious topics. The good effect of this 
 interview was visible in the intercourse to which it 
 led between members of the two communions. W ho 
 would not have been astonished to see the priest 
 and the pastor discoursing quietly together !" 
 
 Many other instances might be selected from his 
 Journals, to show the good understanding which 
 long prevailed among the Roman Catholics and 
 Protestants in different parts of his parish, wliere 
 Bibles and Testaments were read and distributed 
 without interruption. 
 
 At a small hamlet near Arvieux, just below the 
 picturesque torrent and the Alpine bridge, which I 
 described in a preceding page, there was a family 
 consisting of an elder l)rother, a Protestant, who had 
 one son of the same faith ; a second brother, his 
 wife and children, Roman Catholics ; and a tliiid 
 brother, named James, an old bachelor and a l*ro- 
 testant. This family lived together in the greatest 
 harmonv, and the son of tin; elder brotlier married 
 a daM<:hter of the second. Their un(d(! .lames was a 
 reniarkablv intelligent man, and, going abonf the 
 (•ountr\ as a jn-dlar. lie jncked up all llieoldrelioiniis 
 books lie eiiiild la\ hi- IkukU upon, and noliodx 
 was better read than he in the histories ol the
 
 184 A FAMILY SKKTCII. 
 
 reformation, and of the popes and councils. He 
 could recite with astonishing accuracy the dates 
 of councils, and of papal bulls and rescripts, 
 and was never so happy as wlien discussing mat- 
 ters of reliji'ion. Nell' had made acquaintance 
 with this man in the course of his rambles to 
 Mens and Grenoble, and was so pleased with his 
 conversation and his books, that he never passed 
 his house, in his way to or from the presbytery 
 at La Clialp, without calling upon him. This 
 gave him frequent opportunities of holding 
 serious discourse with the different members of the 
 family, and when he ' spoke to the Protestant 
 branches of it on the solemn duties incumbent on 
 them, the Roman Catholics never failed to listen 
 with marked attention. He prudently displayed 
 no anxiety to convert them ; but, by degrees, the 
 mother and dauohter beoan to enter into the 
 spirit of his pious and affectionate style of con- 
 versation, and exjjressed a desire to kuow^ more of 
 some of the books which were the frequent subject 
 of his observations. Two of these were the Bible, 
 and a translation of Doddridoe's Rise and Progress 
 of Religion in the Soul. The mother took one of 
 Neff's favourite volumes with her to her mountain 
 chalet, W'here she spent the summer with her 
 cattle, and during her solitary abode amidst the 
 gTandest works of creation, where nothing met her 
 eye but objects proclaiming the immensity and 
 majesty of the Eternal, she gi'ew utterly dissatisfied
 
 THE CONVERT OF ARVIEUX. 185 
 
 with the limited views of Divine love and wisdom, 
 to wliich she had hitherto been confined, and 
 sighed for the liberty wherewith Christ could 
 make her free. When she returned to her cottage 
 by the torrent side, she made a point of inviting 
 her Roman Catholic friends to come in, whenever 
 Neff was likely to be paying them a visit, and 
 this went on for some time without any interrup- 
 tion or indication of sectarian jealousy. In the 
 end, the little family became one in faith, as they 
 had ever been one in affection, and some of their 
 neighbours of the other Church left the ministry 
 of the cure for that of the pastor. The conflicts 
 which some of these proselytes had with their 
 consciences, before they could find peace in Jesus 
 Christ, proved the sincerity of their conversion. 
 The account which Neff gives of one of them is 
 peculiarly interesting. It explains his method 
 with the Roman Catholics, and enables us to take 
 a fearful look into that abyss of despair, through 
 which the devout and sensitive mind has to pass, 
 before it can emerge from the darkness of Popery 
 to the clear light of Protestantism. 
 
 " Voii N\ill Dot h:ive forgotten the nanu' oi" 
 
 Maria , a young woman whose serious 
 
 maiin<:r I noticed more than a year atio. She is 
 now, like the sister of Lazarus, sitting at tht; feel of 
 J(;sus, but she has suJicrcd so much Itcfore she 
 cfdild reach thdii, th;il I ;iiii ;ih':ii(l \\\r new hii'lh 
 will I If at the co.-l oilier lilc She was Id'oiighl ii|» a
 
 186 Tin: convert oi" akvieix. 
 
 Roman Catholic, but liaviiig married a Protestant, 
 she adopted her husband's faith. Not having yet 
 received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, ac- 
 cording to the forms of our Church, I have given 
 lier the same instructions as my other catechumens, 
 and it is astonishing with what facility she has ac- 
 quired a knowledge of the subject. But when we 
 came to a personal application of the lessons, I ob- 
 served that she was most deeply aftected by a sense 
 of her condition. During the winter I had many 
 opportunities of seeing her, and every time I found 
 her more and more cast down. Her countenance 
 expressed great dejection, and she appeared to be 
 suffering from illness. Her mother entreated me 
 to visit her as often as I could. ' My poor Maria,' 
 said she, ' has no comfort but when you are here, — 
 at other times she is constantly w'eeping.' I tried 
 to have a private interview with her, but did not 
 succeed for a long time. One day her husband 
 said to me, in tears, ' My poor wife will die, I do 
 not know what is the matter with her ; she takes 
 no nourishment, and is melting away like the 
 snow.' I told him that I hoped this sickness was 
 not unto death, but for the glor^'^ of God, and 
 that he himself, and others, would be greatly 
 edified. The same evening Maria appeared more 
 sad than before, — she retired from us on the plea 
 of suffering some internal pain, and her mother 
 then told me that she complained of being unable 
 to pray ; tliat it was this which so distressed her,
 
 THE CONVERT OT ARVIEIX. 187 
 
 and that slie was anxious to have some private 
 conversation witli me. This was the verv thing I 
 wished. 
 
 " ' Well, Maria,' I began, ' what makes you so 
 melancholy? what is the matter/ 
 
 " ' I am lost !' she exclaimed. 
 
 " ' No doubt, you are lost, and we are all lost 
 by nature : but did not Christ come to seek and to 
 save that which is lost ? ' 
 
 "' But it is three years since God first gra- 
 ciously imparted to me a sense of my lost con- 
 dition, I was all the winter as ill as I am now. I 
 wished for conversion, but I have thrown away 
 the means of grace. I have slumbered and slept, 
 like the foolish virgins of the parable. My hour 
 is gone by, and now my heart is hardened, and 
 God rejects me. God is just, I deserve it ! ' 
 
 " This was said with all tlie calmness of de- 
 spair, and I was afraid that the terrible persuasion 
 had taken fast liold of her mind. I asked her, 
 whetlier at the first indication of a change in her 
 religious sentiments, there had been any body to 
 teach licr the way of salvation ; for how should 
 voii liiid il voiirsi'lf, said I. He not afraid, — to- 
 day is your hour — hithcrlo you have never fully 
 known the Ciood Shepherd ! 
 
 " After this she seenic*! to b(! ri'lievcd from the 
 appn-he-nsion, that she had lost the favourable 
 season, hut >fill -iic \sas not assiiriil. || \\;i- in 
 \ain tiial 1 spoke; again and agani ol ( iod s mercy
 
 188 THE CONVERT OF AUVIEUX. 
 
 in Jesus Christ. She told me that she could neither 
 rejient, nor believe, nor pray, as she ought, and that 
 Avlien she endeavoured to draw nigh unto God, a 
 spirit of blasphemy seemed to come across her. I 
 then suggested every consideration that I thought 
 would avail her, and affected to regard her state 
 as very natural and very common; I prayed with 
 licr : still she was not comforted. I conjured her, 
 in the most earnest and tender manner, to perse- 
 vere in supplications to God, through Jesus Christ : 
 and she promised that she would. 
 
 ' ' The next day I spent part of the morning with 
 her, and returned several times in the course of 
 the days following, but always without success. 
 She was incapable of making any bodily exertion ; 
 she was suffering physically as well as mentally, 
 and literally watered her couch with her tears, 
 always complaining of the same thing, of her want 
 of proper contrition, and of her hardness of heart \ 
 One day when I was going to leave her, she cried 
 out, ' If 3^ou depart, I shall die.' I was forced to 
 remain near her for some time, before her agitation 
 was over. She passed three or four months in 
 this afflicting condition, and though she has at 
 length experienced a sense of the mercy of her 
 God ; yet she is still depressed in spirits ; her 
 conscience is susceptible and alarmed by the least 
 
 ' This was, no doubt, owing to her early education, and 
 dependance on the works of penance.
 
 THE CONVERT OF ARVIEUX. 189 
 
 symptom of sin. One day, when some yonng- 
 girls were frolicking- around her, one of them ex- 
 claimed, ' Maria, why do not you laugh as we do ? ' 
 She replied, l)ut with great sweetness, ' I prefer 
 my sadness to your mirth.' She has with diffi- 
 culty picked up a little strength, but she is still 
 very weak. The soul is consuming the body. I 
 have never seen any one so deeply affected, so 
 enlightened, and yet so simple at the same time. 
 A younger sister of her's, who, up to this period, 
 was a devoted Roman Catholic, but full of levity, 
 has now begun to think seriously of her own re- 
 sponsibilit}^ and to display an increasing repug- 
 nance against the Romish worship. I asked her 
 one day, ' Do you think that the priest, or the 
 pope himself, can give you a dispensation of con- 
 version, as he grants you a dispensation to eat 
 meat ? Can he dispense with what is recpiired by 
 Jesus Christ, the new birth ? Do not deceive your- 
 self, it is written, except a man be born again, 
 he cannot see the kingdom of God !' " 
 
 I am happy to be able to add some infoniiatiou ' 
 to tliis affecting account, which Neff's Journals do 
 not supply. It pleased the God of hope to fill 
 
 Maria with all joy and peace in believing, 
 
 and, at length sIk.' a]>oiMided in hope, throiigli llie 
 power of tlic holy (ihost. In August, IH'J!), al'icr 
 Neffs return to S\\ it/crlaiid, to rcci'uit \\'\> >li;it- 
 tt Ted liciilill. lit' licurd III the -iitldcli (|(;itli of 
 
 ' Collected from " Notice sur IVIix Nell."
 
 190 A DF.ATII BED SCENE. 
 
 Maria's inotlicr, who, ^vitll her sisters, had be- 
 come sincere converts to the Protestant faith. The 
 pastor wrote a letter of condolence to the afflicted 
 family, in which he declared that he had rarely 
 experienced any grief equal to that which he suf- 
 fered on learning this mournful news. " The 
 good Madeline, who was so kind in her attentions 
 to me, who had so much sympathy for the sorrow 
 of others ; who received the servants of the Lord 
 with so much joy and love, and wlio had such 
 pleasure in listening to the word of life, am I then 
 never to meet her again in this world ! But why 
 should I thus wound your heart and my own ? Is 
 it for us, the inheritors of an incorruptible and 
 heavenly crown, to afflict ourselves, and to be 
 sorry as men without hope ? " This letter brought 
 an answer, written by Maria, assisted by her bro- 
 ther, in which she gave the following relation of 
 the sufferino's and death of her mother, from 
 which we gather the consolatory assurance, that 
 the pastor's proselyte fell asleep in Jesus, and that 
 her children enjoy the peace which passeth under- 
 derstanding. 
 
 " My mother's illness only lasted seven days, 
 but it was exceedingly violent. It was an inflam- 
 mation of the bowels, attended with a tormenting 
 cholic, which never allowed her to have an hour's 
 rest during the whole of that time. We saw from 
 the first that there was no hope, and talked to her 
 of her approaching end. She used to reply to us
 
 A DEATH DED SCENE. 191 
 
 M itli a smile full of hope and joy. Have you no- 
 thing to attach you to earth ? we asked. No, 
 she replied, with a serene air ; all that this world 
 contains, passeth away ! And have you no fears, 
 at the thouoht of enterino- into a new existence, 
 and appearing hefore the Judge Eternal ? She 
 joined her hands together, and raised her eyes to 
 lieaven, and then replied : No, there is nothing 
 to fear, Jesus Christ is my atonement and inter- 
 cessor. I rely upon his promises, and therefore I 
 desire to depart, and to be with Christ !" She 
 often blessed God for having sent you to announce 
 the glad tidings of redemption through Jesus 
 Christ, and invoked the heavenly benediction 
 upon your body and soul. When her strength 
 was almost gone, she said to us : I cannot pray 
 aloud — pray for me, my children ; pray that the 
 Lord may increase my faith. She pointed out 
 this verse of an hymn, which she asked to have 
 repeated to her. 
 
 Vois ramc criniinellc 
 A tcs picds, Difu Sauvcur! 
 DaigiK- jt'tcr sur clle 
 Un regard dc favour. 
 
 " Soon after, slie exclaimed, ' I know in whom I 
 have believed. We is faitlifid to keej) llial which 
 is committed unto liim. I ;ini weak, hut lie is 
 .strong.' I'pon another occasion, she said to us : - 
 ' M\' childicn, do n'»f weep; ofl'ei* u|i \()ui" ])ravers
 
 192 A DEATH BED SCENE. 
 
 to the Saviour for comfort, and he will not forsake 
 you. 1 am happy, I shall only precede you a 
 little ; you will rejoin me, and we shall meet again 
 in the presence of God.' At a crisis, when her 
 pains were very great, I said to her, you are suf- 
 fering severely, my dear mother. She answered, 
 ' The sufferings of my Redeemer were much 
 greater.' Then you have a Hriii assurance in his 
 promises now, even in the valley of the shadow of 
 death. ' Yes, Jesus Christ is my support. He 
 has swallowed up death in victory.' She then 
 made a last effort to join her hands, and lifting 
 up her eyes to heaven, she uttered in broken sen- 
 tences : — ' Thy cross. Thy blood, — Thy death, 
 Jesus, are — my support !' These, my beloved 
 and respected pastor, were my mother's last 
 words. She gave me her two hands, and while I 
 was praying aloud, her soul quitted its earthly 
 tenement and mounted to heaven. I heard no- 
 thing around me but weeping and sighing ; every 
 thing was sad and mournful, but he who is rich 
 in mercy, poured out his consolations, and helped 
 us to be resigned to his will. For myself he has 
 made me feel assured, that my dear mother is 
 happy in his bosom, and that I shall soon be with 
 her there. Sadness has given place to joy. I 
 must tell you, that since my mother's death, my 
 father has been more attentive to the Word of 
 God, and thinks more about his soul. He listens 
 with pleasure when we tell him of the Saviour.
 
 THE MISSION. 193 
 
 He goes with us to the temple. Oh ! what a 
 happy clay it will be for me, if, in losing my mo- 
 ther for a short time, I shall obtain my father for 
 eternity. Pray for us that it may be so. 
 
 " Your devoted sister in Jesus Christ, 
 
 " Maria .*' 
 
 The reader will perceive in this simple narra- 
 tive of a death-bed scene, not the wild sentiments 
 of an enthusiast, but the calm piety of a Christian, 
 and he will say, if such were Neff 's pupils and 
 converts, what must their instructor have been ! 
 
 But atleno;th the " The Mission'" disturbed the 
 harmony that had hitherto reigned between the 
 Protestants and the Roman Catholics. Some of 
 the members of the Mission marshalled ostenta- 
 tious processions, preached incendiary sermons, 
 and pursued such effectual means of exciting an 
 angry and bigoted feeling against the Protestants, 
 that many of the Romanists declined holding any 
 intercourse with them as heretofore, and even 
 crossed themselves whenever they passed a house 
 in wliicli I^rotestants were dwelling. The Mission, 
 is the name under which a religious movement 
 commenced in France in IHIJ), and continued till 
 the revolution of .Inlv, 1^30, with the sanction 
 and assistance of the government, and iindci' ili<^ 
 direction of ecclesiastics and ollicrs, who turinrd 
 themselves into a religions order. Tlie perxms 
 wlio were eni|)lo\((l in tlie work ol re\i\ing llie 
 
 o
 
 194 THE MISSION. 
 
 spirit of tlie Roman Catliolic religion, were selected 
 tor their zeal and eloquence, and, as they went 
 from town to town, and in some parts from village 
 to village, instructing and confessing the people, 
 it is astonishing what effects were produced by 
 the coml)ined influence of example, exhortation, 
 and authority. They erected colossal crosses, 
 beautifully carved and gilt, on conspicuous spots — 
 they made the circuits of streets and hamlets at 
 the head of splendid processions, swelled by 
 priests and other ecclesiastics gorgeously arrayed^, 
 and bearing costly banners flaunting and glitter- 
 ing in the sun, and by such of the population as 
 cauo'ht the infection of their ardour ; and the 
 multitude thus composed, made the air resound 
 with their penitential psalms, or sighs and groans 
 of contrition. At the churches decorated with 
 tapestry, at favourite shrines expensively orna- 
 mented, and before crucifixes of enormous magni- 
 tude, the procession would halt, and some gifted 
 preacher would stand forth and address the con- 
 gregated thousands, in language best calculated 
 to promote the interests of the Romish faith. If 
 piety revived under the influence of these impres- 
 sive solemnities, so unhappily did fanaticism, and 
 
 ' " And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, 
 and decked with gold and precious stones, and pearls, having a 
 golden cup in her hand. And I saw the woman drunken with 
 the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of 
 Jesus." — Rev. xvii. 4. 6.
 
 THE MISSION. 195 
 
 as heresy was frequently branded by these peri- 
 patetic preachers as something; worse tlian infide- 
 lity, the lower orders among the papists were 
 excited to acts of violence against the Protestants, 
 which made some of the latter tremble for their 
 lives, and anticipate a recurrence of former suffer- 
 ings. The peaceful hamlets, which composed 
 Neff's parish, were greatly disturbed by the Mis- 
 sion ; some few weak and wavering brothers were 
 scared into abjuring the creed of their ancestors, 
 who had died martyrs to their faith ; and instances 
 were known, not only of Roman Catholics being 
 compelled by their priests to burn their copies of 
 Scripture, but of Protestants committing venera- 
 ble Bibles to the flame, under the influence of 
 terror, which had escaped the worst of times, and 
 had been transmitted to them, as the only pos- 
 session which their forefathers had been able to 
 preserve, amidst the wreck of all their little pro- 
 perty. 
 
 What presumption in man, to dare to put a 
 stop to the free course of God's own word ! Be 
 the reason, the sophistry, the pretext what it may, 
 which would render the Bible a sealed book, or a 
 prohibited book, or a book which is to be read 
 under certain limitations, tlie upsliot of the con- 
 trol, and the meaning of the authority which so 
 presumes, is this : — " We desire you to acct pi our 
 
 crecMl ; l)clic\c wliaf wr believe. 'I'lie IViMe con- 
 tains the exposition of the laitli | impose, I to \()ii, 
 
 o 2
 
 196 THE MISSION. 
 
 we derive all our own knowledge from it. But 
 you must not read what we read ; it is inexpe- 
 dient to open to you the fountain from which we 
 derive our knowledge. We do not permit you to 
 consult those pages indiscriminately, or to read 
 them without our guidance and interpretation." 
 What an insult to man's understanding ! And 
 yet with all this real hostility to the Bible, and 
 practical prohibition of it, some Roman Catholics 
 deny that the Bible is prohibited by their Church. 
 Do they deny the validity of canons of councils ? 
 What will they say to the following ? 
 
 " We forbid any of the laity to have in their 
 possession the books of the Old or New Testa- 
 ment \" 
 
 In England the Romish priesthood withhold 
 these tell-tale prohibitions of their Church, but in 
 France, at the period of which I am speaking, 
 the Mission openly proclaimed them. 
 
 " Some of our poor Protestants are extremely 
 dejected by these proceedings," complained the 
 pastor in his Journal. " They are looking for me 
 in some of my villages with great anxiety, for it 
 has been reported that I too have turned Papist." 
 They had not to wait long, for no sooner did NefF 
 hear that his presence was necessary in any part 
 of his parish, than he immediately repaired thither, 
 and though all his circuits were performed on 
 
 ' Fourteenth canon of the eleventh council of Tholouse.
 
 THE MISSION. U)7 
 
 foot, and in the suninier the drought consumed 
 him, and in the winter the frost, yet no apprehen- 
 sion of fatigue or difficulty ever arrested his steps. 
 In consequence of the excitement caused by the 
 Mission, he felt it to be his duty to be still more 
 vigilant and active. " The Lord," said he, in 
 one of his letters from tlie High Alps, " has per- 
 mitted me to have the unspeakable joy of seeing 
 some of the Romish Church awakened, and leav- 
 ing their broken cisterns, to go to the real fountain 
 of living waters. Not that we have easy access 
 to the houses of the Roman Catholics ; — a Pro- 
 testant, and especially a minister, finds many 
 impediments in the way of declaring the Gospel, 
 for besides the prejudices they entertain, it is 
 impossible to enter into any religious conversa- 
 tion, but they forthwith give it a controversial 
 turn, the result of which is rarely satisfactory to 
 either party. In these mountains the officiating 
 clergy are young priests, exclusive in their notions, 
 and strongly embued with the spirit of the Jesuits, 
 in whose seminaries they have Ijeen educated. 
 The Missions, the jubilee, and other exciting 
 causes, have successively revived fanaticism in a 
 region, which was previously too niucli tlie scene 
 of intolerance and superstition." But neither the 
 pastor, nor flic more euli^liteiicd iiiciubers of his 
 flock, suspended I heir (•\t'rti(m> : ulirrc flic tiniid 
 shrunk fi-oni flic open a\()\\;il of tlicir -cntiniciits, 
 tlie br)](l, and -iidi ii*^ wci'c IriiK ;iii\ioii- tor flic
 
 \9S CONTROVERSIES. 
 
 salvation of otliers, came resolutely forward, and 
 seized every opportunity of giving their testimony 
 to the truth, in the house, — by the way-side, — and 
 even in the presence of the Roman Catholic 
 priests. Their appeals came with all the force of 
 sound sense, and were irresistibly supported by 
 their ready (quotation of Scripture. In Champ- 
 saur, the Protestants were greatly in the minority, 
 as far as numbers were concerned, but there were 
 two or three sturdy champions of the cause, who 
 were a host of themselves ; and fortunately the 
 cure there, though he was a most bigoted Papist, 
 had not fortified himself with any polemical 
 weapons, either from reason or Scripture, which 
 were a match for the offensive and defensive 
 armour of his adversaries. One day, when this 
 cure ventured to ask a Protestant, " Upon what 
 do you build your belief, since you have no autho- 
 rity for your faith ?" 
 
 " Upon the Bible," was the reply : "if the 
 apostles had left behind them any infallible suc- 
 cessors, it would have been unnecessary to be- 
 queath to us so many instructions in writing !" 
 
 "The apostles! and why are you to place 
 greater reliance on the apostles, than on their 
 successors ?" 
 
 Because the apostles were inspired by the Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 " Well ; and we too are inspired !" 
 
 " Are you inspired ?"
 
 CONTROVERSIES. 199 
 
 '' Yes ! I repeat, we too are inspired !" 
 
 " Then why do you require to be further in- 
 structed in the college of the Jesuits?" 
 
 The priest was routed. 
 
 Upon another occasion, when a young woman 
 of the valley of Queyras was questioned by a 
 Romish priest upon the object of her faith and 
 hope, and when she constantly made the same 
 reply, and reverently named Jesus Christ, as the 
 ground of her faith and hope, the cure exclaimed 
 impatiently, " Jesus Christ ! It is always Jesus 
 Christ ! do you think, then, that Jesus Christ is 
 every thing to you V 
 
 The vouno- woman answered with a meekness 
 and solemnity which silenced her interrogator. 
 " Yes; every thing is Jesus Christ — who of God 
 is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and 
 sanctification, and redempticm, that, according as 
 it is written, he that giorieth, let him glory in 
 the Lord." 
 
 A few days afterwards, the cure, before several 
 witnesses, returned to the contest, and among 
 other things, took upon himself to declare, tliat all 
 sins were not mortal. He named the sins wliicli 
 he called exclusively mortal, and then proceed(.'d 
 to argue himself right by analogy and by autho- 
 rity, and afterward- I;miiic1i<'(1 out in (Icfciicc ot 
 purgatorv, iiHluigtiiccs, ike. Tli(i young woMiaii 
 asked him to t<'ll li«i\ ii Jl"- -in ol" Adam, wliicb
 
 'JUO CllANCELAS. 
 
 the cure had not contrived to include in the list of 
 his mortal sins, was mortal or venial ? " •> 
 
 This was too much for the controY'Crsialist. 
 Taken bj^ surprise, but yet perceiving the horns 
 of the dilemma between which he was so ridicu- 
 lously stuck, and aware of the consequences of 
 answering such a question, he wisely replied that 
 he would give an answer another time. 
 
 Chancelas is a lovely village at the entrance of 
 the valley of Fressiniere, where the mountains form 
 a splendid panorama, whose vine-clad sides stretch 
 on one side down to the Durance, and where the 
 little hamlets, divided by ravines and torrents, are 
 seen rising out of forests of larch trees. This 
 village was often the scene of triumph to NefF 
 and his converts, and the priests of that parish 
 had the mortification of seeing many of their 
 flock fall away from them, and become proselytes 
 to the powerful reasoning of the Swiss preacher. 
 There was a family here, anciently Protestant, 
 which had been forming connexions among the 
 Roman Catholics, until they eventually deserted 
 the worship of their ancestors, and went to mass. 
 Upon the opening of the new church of Violins, 
 the head of this family and two of his younger sons 
 attended the service, and from that time, the young 
 men regularly waited upon Neff's ministry, both 
 public and private, and one of them attached him- 
 self closely to the pastor, and manifested the most
 
 ANECDOTE. 201 
 
 devoted fidelity both to his person and his doc- 
 trines, lu his journeys from one valley to another, 
 Neff frequently passed through Chancelas, and 
 visited this family, but the elder son and his wife, 
 invariably left the house, whenever he entered it, 
 and continued to express a rude dislike, which was 
 obvious to all. It so happened, that this man, 
 whom nothing- could persuade to listen to Net!', 
 was persuaded to go and hear a friend of Neff 's, 
 who preached at Palons. He returned home full 
 of what he had been hearing, and as soon as he 
 entered the house, he exclaimed to his wife, " we 
 are lost if we neglect this way of salvation." The 
 woman was moved by his earnestness, and from 
 that time the pastor was no longer treated with 
 rudeness or neglect, but his conversation was 
 eagerly sought fjr, and his persuasions were so 
 forcible, that the whole family returned to the 
 bosom of the Protestant communion. Many 
 people of the same village followed this example, 
 and though the distance was very considerable 
 from the church at Violins, all the new converts 
 regularly attended public service whenever it was 
 performed. This movement was becoming so 
 general at Chancelas before iSetl s health faili'd 
 him, that it was thought necessary to send another 
 cure tlierc to produce a i-e-actioii : but the \io- 
 lence and intolerance of this pers(jn confirnKMl the 
 sensation, which was beginning to he f'eh, and 
 
 a(|(le(| to the liuniher oftiiose wlio (|Uc>lion((l ihr
 
 202 CONVERSIONS. 
 
 infallibility ot" the Romish Church. Neff supplied 
 several of the converts with Martin's edition of 
 the New Testament, which is printed with refer- 
 rences in the margin to parallel passages, and by 
 the help of these, they used to turn to a variety of 
 corresponding and confirmatory passages, when 
 the priests told them that the texts they quoted, 
 were only solitary passages which admitted of ex- 
 planation. 
 
 I was assured, when I was on the spot, two 
 years after NefF's departure, that the flame kindled 
 by him was still spreading, and that Chancelas 
 was likely to become one of the most zealous 
 Protestant villages in the whole region. But 
 Chancelas was not the only place where his per- 
 suasive eloquence made converts. In Val Quey- 
 ras he was equally successful, and upon an occa- 
 sion when it was thought that he had quitted the 
 country, the cures triumphantly announced the 
 event from their pulpits. The priest of one of the 
 parishes invited his people to bless God for hav- 
 ing removed such a ravening wolf from their fold. 
 " But that poor priest," said Neff, when he heard 
 of it, " was ignorant that none can overturn the 
 work which proceeds from God, and that it can 
 support itself without the assistance of the first in- 
 struments, who laboured at it. In fact, three per- 
 sons of his flock left it, after I went away, to join 
 that of Jesus Christ, and, but a little while before, 
 the younger sister of one of my converts did the
 
 MARIETTE. 203 
 
 same, and several proselytes, who had hitherto 
 been timid, now openly declared themselves." 
 
 The narrative of Neft's labours, and of his suc- 
 cessful efforts with the Roman Catholics in the 
 High Alps, might be enriched with many more 
 details of this kind, but I think it will be enough 
 to bring this part of the relation to a conclusion, 
 witli the mention of an incident which he himself 
 made known to the world during his life, by trans- 
 mitting an account of it to one of the periodical 
 publications of his oyni country. The two vil- 
 lages of Palons and Chancelas, the scene of seve- 
 ral of the pastor's most interesting conversions, 
 lie contiguous to each other at the entrance of the 
 valley of Fressiniere. Palons is at the very neck 
 of the defile, and the rocks which overhang " the 
 peasants' nests" command a beautiful prospect 
 both of the valley, which draws up narrower and 
 narrower, as the traveller advances towards Dor- 
 milleuse, and of the country which opens down 
 towards the waters of the Durance. 
 
 One day NefF met, at Palons, a little shep- 
 herdess, of twelve or tliirteen years of age, whose 
 air and language struck him with surprise. In 
 answer to his inquiries about her, he was tohl 
 that her name was Mariette Guyon, and that slic 
 lived ill iIk; adjacent lianild ol' Piin;iv<'r N\itli Iht 
 grandfatlu r and <ir;iii(lin()th<i'. wlio were Roman 
 Catholics ; that sh<' liad expressed great anxiety 
 to be in>truf1c(l in the true ])rinc'i])h's of the (ios-
 
 204 MAHIHTTi:. 
 
 |)el, and that tlicy could not attribute this desire 
 merely to human influence, and to the persuasions 
 of Protestant acquaintances, for she was not per- 
 mitted to associate with Protestants. He asked 
 the child if she could read ? She burst into tears, 
 and said, " Oh ! if they would only let me come 
 here to the Sunday-school, I should soon learn, 
 but they tell me that I already know too much." 
 The pastor's interest was further excited, by learn- 
 ing that what little she knew of the difference 
 between the religion of the two churches was 
 picked up by accident, and by stealthy conversa- 
 tions with the converts of the neighbourhood. 
 
 After his first short interview with the poor girl, 
 he remained some time without hearing any thing 
 more of her. In the interval, she was deprived of 
 all regular means of improvement, but her zeal 
 made her find out a very ingenious expedient. 
 She often kept her flock near a very rocky path 
 which descended to the valley of Fressiniere, and 
 when she saw a peasant pass, she would accost 
 him in her patois, and ask " Where do you come 
 from ?" If he named a Catholic village, she said 
 no more, and let him pass on. If he came from 
 a Protestant hamlet, she approached him, and put 
 questions to him ', and if he displayed any zeal, 
 
 * Literally did this child obey the Divine precept, " Stand ye 
 in the paths and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the 
 good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your 
 souls." Jeremiah vi. IG.
 
 MARIETTE. '205 
 
 and knowledge of the Gospel, she wonld keep 
 him as long as he would good-naturedly remain, 
 and treasure up all that she heard from his lips. 
 At other times she would make friends with Pro- 
 testant children, who were watching their sheep 
 or goats near her, and would beg them to bring 
 their Testaments, and read and translate to her. 
 This went on until she saw that she was watched 
 by some of the Roman Catholics, and was obliged 
 to be more cautious. During the long and rigour- 
 ous winter, which followed after Neff first saw 
 her, the mountains were buried in snow, and the 
 people could not go out of their villages, therefore 
 Mariette had no intercourse with those wdiose 
 conversation she so much desired to cultivate. 
 Notwithstanding her faith was strengthened and 
 her mind enlightened, and on the return of spring 
 she positively refused to go to mass. In vain 
 they attempted to force her Ijy ill-usage. Her 
 father was then appealed to, and first tried rigour- 
 ous means, and then persuasion, to engage her to 
 declare from whence she o])tained what lie called 
 " these new ideas." She persisted in declaring 
 that God alone had first put these things in her 
 lieart, and expressed herself with so luucli meek- 
 ness and solemnity, in e.xplaiiatiou ol' the molivcs 
 l)V which she was actuated, flial hci- faflicr felt 
 constrained to say to those wlio iii'^cd liim lo evert 
 liis authorifv, " ^^ ln) am I, to ojjpoM- iiiv>»'H to 
 (lod r' liiif lie Irl't Ii( r -till under fill' cMiT of licr
 
 206 MARIETTE. 
 
 g;raiulfatlicr and orandinother, who continued to 
 ill-treat her, although without success. 
 
 The pastor shall now tell the continuation of 
 the stoiy himself. " Some time after I had 
 learnt all these particulars, I was going to Palons, 
 accompanied by a young man, and Madeleine 
 Pellegrine, a most humble and zealous disciple of 
 Jesus Christ. Whilst stopping near the bridge 
 and cascade of Rimasse, which precipitates itself 
 into a deep abyss, we saw a flock of lambs, which 
 appeared to be hastily driven toward us by a 
 young shepherdess. It was Mariette, who had 
 recognized us from a distance, and who ran up to 
 us breathless with joy. She expressed in lan- 
 guage which it is impossible to describe, how 
 happy she was at meeting me. I requested Ma- 
 deleine to watch the flock while I conversed with 
 Mariette. She thanked me with affectionate 
 earnestness for the visit I had made to her father 
 in her behalf. She spoke of what she had sufl'ered 
 for the Gospel, in a manner so Christian and so 
 touching, that I could hardly believe my ears, 
 knowing that the poor child did not know even the 
 letters of the alphabet. ' It is this,' she said, 
 ' that gives me pain ; the evil spirit tempts me, 
 by insinuating that I resist in vain, and that I 
 am too young and feeble to persevere : but when 
 I suffer most, then the good God supports me, and 
 I fear nothing. They want me to make the sign 
 of the cross ; they wish to drag me to mass, and 
 1
 
 MARIETTE. 207 
 
 because I refuse, they beat me ; and wlien they 
 have beaten me for the name of Jesus Christ, and 
 see that I do not cry, but rejoice in his name, 
 then they become furious, and beat me still more ; 
 but \vere they to kill me, I would not cry, since 
 the good God streng*thens me.' She uttered 
 many things equally affecting. When she left 
 me, she went to join another young shepherdess, 
 a Protestant, w4th whom she oftentimes kept her 
 flock, and who attended the Sunday-school for 
 both of them, for she repeated to Mariette verses 
 from the Psalms, and passages from the New 
 Testament, which she had learnt there. A short 
 time afterwards I held a reunion near Punayer, 
 which Mariette attended ; it was the first time she 
 had ever been present at Protestant worship. She 
 blessed God, who had inspired her with the cou- 
 rage to do so, and appeared most attentive to the 
 sermon and the prayers, which were in French, 
 though most probably she was unable to com- 
 prehend more than a small part of the service, 
 not understanding any language but the moun- 
 tain patois. Not daring to return to Punaver, after 
 this, she went to her father, and confessed to him 
 all that had occurred : he received her kindly, 
 and took her back to her grandfather and grand- 
 niotlicr, and strenuously forbade tliciii to ill-fn-at 
 her for licr religious oj)iiiions. "^Fhis was some- 
 thing gained, but not sulhricnt for Ik r ; she earn- 
 • ■>flv entreated him to rdlovv iicr to attend tlic
 
 '208 MARIETTE. 
 
 j)iil)lic worship ; her constant pnayer during the 
 week was, that God woukl dispose her father to 
 grant her permission. Her prayers were heard, 
 and the Sunday following, we had the joy of see- 
 ing her come to our temple at Violins, a long way 
 from her home. She was received with every 
 demonstration of joy, and a poor man of Minsas, 
 who had married an aunt of her's, promised to 
 take her to his own house, if they would trust her 
 with him, during the winter, and that he would 
 there teach her to read, and instruct her more 
 perfectly in the truths of the Gospel." 
 
 Mariette's perseverance triumphed over the 
 prejudices of her family. She was permitted to 
 receive instruction, and to attend the public ser- 
 vices of the Protestant Church, and her singular 
 history having reached the ears of some friends at 
 Mens, they begged her father to be allowed to 
 take charge of her, and her education was con- 
 ducted under auspices which give us every rea- 
 son to believe, that she is now a bright ornament 
 of the community, whose faith she thus embraced 
 from the strongest conviction of its purity.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Neff's self-denial — Reminiscences in Val Fressiniere and Val 
 Queyras — The Alpine jmsto/s duties and mode of life — 
 Passion week in Dormilleuse and Val Fressiniere. 
 
 The active life, which Neff led, must have been 
 continually bringing scenes of great interest under 
 his notice. I have before observed, that he was 
 an ardent lover of nature, from his very boyhood, 
 and an enthusiastic admirer of those, who had 
 distinguished themselves, by achievements above 
 the ordinary level of human daring and persever- 
 ance. And yet, though he was in the province 
 which is the very land of interesting recollections, 
 and every excursion, from one hamlet to another, 
 conducted him over ground famous in history 
 or romance, it is very rarely that his Jour- 
 nals or correspondence contain any allusion to 
 subjects unconnected with the great oliject before 
 him. Occasionally we see a sj)arkling of the early 
 spirit which animated him, but before it can kin- 
 dle into aflame, it is suppressed by his self-deny- 
 ing resolntion to know nothing but Jesus Christ, 
 and liiiii ciiicititMl. I'^xcn in little tliin<j,s, lie 
 seems to \ii\.\v l»een excr keepiii;j^^ liim^elt under, 
 and fixing a steady eye upon the great object ol" 
 
 1'
 
 '210 NEFF's SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 his life. One tUiy he had been traversing one of 
 tliose glorious Alpine summits, where the purity 
 of the air, and the magnificence of the view, and 
 the buoyancy of feeling so peculiar to mountain 
 scenery, are enjoyed to a degree of exhilaration, 
 which none can imagine, but tliose who have ex- 
 perienced them, and naturally enough he felt in- 
 clined to describe his sensations, when he was writ- 
 ing down the incidents of the day. But he had 
 scarcely penned his first expression of pleasure, 
 before he checked himself, and substituted for the 
 intended apostrophe of delight, a remark on what 
 he considered to be the more proper contempla- 
 tion of a servant of God, who must have no eye 
 but to his Master's service. 
 
 It is necessary to explore the valleys of the 
 Durance and the Guil, and the Ubaye, and of 
 their tributary torrents, and to be well acquainted 
 with the events which still live in the traditions of 
 the natives, to appreciate that forbearance which 
 the pastor exercised, when he abstained from mix- 
 ing up any common place topics in that religious 
 diary, from which I have principally drawn the 
 materials of which this memoir is composed. He 
 could not pass a defile, which had not been the 
 scene of fierce conflict : every mountain side had 
 rung with the din of arms, in defence of religious 
 liberty, — and every cottage which he entered 
 was the dwelling of a family, who had some me- 
 mento to show, or some story to tell, of the sufi'er-
 
 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES. 211 
 
 ings or exploits of an ancestor in support of that 
 cause, which he himself came to uphold, though 
 with weapons of a very ditferent warfare. In the 
 valley of Fressiniere, the famous Duke de Les- 
 diguieres, constable of France, left enterprises on 
 record, which are still the theme of every moun- 
 taineers praise. In Val Queyras, the strong 
 passes which guard the frontiers of Italy were 
 garrisoned by Neff's own countrymen, the Swiss, 
 who, in the stirring times of Francis the First, 
 occupied the Col de la Croix, and all the practi- 
 cable defiles on the mountain border, and com- 
 pelled the French monarch, when he menaced 
 Piemont, to attempt a passage across the Alps, 
 by a route which had never before been attempted 
 by any body of armed men. This route lay 
 through that part of Neff's parish whicli was be- 
 tween Guillestre and the Col D'Argentiere. None 
 but the chamois hunter, or the contraband adven- 
 turer, had ever traversed the mountain path, by 
 which the chivalry of France then pushed their 
 way into tli(; j)laiiis of Piemont. How different 
 was tlio object which led Netf to the deep and 
 drearv ravines, whicii once rung with the din of 
 pioneers levelling the rocks, cutting down trees to 
 throw bridges across the torrents, and widening 
 the sIk'pIkmnIs paths lur the passage of artillery. 
 The I'oinaiitic (■(iiira'ji' <»l the I rciich h'adcr- I'lid 
 soldiers, which was not to lie -uh(hii«l hy the dif- 
 firultif'<s oftiicir »'nler|)ii-e, lias hern flie iheuir f»f 
 
 I' 'J
 
 21*2 THE ALPINE PASTORS DUTIES. 
 
 many a page of eulogy. That tlicy slioiild have 
 braved " the rushing cataracts, the falling ava- 
 lanches, the hoarse roar of the mountain winds, 
 which, pent within the rocky walls, might have 
 been imao-ined to utter forebodino;s and maledic- 
 tions, and the appalling accidents by which men 
 and cattle were lost,*' — has been the admiration of 
 the world ever since ! How much more ought 
 we to admire the fortitude of our pastor of the Alps, 
 who often braved all these horrors alone, with none 
 by his side to encourage him, or to share his dan- 
 gers. Not only at a favourable season of the year, 
 but in winter ; amidst snow and sleet beating in 
 his face, many times did he scale those summits, 
 and cross the torrents, as a messenger of peace. 
 
 Neff's second winter in the French Alps was 
 spent very much like the first, for the season was 
 mild and open, and he shifted his ground from 
 hamlet to hamlet, and from house to house, 
 accordingly as he found his presence necessarj'^ 
 to strengthen the weak, or to confirm the strong. 
 His journeyings, in the frequent tour of his 
 parish, rendered his life a migratory one in the 
 full sense of the word, and all that our own 
 George Herbert imagined and recommended in 
 his '' Country Parson," was realized in the pastor 
 of the High Alps, save his contemplations on 
 " the parson in his house." He had so much to 
 do out of doors, and away from his own habita- 
 tion, that home duties, as well as home pleasures,
 
 NEFF ON HIS CIRCIIT. 'J 13 
 
 are to be excluded from the list. But we behold 
 in him, '' The parson in circuit," — '* The parson 
 in journey," — " The parson comforting," — "The 
 parson in sentinel, " — " The parson catechizing,'" 
 — " The parson's completeness." It was not on 
 Sunday only, that he went the round of his 
 churches, but he was ever visiting now one 
 quarter, and then another : and happy did they 
 esteem themselves at whose table he sat down, 
 and under whose roof he lodged for the nioht. 
 When his arrival was expected in certain hamlets, 
 wliose rotation to be visited was supposed to be 
 coming round, it was beautiful to see the cottages 
 send forth their inhabitants, to watch the coming 
 of tlie beloved minister. " Come, take your 
 dinner with us." — " Let me prepare your supper." 
 — " Permit me to give up my bed to you," — were 
 re-echoed from many a voice, and though there 
 was nothing in the repast which denoted a feast- 
 day, yet never was festival observed with greater 
 rejoicing than by those, whose rye-bread and 
 pottage were shared by the pastor Neff. Some- 
 times, when tlie old people of one cabin were 
 standing at their doors, and straining tlieir eyes 
 to catch the first view of their " guide to heaven," 
 tlie youngsters of another were perclu'd ou ilic 
 siiiiiiiiil of a rock. ;iii(l stealing a jirospcct which 
 would afford ihciii an carlitT >iglil of liim, and 
 give tlieiii tilt' opportiiiiit\ ol ollcriii'^ (he lirsl 
 iuNitatioii. Ii wa- on lhe.>e occasions, thai ln'
 
 214 NEFF ON HIS CIRCUIT, 
 
 obtained a perfect knowledge of the people, ques- 
 tionino' them about such of their domestic con- 
 cerns as he might be supposed to take an inte- 
 rest in, as well as about their spiritual condition, 
 and finding where he could be useful both as a 
 secular adviser and a religious coimsellor. "Could 
 all their children read ? Did thej^ understand 
 Mdiat they read ? Did they offer up morning and 
 evening prayers ? Had they any wants that he 
 could relieve ? Any doubts that he could remove ? 
 Any afflictions wherein he could be a comforter?" 
 It was thus that he was the father of his flock, 
 and master of their affections and their opinions ; 
 and when the seniors asked for his blessing, and 
 the children took hold of his hands or his knees, 
 he felt all the fatigue of his long journeys pass 
 away, and became recruited with new strength. 
 But for the high and holy feelings which sustained 
 him, it is impossible that he could have borne up 
 against his numerous toils and exposures, even 
 for the few months in which he thus put his con- 
 stitution to the trial. Neither rugged paths, nor 
 the inclement weather of these Alps, which would 
 change suddenly from sunshine to rain, and from 
 rain to sleet, and from sleet to snow : nor snow 
 deep under foot, and obscuring the view when 
 dangers lay thick on his road ; nothing of this 
 sort deterred him from setting out, with his staff 
 in his hand, and his wallet on his back, when he 
 imagined that his duty summoned him. I have
 
 NEFF ON HIS CIRCUIT. 215 
 
 been assured by those who have received him 
 into their houses at such times, that he has come 
 in chilly, wet, and fatigued ; or exhausted by heat, 
 and sudden transitions from excessive heat to 
 piercing cold, and that after sitting down a few 
 minutes, his elastic spirits would seem to renovate 
 his sinking frame, and he would enter into dis- 
 course with all the mental vigour of one wlio was 
 neither weary nor languid. 
 
 When he was not resident at the presbytery, 
 he was the guest of some peasant, who found him 
 willing to live as he lived, to make a scanty meal 
 of soup-maigre, often without salt or bread, and 
 to retire to rest in the same apartment, where a 
 numerous family were crowded together, amidst 
 all the inconveniences of a dirty and smoky hovel. 
 The people of Arvieux and La Chalp were rather 
 dissatisfied with the small share which they had 
 of his company and ministrations. They thought 
 that the habitation, which was provided for him 
 in their commune, gave them a greater claim to 
 his services than any other portion of his j)arish- 
 ioners, and one day, w licii he was preparing to take 
 a journey to a distanit hamlet, they remonstrated 
 very earnestly with him, and com])laiuc(l that he 
 did not make the presbytery his home. The j)as- 
 tor endeavoured to exj)lain to them, that tiiey 
 could not rciisoiiabU rxjicct liiiii t(» (IcNoIr iiutre 
 
 (j\' \[\> time to tin-Ill. lIlJill lo till' n-t (il tlir |)o|)ll- 
 
 lation ; tlial lie imi-l ili\ i<l<' his >crv ico acconliiiu-
 
 'il() NEFF ON HIS CIRCUIT. 
 
 to tlio nnniber of those wlio required tliem, and 
 that, so long as lie did not take up his abode in 
 any other part of the parish capriciously, or for 
 a longer period than was necessary, they had 
 no just cause of complaint. The inhabitants of 
 the upper part of the same section, San Veran, 
 Picrre-Grosse, and Fousillarde, to whom he com- 
 municated the murmurs of those of Arvieux, 
 assured him, that they too had great cause to re- 
 gret the little time that he could devote to them, 
 but that they were well aware of the extent of his 
 charge, and of the necessity, which was laid upon 
 him, of giving all his flock an equal share of his 
 attention, as far as it was practicable to do so. 
 
 But independently of the sense of duty which 
 led him to shift his residence from one place to 
 another, there was nothing in Arvieux to tempt 
 him to prolong his sojournment there. The repose 
 and enjoyment of domestic life had no attractions 
 for him, and the natives of Arvieux were, with 
 few exceptions, so little improved by his instruc- 
 tions, that he thought his time was better em- 
 ployed in other places. " More and more," said 
 he, to an intimate friend, " do I experience the 
 truth of the declaration, that he who planteth, and 
 he who watereth is nothing. How often I sigh to 
 think of these poor Arvieusians ? but it is one of 
 the severe trials to which a pastor must submit, 
 to find that he is labouring in vain." 
 
 Upon another occasion he wrote thus : "I left
 
 NEFF ON HIS CIRCUIT. '217 
 
 this stonj' place for Fressiniere, (Monday, March 
 28th, 1825,) where the Eternal had prepared more 
 comfort for me.'' It took hmi three days, on that 
 occasion, before he could get through the lower 
 hamlets of the valley, for though it was only 
 twenty days since he had paid them a previous 
 visit, yet he was obliged to make many stops on 
 the route, to receive the demonstrations of aftec- 
 tion, which they w^ere anxious to offer him. It 
 was Passion week, an interesting season, when 
 both the pastor and his flock were preparing 
 themselves for the observance of the most solemn 
 festival of the Christian Church, the Easter com- 
 munion ; and among these simple people, the pre- 
 paration and the ceremonial itself were conducted 
 with all the solemnity, with which the primitive 
 Christians were wont to observe it. 
 
 Every person who intended to present himself 
 at the Lord's table, was expected to give intimation 
 to the minister, and those young persons who were 
 to communicate for the first time, were subjected 
 to a most rigid examination. I liave used tlic 
 word ceremonial, but it was far from being a mere 
 outward observance. 
 
 As the pastor was slowly wending his way from 
 Minsas towards the abrupt steep which conducts 
 to Dormilleuse, and pondering in liis miiid on ilir 
 spiritual Iiuprovfincnt wliicii he hoped to lin*! in 
 hi- ( •atccliiimens since iiis last iiistriu-tioiis, In: sud- 
 denly beheld .'I -iuhl \vlii<-li called all his stron*:-
 
 218 THE WELCOMK. 
 
 feelings into action. His return to Dorniilleuse 
 Avas welcomed, like that of Stouber to the Ban de 
 la Roche, when all the inhabitants, old and young, 
 ascended the top of the mountain to watch his ap- 
 proach. A large company of the villagers did 
 more than wait NefF's coming, they were descend- 
 ing the rock to meet him, and to greet his arrival. 
 In vain he beckoned to them to stop, and not give 
 themselves the trouble of remounting the whole 
 of that formidable acclivity. The faithful crea- 
 tures ventured to disobey their beloved guide this 
 once, and hurried down the slippery and treache- 
 rous path, literally to throw themselves into his 
 arms. When he gently blamed them for putting 
 themselves to this unnecessary fatigue, one of 
 them gave utterance to a sentiment to which they 
 all responded. " It is not often that we have the 
 enjoyment of walking with you, and we value it 
 too much to lose it." It was a beautiful oppor- 
 tunity of obeying the Divine precept, and the 
 pastor did not lose it. " And those words that I 
 command thee shall be in thy heart, and thou 
 shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, 
 and when thou walkest by the way." 
 
 I collect from the tenor of his Journal, that 
 Neff and those of his young flock who were to 
 commemorate their Lord's death on the following- 
 Sunday, (Easter day,) by eating bread and drink- 
 ing wine, according to Christ's solemn injunction, 
 in remembrance of him, spent the whole of the
 
 PASSION WEEK. 219 
 
 anniversary of " the nigjlit of treason," in exer- 
 cises of devotion. At midnight they walked out 
 to take the air, and as they passed a house where 
 some young women were assembled, they heard 
 sounds which told them that the inmates were en- 
 gaged in sacred duties. They heard the voice of 
 weeping and lamentation, but they were not those 
 wild and extravagant sounds, which sometimes 
 proceed from persons who are wrought up to 
 bursts of passion, which more resemble the exsta- 
 cies of Bacchantes than the emotions of Christian 
 penitence. " I listened," said the pastor, " for 
 a moment to those plaintive expressions, and affect- 
 ing rythmical apostrophes, which are peculiar to 
 the patois of this country, and which cannot be 
 translated into French. The French lano-uaire is 
 not rich enough to bear the transfusion. I would 
 not interrupt them, but went by silently, and per- 
 ceived that the young companions of my walk 
 were as much affected as I was. So passed this 
 night, which the Lamb without stain or spot con- 
 secrated by liis agony and passion I Jf that Holy 
 One was obliged to taste of the cup of his Fatlier's 
 wrath, if his soul was exceedingly sorrowful even 
 unto death, to think of the condemnation under 
 whicli all the world \:\y, i)ni>t not the rcallv guilt v 
 tremble when they lliiuk of the wciglit of a tres- 
 passed covenant?" 
 
 At (lay l)r(.'ak, on (Jood Friday, Ncff's unl)rok<'n 
 j)erseverance urged liim ia descend IVoni Dor-
 
 220 PASSION WEEK. 
 
 iiiilleiisc to Minsas, to oxamiuo the intended com- 
 municants there, and at ten o'clock he performed 
 public service at tlie new church of Violins. It 
 was crowded. Every Protestant of the valley 
 seemed to be present, and the heart of the pastor 
 must have been deeply moved, to see the seats 
 opposite to the pulpit occupied by about a hundred 
 young persons, who were preparing themselves to 
 appear at the Lord's table on the approaching 
 solemnity. In fact, of all the youth of the valley 
 of Fressiniere, who were of the proper age, and 
 who were able to attend, not one was absent. 
 Perhaps such a scene was never witnessed in any 
 Christian community before, and nothing could 
 attest more forcibly the indefatigable labours of the 
 spiritual shepherd of the flock, who when " the 
 sheep wandered through all the mountains, and 
 upon every high hill, searched for them, and 
 fed them, and brought them to a good fold." 
 
 Upon these solemnities, after the sermon, the 
 intended communicants are called upon to repeat 
 their baptismal vows : a custom most worthy of 
 imitation and of more general practice ; especially 
 when it is done with the impressive seriousness 
 which distinguish the service in the Alpine 
 churches of France and Italy. But upon this 
 occasion, when the young people should have 
 made the declaration of their faith and obedience, 
 not a voice was heard. A few stifled sounds, 
 and half-smothered sobs were all that struck the
 
 PASSION WEEK. 221 
 
 pastor's ear. He was oblioed to recite the words 
 for them, and to suppose that their awful, mute 
 assent, was the deliberate renewal of their eno-ao-e- 
 ments. The formulary used by Neff in his Alpine 
 churches on this occasion, and on others, when 
 young- persons were received at the Lord's table 
 for the first time, resembled that of the Genevan 
 Church. After the sermon, the pastor address- 
 ing* the congregation, says, " We shall pre- 
 sently receive at the Lord's table those young- 
 persons, whom you now beliold, who have given 
 sufficient proof, after a solemn examination, 
 that they have been properly instructed in the 
 nature of the ordinance. They come to take 
 upon themselves the most sacred engagements : 
 to make an open profession of the Gospel, — and 
 to undertake the discharge of its duties, in order 
 that they may henceforth enjoy all the privileges 
 which Christ vouchsafes to those that are his. 
 
 " We will ])cgin by reminding these young- 
 people what they have engaged to do. 
 
 " Vou then, who desire to Ije received at the 
 Lords tal)le, and who have been instructed in 
 the trutli- of tlie Gf)spel, are you so tlioroiighly 
 convinced of these truths, that notliiug- could in- 
 duce you to renounce the Christian religion, and 
 that you are ready to suffer any thing rather tliau 
 abandon vour Cliri-tian jirofession ? 
 
 " \('^. 
 
 " lia\<' yon examined y(tiirsel\ (■>, and aic \<)ii
 
 222 PASSION WEEK. 
 
 resolved to renounce sin, and to regulate your 
 lives according to the commandments of God ? 
 
 " Yes. 
 
 " As in the sacrament of the Last Supper, we 
 profess to he all of one body, do you desire to live 
 in peace and charity, to love your brethren, and 
 to give them proofs of your love in all things ? 
 
 " Yes. 
 
 " To confirm your faith and your piety, do 
 you promise to apply yourselves diligently to 
 read and meditate upon the word of God — and to 
 prayer — to frequent the holy assemblies, and to 
 employ all the means which Providence has im- 
 parted to you of advancing your salvation ? 
 
 " Yes. 
 
 " Do you sincerely ratify your baptismal vows, 
 which oblige you to resist your evil inclinations, 
 and to consecrate yourselves to God and Jesus 
 Christ your Saviour, and to live in his communion, 
 in temperance, righteousness, and piety? 
 
 '' Yes." 
 
 Then follows a solemn address to them. On the 
 occasion which I have been describing, when the 
 service was over, the greater part of the congre- 
 gation remained for a time upon their knees, so 
 absorbed were they in the devotional feelings of 
 the hour. 
 
 Some Protestant churches and congregations, 
 that they may keep at the greatest possible dis- 
 tance from the Church of Rome, and from the
 
 PASSION WEEK. 223 
 
 Church of Englaiul, which lias, in her discretion, 
 retained all that she judged to be unobjectionable 
 in the Romish ritual, reject all observance of 
 Christmas-day, Good Friday, Ascension-day, and 
 other festivals of the ancient Christians. Not 
 so the Alpine Churches— those remains of the 
 primitive Christians ; they observe these days 
 with marked attention ; and thus we find that 
 Netf, and his mountain flock of the valley of Fres- 
 siniere, consecrated the whole of the day of the 
 crucifixion to acts of devotion. At two o'clock 
 they re-assembled in the church of Violins. ' ' And 
 then," Neff observes in his Journal, " I performed 
 the service according to the form used by the 
 Moravian brethren, that is to say, by reading a 
 harmonized narrative of the events of the Passion- 
 week, compiled from the four Evangelists. This 
 was interrupted occasionally by the singing of 
 psalms, selected with a view to their conformity 
 with the Gospel relation. The impression was 
 even greater than that which was made in the 
 morning ; very few of the congregation could 
 command themselves sufficiently to sing — two of 
 the IcadinfT singers could not raise a note. Mr. 
 
 B said to me when the church was over — 
 
 " This is a most simj)l(' and aft'ecting scr\ice. 
 The finest seniioii could ikjI jji-odncc lli.- same 
 effect !" 
 
 Having spent the TImrsday ol l*a»iiHi-N\ci'k 
 at Donniileuse, and Ciood-Friday at Minsas and 
 
 1
 
 2'2A EIGHT days' labour. 
 
 Violins, tlie pastor thought it right to give 
 Saturday to the inhabitants of Fressini^re and 
 Palons. On Easter Sunday he again officiated 
 in the new church at Violins, and administered 
 the sacrament to an assembly so numerous, that 
 it was remarked by the oldest people, that they 
 had never before seen half the same number of 
 communicants. On Easter Monday the untired 
 minister performed three public services at Dor- 
 mill euse, at which the whole of the Protestant 
 population of the valley, who could climb the 
 rock, were present. 
 
 " So passed this happy week," wrote the pas- 
 tor, " this holy week, for such it really was in 
 this valley. The inhabitants spent it in penitence 
 and prayer, or in pious reading or conversation. 
 All the young people seemed to be animated by 
 the same spirit : a flame of holy fire appeared to 
 spread from one to another, like an electric spark. 
 During the whole of the eight days, I had not 
 thirty hours rest. Before and after, and in the 
 interval of the public services, the young people 
 might be seen sitting in groups among the huge 
 blocks of granite, with which the place is covered, 
 edifying each other by serious reading or conver- 
 sation. I was absolutely astonished by this sudden 
 awakening. I could scarcely collect my scattered 
 thoughts. The rocks, the cascades, even the sur- 
 rounding ice, seemed to present a new and less 
 dreary aspect. This savage country became agree-
 
 PASTORAL ATTACHMENT. 225 
 
 able and dear to me : it was at once the home of 
 my brethren ; the beloved Jerusalem of my affec- 
 tion '. But I must not forget, that there are always 
 more flowers in spring than fruit in autumn, and 
 that at the first awakening, many appear to be con- 
 verted, who are only drawn along by the general 
 movement. It is like the burning; flint in the 
 midst of the brazier, which looks like the flaming 
 charcoal. But, however it may turn out, it is the 
 work of the Eternal. He only can recognise those 
 who are his, and knows how to make it manifest 
 that they are his. To him be the praise and the 
 glory for ever and ever. Amen.' 
 
 ' Psalm cxxii.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Neff's extraordinarif influence over his Flock — Hon obtained — 
 His improvements introduced into the conditio7i of the Aljuncs 
 — Their wretched stale previousli/ to his arrival — Projjoses to 
 himself the example of Oherlin — The Aqueduct — The Christ- 
 ian Advocate — Nejf a teacher of Agriculture. — Neff at the 
 Fair of St. Crepin — Observations. 
 
 Time and eternity will show, whether the pastor 
 of the high Alps had such a blessing upon his 
 labours, as enabled him to produce a lasting im- 
 pression upon the minds of those simple moun- 
 taineers, who devoted themselves with such impul- 
 sive ardour to the cause of the Gospel. His full 
 usefulness will be known in that glorious day when 
 the number of God's elect shall be completed. It 
 is certain, however, that his influence over them 
 was something quite extraordinary. This influence 
 would have been less a matter of wonder, had he 
 resorted to any of those extravagances, which too 
 often succeed by turning the heads of the ignorant 
 and fanatical. But it was not so : the whole 
 course of his ministry was sustained by the same 
 even and sober piety : his preaching was forcible, 
 and faithful to the doctrine of redemption through 
 a crucified Saviour ; but never solicited attention
 
 NEFFS INFLUENCE. 2'27 
 
 by stirring' up the wild passions, or vain-glorious 
 and tbnd conceits of Lis hearers. He made no use 
 of those arts by which '•' silly women,'' and silly 
 men are led captive. His Journals make us fully 
 acquainted with his doctrine, his manner of life, his 
 purpose, his faith, his long-suffering, his charitv, 
 and his patience ; and to these virtues, the influence, 
 which he obtained, must be attributed in a very 
 great degree. 
 
 Neff was not merely the Sabbath day minister 
 and instructor : nor was he the reliaious jruide 
 only. He was every thing to his mountaineers : 
 he interested himself warmly in all their concerns, 
 and when they saw that his sole object, and un- 
 wearied endeavour was to make them happier, and 
 better in all the relations of life, than he found 
 them, he bowed their hearts, as the heart of one 
 man, and thev reverenced the Mentor, who was 
 always busy in adding to their stock of comfort'. 
 
 Like the philosopher with the shipwrecked 
 
 ' " By e\'incing a sincere interest in their concerns, I 
 would endeavour to gain their confidence, and induce them to 
 rejrard me as their friend : and then having once obtained this 
 confidence, and a proportionate degree of inlluence, 1 would 
 exert it to the utmost of my ability to their advanUige, both in 
 the instruction of the young, and the conversion of tlie old, 
 seeking to win their aliections by my earnest desire t(t promote 
 their spiritual interests. If you adopt this iiictlnxl, my dear 
 friend, God will take care of the rest." Stoubir's Ads ice to 
 Oberiin. — Memoirx of Ohcrliii, p. 71. 
 
 g2
 
 228 neff's influence. 
 
 crew, 111 the uninhabited island, his example, his 
 contrivances, his persuasions, his suggestions, were 
 ever leading the way to some new improvement 
 in their condition. He taught them to improve 
 their dwelling, to cultivate their lands to greater 
 advantage, to employ time profitably and agree- 
 ably that had previously hung heavy upon their 
 hands, and to find occupation and amusement in 
 numberless resources, of which they had no con- 
 ception till his arrival among them. He was 
 their schoolmaster in short, not only to bring 
 them unto Christ, but to instruct them in what- 
 ever was useful and advantageous. They saw 
 that he had their best interests at heart — and the 
 current of their affections naturally flowed towards 
 him, in the full tide of confidence and veneration. 
 The natives of Val Fressiniere had, perhaps, 
 greater reason than the rest of his flock, to attach 
 themselves most affectionately to their pastor, for 
 finding them in a more forlorn condition than 
 the others, he did more for them in the way of 
 general improvement. Their persevering fidelity 
 to the faith and discipline of their ancestors, when 
 their nearest neighbours, the inhabitants of Val 
 Louise had been exterminated, and when the 
 people of Val Queyras had conformed outwardly 
 to the religion of Rome, had cut them off so effec- 
 tually from all human society ', during a long 
 
 ' I transcribe the following edict of Louis XII. in proof of
 
 EFFECTS OF OPPRESSION. 229 
 
 period of time, and from all the conveniences of 
 civilized life, that on Neft"s arrival at Dorniil- 
 leuse, he found them the same half-barbarous 
 tribe, which De Thou represented them to be 250 
 years before. One proof of their utter wretched- 
 ness affected him sensibly. Long habits of suspi- 
 cion, and the dread of ill-treatment, had become 
 so natural to them, that at the sight of a stranger, 
 they ran into their huts, particularly the young- 
 people, like marmots into their holes. Their 
 houses, clothes, food, and method of cultivation,, 
 were four or five centuries behind the rest of 
 France, and to this hour, after all his exertions 
 to ameliorate their state, if a stranger could be 
 carried asleep to their village, on waking he never 
 
 the unmerited sufferings of the Protestants of this region, when 
 the iron hand of their oppressors lay most heavy upon them. 
 
 " Lewis, by the grace of God, king of France. 
 
 " Forasmuch as it is come to our knowledge that the inha- 
 bitants of Fressiniere have endured great troubles, vexations, 
 and punishments, we, desirujg to relieve them, and to cause 
 their property to be restored to them, do, by these presents, 
 command all those that retain such property, to restore it without 
 delay. And in case of refusal or delay, we, having regard td 
 their poverty and misery, and inability to obtain justice, will 
 take cognizance thereof in our own person, warning all those 
 who shall continue to do them wrong, to aj)pear before us. (iiveii 
 at Lyon, the r2th of October ITjOI." 
 
 This wa.s after the celebrated papal l)ull of 1 IM7, wlitii the 
 Protestanta of Val Fressiniere were pursued like wild l)ea8ts, 
 and had their property confiscuted.
 
 230 AMELIORATIONS. 
 
 would believe that he was in the land of civilized 
 Frenclunen. The pastor had to begin with first 
 principles, and in this his scientific knowledge, 
 and the systematic rules of command and obe- 
 dience, in whicli he had himself been so well 
 schooled in the garrison at Geneva, came season- 
 ably to his hel}). He knew how to set about 
 arrang-ino; and o'ivino' directions. 
 
 His first attempt was to impart an idea of do- 
 mestic convenience. Chimneys and windows to 
 their hovels were luxuries to which few of them 
 had aspired, till he showed them how easy it was 
 to make a passage for the smoke, and admittance 
 for the light and air. He next convinced them 
 that warmth might be obtained more healthily, 
 than by pigging together for six or seven months 
 in stables, from which the muck of the cattle was 
 removed but once during the year. For their 
 coarse and unwholesome food, he had, indeed, no 
 substitute ; because the sterility of the soil would 
 produce no other ; but he pointed out a mode of 
 tillage, by which they increased the quantity ; 
 and in cases of illness, where they had no concep- 
 tion of applying the simplest remedies, he pointed 
 out the comfort which a sick person may derive 
 from light and warm soups and ptisans, and other 
 soothing assistance. So ignorant were they of 
 what was hurtful or beneficial in acute disorders, 
 that wine and brandy w^ere no unusual prescrip- 
 tions in the height of a raging fever.
 
 NEFF AND OBERLIN. '23\ 
 
 Strange enouoli, and still more characteristic 
 of savage life, the women, till Neff taught the 
 men better manners, were treated with so much 
 disregard, that they never sat at table with their 
 husbands or brothers, but stood behind them, and 
 received morsels from their hands with obeisance 
 and profound reverence. 
 
 '' But with all this, they participated in the 
 general corruption of human nature, as far as 
 their poverty would let them. Gaming, dancing, 
 swearing, and quarrelling, were not uncommon, 
 though the Papists, who occupied the lower part 
 of the valley, were certainly much more corrupt. 
 Nevertheless, the wretchedness of this people 
 commends them to our compassion, and ought to 
 excite the deepest interest, when we consider, 
 that it is the result of their ancestors' fidelity to 
 our cause. Persecution has penned them up, 
 like frightened and helpless sheep, in a narrow 
 gorge, where there is scarcely an habitation 
 which is not exposed to avalanches of snow, or 
 falling rocks. From the first moment of my 
 arrival, I took them as it were to my heart, and I 
 ardently desired to be unto them, even as another 
 Oberiui. Unfortunately I could not then give 
 them more than a week in each montli, whereas, 
 such is the length of the valley, and tlic uiiinbcr 
 of the handets, that I oiiglit to be constantly there. 
 But the Almighty lias been pleased to bless tin; 
 little can* that 1 could lte>to\v upon tliem. and Jo
 
 232 NEFF AND OBERLIN. 
 
 permit a change to be produced in more respects 
 than one." 
 
 So affectionately, so apologetically, when he was 
 constrained by the force of truth to touch on tlieir 
 failings, and so modestly, when he was recording 
 his own exertions, did this excellent man write 
 down his thoughts, when the Val Fressiniere was 
 the subject of his Journal. 
 
 The character of Oberlin was Neff's delight 
 
 o 
 
 and his model, and if it did not first awaken his 
 desire to become eminent in the same way, it 
 confirmed his good resolutions. The good which 
 is done by the recital of labours like those of 
 Oberlin, and by giving circulation to the memoir 
 of such a life, was singularly illustrated in the 
 case now before us. The pastor of the Alps had 
 by some means become acquainted ' with the 
 history of the pastor of the Vosges, and of his im- 
 provements in the Ban de la Roche ; several pub- 
 lications had noticed Oberlin 's beneficial labours 
 in his mountain parish, and Neff's bosom glowed 
 with a noble emulation to imitate his doings. 
 Therefore, without derogating in the least degree 
 from Neffs merits, it may be said, that much of 
 
 ^ Probably by reading the letter printed in a German maga- 
 zine in 1793, and some accounts of him in the Bible Society's 
 Reports, or " Promenades Alsaciennes," par M. Merlin, and 
 " Rapport fait a la Societe Royale d'Agriculture, par M. Le 
 Comte de Neuf-Chateau, sur I'Agriculture et la Civilization 
 du Ban de la Roche."
 
 NEFF AND OBERLIN. 233 
 
 his usefulness may be attributed to the practical 
 lesson, which Oberlin had previously taught. It 
 is for this reason, that few greater boons can be 
 conferred on society, than by giving all possible 
 notoriety to the labours of such benefactors of 
 mankind, as our own Bernard Gilpin, and George 
 Herbert, or Frederick Oberlin, who in their hum- 
 ble stations of parish priests, promoted the tem- 
 poral and spiritual good of their people at the same 
 time. Many a young clergyman has received the 
 same impression as Neff, from reading such bio- 
 graphy, and has lighted his candle at such glorious 
 lamps, and has been inspired with the noblest of 
 all ambition, that of distributing happiness and 
 comfort within the immediate circle of his duties. 
 
 The amiable biographer, who collected the 
 memorials of Oberlin, may enjoy the exquisite 
 satisfaction of believing, that her record of his 
 blameless life, and indefatigable labours, will be 
 like a voice exclaiming in the ears of many, who 
 begin to feel the pleasure of being useful, " Go 
 and do thou likewise," and will thus be the 
 means of j)crpetuating to future generations, the 
 influence of Oberlius beneficent exertions, more 
 effectually than any monument to his memory. 
 
 ill Ills pri\at(.' nienior;iii(la, Nefi" tVe(|iir!iilv 
 iiiiuhi alUisioM to the same fact, llial iii reniofe, 
 and particularly in y\lj)iiie villages, th(^ lile of 
 a minister ol the (iospel resembles tiiat of a mis- 
 sionary in uncivili/ed (tonntries, and, lo u<e iijs
 
 234 SCHEMES of improvement. 
 
 own expression, " It is necessary to be a Frederick 
 Oberlin, to do all that is required of him." From 
 the first, therefore, he made it his study to con- 
 ciliate the affections and confidence of the peasants, 
 by employing all his attainments for their im- 
 provement, and by showing them that there were 
 many things, in which his general knowledge 
 mio-ht be rendered serviceable to them. He not 
 only did not hesitate, but he sought occasions, to 
 put his hand to the tool of the mechanic and arti- 
 san, and to the husbandman's implement, and 
 thus to drill the peasantry into better manage- 
 ment, and to instruct them in the best mode of 
 adding to their stock of conveniences and comfort. 
 We have already seen him working with the 
 masons and carpenters, to give the last air of 
 architectural beauty to the new church of Violins, 
 and now I will exhibit him in the character of an 
 agriculturist, introducmg. an improved method of 
 irrigation, and a system of sowing and planting, 
 which doubled the quantity of production. 
 
 One of the principal resources of the valley of 
 Fressiniere, is the breeding and pasturage of 
 cattle. But the winter is so long, and the tracts 
 of land capable of producing fodder are so scanty, 
 that every blade of grass that can be raised, and 
 made into hay, is a very treasure. A dry summer 
 often left them unprovided with hay, and com- 
 pelled the poor creatures to part with their stock 
 at an inadequate price. Netf's eye perceived
 
 THE AQUEDUCT. 235 
 
 that a direction might be given to tlie streams in 
 one part, which woukl improve the ground in 
 another, and furnish the proprietors with constant 
 means of keeping the grass fresh and moist. But 
 he found the utmost difficulty in explaining the 
 simplest principles of hydraulics, and in per- 
 suading his ignorant listeners that the water 
 might be made to rise and fall, and might be 
 dammed up and distributed, accordingly as it 
 might be required for use. The imaginary ex- 
 pense stared them in the face like certain ruin ; 
 and the labour appalled them, as being perfectly 
 insuperable. ^^ hen their pastor first advised them 
 to construct the canals necessary for the purpose, 
 they absolutely refused to attempt it, and he was 
 obliged to tell them, that they were equally deaf 
 to temporal and spiritual counsel. Pointing to 
 the rushing waters, which were capable of being 
 diverted from their course to the parched and ste- 
 rile soil, which he wished to see improved, he ex- 
 claimed, " You make as little use of those ample 
 streams, as you do of the water of life. God lias 
 vouchsafed to offer you both in abundance, but 
 your pastures, like your hearts, are languisliing 
 with drought !" 
 
 In the spring of 1825, there had been so little 
 snow, tliat there was every aj)pearance of ilic 
 soil yielding even less than its usual scanty 
 increase : its wonted supply of nioisturc had 
 lailed. Xrtt' took advautagr ol the >fatr ol" llic 
 sea.sou, and once more; pressed tlicni lo adoj)t
 
 236 THE AQUEDUCT. 
 
 his mode of irrigation. But still the reluctance 
 and the excuses were the same. If the canals 
 and aqueducts were made, they would soon get 
 out of order : if one proprietor adopted them, ano- 
 ther would not : the next neighbour would not 
 permit them to cross his land, and one opponent 
 of the measure might stop the whole proceeding : 
 but if all should agree, and the work were to be 
 brought to a happy conclusion, an avalanche, or 
 a crumbling mass of granite would soon crush or 
 interrupt the constructions, and reduce them to 
 their old condition. In vain did the pastor en- 
 deavour to convince them of the weakness of these 
 arguments, particularly of the last : they might 
 as well refuse to plant and sow, or to build houses, 
 for nothing was safe from avalanches. Finding 
 that he could not prevail, when he addressed them 
 in a body, he took them separately, and asked, 
 " Will you consent if your neighbour will ? Will 
 you put your shoulder to the work, if the occupiers 
 of the next property will join you?" They were 
 ashamed to refuse, when they were thus personally 
 appealed to, and an unwilling acquiescence was 
 thus gradually obtained. But then arose another 
 and more formidable objection. " Suppose the 
 aqueducts are completed, and the water flows, 
 will the distribution be equal ? Will not my 
 neighbour get more of the water than I shall ? 
 How do I know that he will not exhaust the 
 supply, before my land has had a drop."' NefF 
 was too ready at expedients to be easily foiled.
 
 THE AQUEDUCT. 237 
 
 He proposed tliat there should be a committee, 
 and an arbiter, to determine what share of the 
 public benefit each occupier should enjoy, and how 
 long, and on what days, and at what liours, the 
 stream should be permitted to pour its waters into 
 the different sections and branches of its courses. 
 
 At length all preliminaries were settled, and 
 the work was to be done. The line was marked 
 out, and the proprietors consented that the main 
 channel should cross and recross their lands ac- 
 cordingly as it should be required. But again 
 there was some demur. The people would only 
 labour at that part of the construction which 
 was to irrigate their own ground. "Be it so,'' 
 said Neff, " only let us make a beginning " He 
 saw that he could easily bring them to good hu- 
 mour and compliance, if he could only once set 
 them on. Every thing having been arranged, 
 the working party, consisting of fortj"^, met at day- 
 break, and with the pastor at their head ', pro- 
 ceeded to examine the remains of an ancient 
 aqueduct, which it was tliought might Ijc ren- 
 
 ' How Oberlin lived again in this incident ! " Oberlin had 
 already traced the plan, (of the bridge across the Bouche ) and 
 no sooner had he pronounced the words, ' Let all who feel the 
 importance of my proposition come and work with me,' than 
 with a pickaxe on his shoulder, he proceeded to the spot, while 
 the astonished peasants, animated by his example, forgot their 
 excuses, and hastened with uiianiiiious consent to fetch tlicir 
 toolH and follow him." — Afiumi, ■> i>f Ci/n rlin, p. (J.'i.
 
 238 THE AQUEDUCT. 
 
 dered in some degree availuble to their purpose, 
 if they could so far make out its line as to follow 
 its direction. Some few traces were discernible, 
 but the sight of them seemed to dishearten rather 
 than encourage the conscripts. 
 
 " We shall be three days," said one, " before 
 we can complete this part of our work !" 
 
 " It will take us not less than six," said another, 
 " ten" said a third. 
 
 " Not quite so many," said the pastor, mildly, 
 and with his benevolent smile. 
 
 Neft' divided his troop into little detachments, 
 of five or six, with a commander at the head of 
 each, and, taking upon himself the direction in 
 chief, he allotted a distinct proportion of tlie work 
 to each. Presently all were busy, some digging 
 and excavating, others clearing away ; the pastor 
 himself was at one time plying his pickaxe, and 
 another time moving from place to place, and su- 
 perintending the progress of others. At ten 
 o'clock the party expressed a desire to discon- 
 tinue their labour and go home to their breakfast. 
 But this would not do for their chief. He fore- 
 saw that there would be stragglers, and perhaps 
 deserters, if they should once lose sight of each 
 other : therefore, still setting them the example, 
 he sent for liis own breakfast, continued at his 
 w^ork, and persuaded the rest to do the same. 
 
 It was a toilsome undertaking. In some places 
 they had to elevate the floor of the main channel
 
 THE AQlKDrCT. '239 
 
 to the height ot" eight feet, and in others to loMer 
 it as much. In the course of the first day's 
 labour, it was necessary to carry the construction 
 across the rocky beds of three or four torrents, 
 and often wlien the work appeared to be effectually 
 done, Neff detected a default in the level, or in 
 the inclination of the water course, which obliged 
 him to insist upon their going over it again. 
 At four o'clock the volunteers were rewarded by 
 seeing the first fruits of their labours : one line of 
 aqueduct was completed ; the dam was raised, 
 and the water rushed into the nearest meadow 
 amidst the joyful shouts of workmen and specta- 
 tors. The next day some cross cuts were made, 
 and proprietors, who were supposed to be secretly 
 hostile and incredulous, saw the works carried 
 over their ground without offering any opposition 
 to the measure, for who could indulge his obsti- 
 nate or dogged humour, when the benevolent 
 stranger, the warm hearted minister, was toiling 
 in the sweat of his brow to achieve a public good, 
 which never could be of the least advantage to 
 himself? It was the good shepherd, not taking 
 the Heece, but exhausting his own strength, and 
 wearing himself out lor the sheep. ()ii the third, 
 and on tlie following days, small li-ausxcrsc lines 
 were formed, and a long channel was made acro.S9 
 the face of the in<»iint;iin, to snj)plv three \illage 
 roinitaiiis with water. This hisf \\;i> a \ri-\ for-
 
 240 THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. 
 
 midable enterprize. It was necessary to under- 
 mine the rock, to blast it, and to construct a pas- 
 sage for the stream in granite of the very hardest 
 kind. " I had never done any thing like it be- 
 fore," is the pastor's note upon this achievement, 
 *' but it was necessary to assume an air of scien- 
 tific confidence, and to give my orders like an 
 experienced engineer." 
 
 The work was brought to a most prosperous 
 issue, and the pastor was thenceforward a sove- 
 reign, who reigned so triumphantly and absolutely, 
 that his word was law. This power was exercised 
 in a manner worthy of a Christian guide, and 
 particularly in one instance. The Roman Catholic 
 bishop of Embrun had some territorial rights in the 
 valley of Fressiniere ; but such was the general un- 
 willingness to permit any of his agents to exercise 
 them, and to collect the dues, that his property 
 in Dormilleuse and its contiguous villages added 
 little or nothing to his revenues. What could the 
 churchman do in a region, where the persecutors 
 of centuries had found a rampart thro\\Ti up against 
 their oppression : where the blood -hounds of 
 Louis the Fourteenth could pursue their chase no 
 further : and where Napoleon himself was baffled, 
 when he attempted to fill up his conscription list 
 with the youth of these mountains ? But what 
 neither force nor stratagem could effect, persuasion 
 accomplished, and at Nefi""s request, the agents
 
 XEFF 1\ AGRICl'LTLRE. 241 
 
 from Eiiibruii made a return to the arcliiepiscopal 
 treasury to which it was totally unaccustomed '. 
 
 The valley of Fressiniere, like the Ban de la 
 Roche, had need of the potatoe, to supply tlie 
 deficiencies of its native productions, and in ex- 
 tension of the resemblance, it was cultivated so 
 wretchedly, that both the cjuantity and quality 
 were lamentably bad. The pastor would fain 
 have put the people in the way of obtaining- a bet- 
 ter root, and more of it. But his proposed means 
 were so foolish, according to their notions of hus- 
 bandry, that before the aqueduct lesson, they 
 thought they might just as well let their ground 
 lie fallow, as throw it away upon his system. 
 Their own mode was to set their plants so close 
 to each other, that there was no room for growth 
 or expansion, and not the slightest chance of being 
 able to weed the land, or to keep it clean with the 
 crop upon it. In vain therefore were they recom- 
 mended to set the plants at a proper distance : 
 they could not believe tliat tlicy should get as 
 much as their seed back again. Neff's expedient 
 to teach them wisdom partook of his usual decision. 
 He devoted several days to traversing tlu' valley 
 in the j)lanting season, and went into ganhMis and 
 fields where thev were setting potatoes, and taking 
 
 ' A similar anccdota^K told of Ohcrlin (sci' Mciiii)irs, j). !;>.'».). 
 How unlike tlit- proceedings in Ireland, where a popish bishop 
 is encouraging^ the Roman C'afholirs to withhold their rights iVonj 
 Profrntant claimants. 
 
 R
 
 242 NEFF IN AGUK ULTrUE. 
 
 the hoe, or the spade out of the labourers hands, 
 he planted two or three rows hhiiself. This was 
 permitted with o-reat reluctance : a few let them 
 remain as he left them, others took them up, and 
 set them again after their own fashion, as soon as 
 his back was turned. But the next year the 
 malcontents were too happy to learn their pastor's 
 method ; they saw the astonishing increase which 
 his rows yielded, and the potatoe is now one of 
 the most valuable productions of a soil, which 
 gives but a scanty return at the most. In Val 
 Queyras, where the pastor had a garden of his 
 own, his system was adopted earlier, for when his 
 neighbours saw him take up nine or ten tuber- 
 cles from one plant, they were not easy until they 
 had tried the same art of obtaining the same in- 
 crease. 
 
 We have seen upon more occasions than one, 
 that our unwearied pastor was in the habit of going- 
 out of his way to be useful. He was not satisfied 
 with doing good as opportunities might arise ; 
 but he sought and even made those opportunities. 
 Thus, in the case just related, he went through 
 his hamlets, and searched through field after 
 field, that he might put the ignorant and obstinate 
 peasants in the way of improving their mode of 
 cultivation. He promoted their spiritual good by 
 similar means. " Seeing the distressed state of 
 so many poor souls," said he in one of his letters, 
 " I sent for a hundred copies of the tract, ' Honey
 
 THE FAIR OF ST. CREIMX. 243 
 
 jiowhig from the Rock. ^ On tlie :23d tliev arrived, 
 and on the 'iotli I repaired to St. Crepin, on the 
 Durance, where they were then holding- a fair, 
 which brings together a great number of the in- 
 habitants of the province. I carried my packet to 
 the inn, where I could obtain a room for half an 
 hour only. This time, however, was sufficient 
 for me to distribute my tracts, which were carried 
 oflP in a few minutes. This book, small as it is, 
 contains some excellent thinos for soids thirstin"- 
 for eternal life ; and as I have always distributed 
 them prudently, they have seldom failed to pro- 
 duce good effects. All our friends of the high 
 Alps carry it about with them, and we often see 
 them in groups reading and commenting on it, in 
 the midst of the fields, or in the cross-ways of the 
 villages. Several of them know it by heart, and 
 quote from it entire passages very aj)pi'oj)riately. 
 I think I ought, on this occasion, to mention what 
 I hav(! long observed, that a preacher of the Gos- 
 pel would do well often to frequent fairs and great 
 markets, where persons assemble from diUcrent 
 parts. I there distribute many books anil reli- 
 gious tracts. Mild I liave opportunities of commu- 
 nicating witli llic l»iethren of the different vaHoys, 
 who are delighted with Ijceoniing ;ic(|iiaiiit((l willi 
 each otlier." 
 
 It was thus, in his manifoM scliemes of useful- 
 ness, that Neffresi inbh'd tlie amiable and admir- 
 able pastor rtf the U;im de hi Koehe, wliose character 
 
 u 2
 
 244 A PORTRAIT. 
 
 he took such pleasure in contemplating ; and had 
 not the scene of his lahours heen so remote, and in- 
 accessible, we might have had many such interest- 
 ins: anecdotes to communicate, as those which 
 grace the memoirs of Oberlin. But in his widely 
 extended parish, and in his homeless mode of life, 
 there was no one centre of attraction, like tlie 
 parsonage of Waldbach, to draw admiring stran- 
 gers, whose letters or journals might have re- 
 corded many an incident, honourable both to the 
 pastor and his flock, and might sooner have 
 drawn the character of the self-denying and ever 
 working minister out of its obscurity into beauti- 
 ful relief. He was removed from life almost before 
 he was appreciated ; and assuredly there are many 
 more such, even at this moment, and in our own 
 country, who are pursuing their noiseless course, 
 as humble and indefatigable country clergymen, 
 and who are living for others, while their sole 
 motives are the sense of responsibility attached to 
 their stations and means of usefulness, and the 
 love of God, working in them the purest love of 
 their fellow creatures. Many such as these, are 
 acting their parts nobly, and are upholding the 
 credit of their church, and are, in fact, the la- 
 bourers in the vineyard, to whom thanks are due 
 for the ingathering of the harvest, while the lite- 
 rary champions of the same church are running 
 away with all the honour of being its supporters. 
 At the moment I am writing this, my mind is
 
 A POKTKAIT. 245 
 
 full of the meritorious and self-denying services 
 which a vouno- clero;vman, who took the hio'hest 
 honours at Caml)rid2:e, is now renderino* to the 
 cause of religion, as a village curate in the west of 
 England. If " Oxford" had not been the title of 
 one of R. Montgomery's beautiful poems, in which 
 the subject is introduced with all the force of poetry 
 and truth, I should have thou2:ht that Mr. M. had 
 been in his eye, when he composed the subjoined 
 lines : — 
 
 " Ah little know they, when the harsh declaim, 
 Or folly leads to sconi a curate's name, 
 In hamlets lone what lofty minds abound, 
 To spread the smiles of charity around ! 
 It was not that a frowning chance denied 
 An early wreath of honourable pride : 
 In college rolls triumphantly they shine, 
 And proudly Alma Mater calls them, mine ! 
 But heav'nlier dreams than ever fame inspired 
 Their spirits haunted, as the world retired : 
 The fameless quiet of parochial care 
 And sylvan home, their fancy stooped to share : 
 And when arrived, no deeper bliss they sought 
 Than that which undenying heaven had brought. 
 On such, perchance, renown may never beam, 
 Though oft it glittered in some college dream : 
 But theirs the fame no worldly scenes supply, 
 \Vho teach us how to live and how to die." 
 
 p. GO.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Neff's caiilioii hi l/ic choice of his catechists. — Neff in his schools. 
 — IVorkx at the building of a school-room in Dormilleuse — 
 Establishes and conducts a Normal scJtool for the training of 
 catechists and schoolmasters — The difficulties of this under- 
 taking — The farewell rej^ast — Neff's remarks on the charac- 
 ters of the young men of his adult school, and on the effects 
 produced by it — Observations on the state of public instruc- 
 tion in France. 
 
 Very few men of Neff's vehement and sanguine 
 temperament have displayed a happier miionof zeal 
 and discretion. He seldom permitted his enthu- 
 siasm to get the better of his j udgment. When his 
 influence was at its zenith, and the extraordinary 
 improvement in the protestant population of Val 
 Fressiniere would have led most persons to exult in 
 their success, and to flatter themselves that such 
 striking eflects produced by their ministry must be 
 permanent, he distrusted appearances, and anxi- 
 ously revolved in liis own mind the best means, of 
 bringing his neophytes to ripeness and perfectness 
 in Christ. Instead of urging on such as desired to 
 become his fellow-helpers and catechists, and ac- 
 celerating their pace, he kept them in check, and 
 endeavoured to convince them, that it was still a 
 day of small things with them, and that they 
 must undergo much preparation, before they could
 
 ZEAL AM) DISCRETION. 447 
 
 take upon themselves to guide others. Several 
 young- persons expressed an ardent Avish to com- 
 municate the impressions which they themselves 
 had received, and to hold little social meetings for 
 that purpose. The pastor's decided opinion of the 
 value of such meetings has already been noticed ; 
 I shall now show that he tried to keep them under 
 proper controul and superintendence, and that he 
 did not give encouragement to the eftiisions of zeal 
 without knowledge. One of his Journals contains 
 the following observations upon this subject. 
 
 " Those wOio are dazzled by the first l)laze of 
 a new religious light, and who, imagining that 
 zeal, however fervent, can supply the want of 
 study and information, confide the most difficult 
 part of Gods work to persons, who have nothing 
 but their faith and spiritual experience to guide 
 them, will not be long before they discover their 
 mistake. Nothing can be more erroneous. For 
 my own part, 1 think the ])rinciple must be gene- 
 rally admitted, that knowledge and prejiaration 
 are indispensably requisite for a lal)ourer in tlic 
 Lord's vineyard, that he may piirsiic his work 
 efficaciously. He must combine sound discretion 
 with fervent (Christian piety. The truth of this 
 has long been felt by me. but especially since my 
 abode among these seclndcd people. Their pro- 
 fonnd i^iioi-;inc(' is, at |)rt'scnl, an in-u|irraM(' 
 obstacle to tlic nM-Jiilnr-- (»t' tlin-.<' wlio arc most 
 zealous, and \vli<> lia\i' iln- Kf-t inclinations.
 
 248 ZEAL AND DISCIIETION, 
 
 Neft'lias here said enough to confirm an opinion 
 which I expressed in a former chapter', as to the 
 risk of encouragiiio- prayer meetings, and similar 
 associations, composed of promiscuous persons, 
 under no influential guidance ; where all may 
 speak, " those that are unlearned, or are unbe- 
 lievers, and where every one hath a psalm, liatli 
 a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath 
 an interpretation-," and where there is no check 
 upon those who are inclined to take a lead, whe- 
 ther qualified by character and attainments or not'. 
 On the other hand nothing can be more conducive 
 to piety and religious improvement, than well 
 ordered, and well selected meetings of Christian 
 friends, who devote certain portions of time to 
 mutual conference and scriptural exposition, with 
 prayer. These are strong links of union and fel- 
 lowship, and powerful helps and encouragements, 
 which animate the individuals who form them, 
 and carry them forward in their Christian pro- 
 gress. 
 
 In another place Nefi" complained that there 
 was scarcely one in the whole valley who could 
 read the pure French language with any tolerable 
 degree of fluency, much less speak it. " They 
 learn to read, and they profess to read, but they 
 have very few books ; and it is the most disagree- 
 
 ' See Chapter V. ' 1 Cor. xiv. 23. 26. 
 
 ^ Baxter called it " a sinful Inunouring of rash professors."
 
 NEFF IN HIS SCHOOLS. 249 
 
 able thing in the •world to hear them attempt to 
 recite a passage in Scripture, with their discordant 
 tones, and vile pronunciation. They pitch their 
 voices so high, and their articulation, from bad 
 habit, is so imperfect, that it is scarcely possible 
 to understand them, when they utter any thing 
 but their own patois. Even the schoolmasters, 
 whom I have found in the mountain villages, 
 would not be thought worthy of being classed 
 above learners of rudiments in any other place." 
 
 But what could be expected of functionaries, 
 whose stipend was only twenty-four francs, or less 
 than twentv shillings for the year : and of scholars, 
 whose studies were always interrupted at the re- 
 turn of the open weather, and who were sent 
 from their books to the flocks and herds, as soon 
 as the snow was oft' the ground 1 The pastor saw 
 that every thing must be done by himself: that 
 he must give lessons, not only in tlie first princi- 
 ples of religion, but in the elements of ordinary 
 scholarship, and that he must condescend to be- 
 come an Abecedarian, before he could lay a good 
 foundation of sound religious learniiiLi. Willi his 
 usual unbroken perseverance lie went to work, 
 determined to give j)rimary instruction to all, to 
 old as well as young ; to as many as were willing 
 to be taught to read. Hut it w;is lir-^t necessary 
 that he should niak<' liini-rit thomu'jh master <»! 
 tile |)i-o\ iiirial (li;ilcct of the eouuliA. aud iu this 
 he siu'ceeded.
 
 250 NEFF IN Ills SCHOOLS. 
 
 The unwearied diligence with which NefF de- 
 voted himself to tlie acquirement of the patois 
 of Dauphine, is one of the eftorts most creditable 
 both to his judgment and his powders of applica- 
 tion. It is recorded of Ireneeus, the first Protestant 
 bishop, (as that prelate may fairly be called, who 
 first rebuked the bishop of Rome for his uncatho- 
 lic spirit, in attempting to lord it over Gods 
 heritage,) that he learned the language of the 
 province, before he preached Christ in these Alpine 
 regions. Every body feels his reverence for the 
 apostolical Heber increased upon reading Kohl- 
 hoff's account of his confirmino' the Tamul con- 
 gregation in their own language. " After the 
 conclusion of the sermon, he pronounced the 
 blessing in Tamul, from the altar, correctly and 
 distinctly, to the great surprise and joy of the 
 whole native congregation. Fifty of the native 
 congregation were confirmed by him in the Tamul 
 language. The correctness with which he pro- 
 nounced every word in Tamul, was not only strik- 
 ing, but will be always remembered by our native 
 Christians, as a proof of the apostolic spirit which 
 was in him, a proof of his fervent zeal and bene- 
 volent disposition to promote the eternal welfare, 
 not only of the Europeans, but also of the poor 
 natives." The humble pastor of the Alps is 
 entitled to the same praise in all the churches. 
 
 Behold the preacher surrounded by his classes 
 ill a miserable stable, correcting the tone of one.
 
 NEFF IN 11 FS SCHOOLS. 251 
 
 the pronunciation of another, and the articulation 
 of a tliird ; patiently dinning- sounds and sense 
 into their ears, and making- them spell the words, 
 and divide by syllables, and repeat sentences 
 again and again, until he had put them into 
 something like a fair training. Behold him also, 
 to keep his pupils in good humour, and to mingle 
 something pleasing with the dull routine of read- 
 ing and spelling, putting aside his books, and 
 oivino; lessons in music. This was a most sue- 
 cessful as well as agreeable expedient ; it was 
 soon found that the best singers were also the 
 best readers, and application to the more attrac- 
 tive lesson was usually accompanied by ])rofi- 
 ciencv in the duller acquirement. 
 
 There was another scheme of the pastor which 
 answered admirably well, and displayed the re- 
 sources of his active mind. The inhabitants of 
 Val Queyras were the best instructed, and tin- 
 most ready scholars : those of A'al Fressiuit-re 
 were the most devout Christians ; he thercfon" 
 judged that it would tend to their niiituitl improve- 
 ment, it" lie could tr;msj)l;int :i lev. oi" the well 
 informed of tlie foi-mer into tlie villages of the 
 latter, and eniplo\' their ser\i('es as his assistants 
 in the schools. *' I li(»jie(l,"" said he. " that in 
 exchange ior theii* human learniM<^-, ihe\ wcuihi 
 bring l)aek iVom the \alle\ oi" I'ressinierc -ome of 
 till' more j»reeioii> kliowhd'je which make- (Uie 
 wise unto -ahation. lie w a- not (|ecei\e(l;
 
 2,y2 in:i.uiiois imimiessions. 
 
 And row Vasserati of Molines, and Stephen Mat- 
 tliow of San Veran, and others who went to Dor- 
 niilleuse and Minsas, were so pricked to the heart 
 by tlie simple and fervent piety of the young- 
 people, whom they were employed to instruct, 
 that they returned to their homes exactly in that 
 frame of mind which Neff anticipated, and they 
 endeavoured to inspire in others the feelings which 
 they themselves had acquired. 
 
 It was thus among the grandest and sternest 
 features of mountain scenery, that Neff not only 
 found food for his own religious contemplations, 
 and felt that his whole soul was filled with the 
 majesty of the ever present God, but here also he 
 discovered, that religious impressions were more 
 readily received, and retained more deeply than 
 elsewhere by others. In this rugged field of rock 
 and ice, the Alpine summit, and its glittering 
 pinnacles, the eternal snows and glaciers, the 
 appalling clefts and abysses, the mighty cataract, 
 the rushing waters, the frequent perils of ava- 
 lanches and of tumbling rocks, the total absence 
 of every soft feature of nature, were always 
 reading an impressive lesson, and illustrating 
 the littleness of man, and the greatness of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 The happy result of his experiments, made the 
 pastor feel anxious to have a more convenient 
 place for his scholastic exertions than a dark and 
 dirty stable ; and here again tlie characteristic
 
 THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 253 
 
 and never-failing energies of his mind were fully 
 displayed. The same hand M'hich had been em- 
 ployed in regulating the interior arrangements of 
 a church, in constructing aqueducts and canals of 
 irrioation, and in the husbandman's work of sow- 
 ing and planting, was now turned to the labour 
 of building a school-room. He persuaded each 
 family in Dormilleuse to furnish a man, who 
 should consent to work under his directions, and 
 having first marked out the spot with line and 
 plummet, and levelled the ground, he marched 
 at the head of his company to the torrent, and 
 selected stones fit for the building. The pastor 
 placed one of the heaviest upon his own shoulders 
 — the others did the same, and away they went 
 with their burthens, toiling up the steep acclivity, 
 till they reached the site of the proposed building. 
 This labour was continued until the materials 
 were all ready at hand ; the walls then began to 
 rise, and in one week from the first commence- 
 ment, the exterior masonry work was completed, 
 aud tli(.' root" was put u]m>u the room. The 
 windows, chinmey, door, tables, and seats, were 
 not long before they also were finislied. A con- 
 venient stove added its accommodatiou to tlie 
 apartment, and Dormilleuse, for tlic iiist time 
 probiiblv in its history, saw a j)ul»lic scliool-ioom 
 erected, and tlif process of iu.-frucliou coiKlncted 
 with ;ill possible regularity and coiiilnrt. 
 
 I li;i(l the saf isl'iidion ol \i->ilm<^- :mi(I iuspi^cting
 
 254 THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 this moiminent of NefF's judicious exertions for 
 liis dear Dorniillcusians — but it was a melaucholy 
 pleasure. The shape, the dimensions, the mate- 
 rials of the room, tlie chair on which he sat, the 
 floor which had been laid in part by his own 
 hands, the window-frame and desks, at which he 
 had worked with cheerful alacrity, were all objects 
 of intense interest, and I gazed on these relics of 
 *' the Apostle of the Alps," with feelings little 
 short of veneration. It was here that he sacri- 
 ficed his life. The severe winters of 1826-7, and 
 the unremitted attention which he paid to his 
 duties, more especially to those of his school- 
 room, were his death-blow. 
 
 The course of the narrative, which I proposed 
 to myself as being best calculated to illustrate 
 Neff's singular character, and the very important 
 nature of his labours, now brings me to what may 
 be considered his crowning work, — the system 
 by which he trained adults, and taught them how 
 to teach. It was so in every sense of the word ; 
 it was his most difficult, and his most unpleasant, 
 but at the same time his most necessary work, 
 anxious as he was to leave permanent effects of 
 his ministry behind him, when he should be re- 
 moved from that scene of action ; and it was his 
 last, for it broke up his shattered constitution, and 
 hastened his death. But before I permit myself 
 to dwell with delighted admiration on the wisdom 
 of this complement of his pastoral career, I must 
 
 1
 
 THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 255 
 
 let him o-ive his o\vn account of the motives which 
 induced him to undertake the severest of all 
 drudgery. 
 
 " I foresaw with sorrow," said he, " that the 
 Gospel, which I had been permitted to preach In 
 these mountains, would not only not spread, but 
 mioht even be lost, unless somethino* should be 
 done to promote its continuance. I bethought 
 me how it might be preserved in some degree ; 
 and after mature deliberation I determined to 
 become a training master, and to form a winter 
 school, composed of the most intelligent and well 
 disposed young men of the different villages of my 
 parish, more particularly of those, who, notwith- 
 standing their lamentable ignorance, had already 
 determined to become teachers. Many of these 
 aspirants to the scholastic office were in the habit 
 of leavins: their mountain homes in the winter, to 
 open schools in the warmer and more sheltered 
 hamlets, and of returning in the spring to culti- 
 vate their own little heritages. I communicated 
 mv design to the most sanguine of these, and they 
 entered into the spirit of it most joyfully, l^ut I 
 foresaw that the execution of the ])lan would en- 
 tail cxpences such as my jjoor moiiiilaiiicers, 
 wlio expatriate themselves during tlic wiiifci- 
 season to obtain a ])recarious subsistence, could 
 bv no means incur. I tlierefore wrote to some 
 friends at Cjencva, wlio generously |)romis('d to 
 promote my views, and lo send some remittances
 
 256 THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 in aid of llicni '. Doriuilleusc was the spot which 
 1 chose for my scene of action, on account of its 
 sechision, and because its whole population is 
 Protestant, and a local habitation was already 
 provided here for the purpose. I reckoned at first 
 that I should have about a dozen eleves ; but find- 
 ing that they were rapidly offerino- themselves, 
 and would probably amount to double tliat num- 
 ber, at the least, I thought it right to engage an 
 assistant, not only that I might be at liberty to 
 go and look after my other churches and villages, 
 but that I might not be exposed to any molesta- 
 tion, for in France nobody can lawfully exercise 
 the office of a schoolmaster w^ithout a license, and 
 this cannot be granted either to a foreigner or a 
 pastor. For these reasons I applied to Ferdinand 
 Martin, who was then pursuing his studies at 
 Mens, to qualify himself for the institution of M. 
 Olivier, in Paris. It was a great sacrifice on his 
 part to interrupt his studies, and to lose the op- 
 portunity of an early admission to the institution ; 
 nor w^as it a small matter to ask him to come and 
 take up his residence at the worst season of the 
 year, in the midst of the ice and frightful rocks of 
 
 ' I believe Mr. Gaussen, "who is now so actively promoting 
 the new academical institution at Geneva, was one of these 
 friends ; and that the lady who has assisted me in the compila- 
 tion of tliis memoir, by lending me Neffs Journals, was greatly 
 instrumental in raising funds in England in aid of our pastor's 
 plans.
 
 THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 257 
 
 Dormilleuse. But he was sensible of the import- 
 ance of the work, and, without any hesitation, he 
 joined our party at the beginning of November. 
 The short space of time which we had before us, 
 rendered every moment precious. We divided 
 the day into three parts. The first was from sun- 
 rise to eleven o'clock, when we breakfasted. The 
 second from noon to sunset, when we supped. 
 The third from supper till ten or eleven o'clock at 
 night, making in all fourteen or fifteen hours of 
 study in the twenty-four. We devoted much of 
 this time to lessons in reading, which the wretched 
 manner in which they had been taught, their de- 
 testable accent, and strange tone of voice, rendered 
 a most necessary, but tiresome duty. The gram- 
 mar, too, of which not one of them had the least 
 idea, occupied much of our time. People who 
 have been brought up in towns, can have no con- 
 ception of the difficulty which mountaineers and 
 rustics, whose ideas are confined to those objects 
 only to which they have been familiarized, find in 
 learning this branch of science. There is scarcely 
 any way of conveying the meaning of it to them. 
 All the usual terms and definitions, and the means 
 which are connnonly cniploved in schools, are 
 utterlv uiiiiit(;lligihhi here. Hiif llic curious and 
 novel devices which must be employed, have 
 this advanta<:;(', — that th(!v exercise! llieir under- 
 standing, and liel|) to form their jndnineiit. Die, 
 tation was one r>f tin; methods to which I had re- 
 
 S
 
 258 neff's method of teaching. 
 
 course : without it they would have made no 
 progress in grammar and orthography ; but they 
 wrote so miserably, and slowly, that this con- 
 sumed a great portion of valuable time. Ob- 
 serving that they were ignorant of the signification 
 of a great number of French words, of constant 
 use and recurrence, I made a selection from the 
 vocabulary, and I set them to write down in little 
 copv-books ', words which were in most frequent 
 use ; i)ut the explanations contained in the dic- 
 tionary were not enough, and I was obliged to 
 rack mv brain for new and brief definitions which 
 they could understand, and to make them tran- 
 scribe these. Arithmetic was another branch of 
 knowledge which required many a weary hour. 
 Geography was considered a matter of recreation 
 after dinner : and they pored over the maps with 
 a feelino; of delioht and amusement, which was 
 quite new to them. I also busied myself in giving 
 them some notions of the sphere, and of the form 
 and motion of the earth ; of the seasons and the 
 climates, and of the heavenly bodies. Every thing- 
 of this sort was as perfectly novel to them, as it 
 would have been to the islanders of Otaheite; and 
 even the elementary books, which are usually 
 
 ' They have no slates in this country — nor in the valleys of 
 Piemont. — Two benevolent benefactors to the Protestant cause 
 in Italy, who wished to confer a benefit upon the schools of 
 Piemont, have enabled me to supply the Yaudois schools with 
 this useful and economical article.
 
 neff's method of teaching. 259 
 
 put into the hands of children, were at first as 
 iuiintellio;il)le as the most abstruse treatises ou 
 mathematics. I was consequently forced to use 
 the simplest, and plainest modes of demonstration; 
 but these amused and instructed them at the same 
 time. A ball made of the box tree, with a hole 
 through it, and moving on an axle, and on which 
 I had traced the principal circles ; some large 
 potatoes hollowed out ; a candle, and sometimes 
 the skulls of my scholars, served for the instru- 
 ments, by which I illustrated the movement of 
 the heavenly bodies, and of the earth itself. 
 Proceeding from one step to another, I pointed 
 out the situation of different countries on the chart 
 of the world, and in separate maps, and took 
 pains to give some slight idea, as we went on, of 
 the characteristics, religion, customs, and history 
 of each nation. These details fixed topics of mo- 
 ment in their recollection. Up to this time I had 
 been astonished by the little interest they took, 
 Christian-minded as they were, in the subject of 
 Christian missions, but, when they began to have 
 some idea of geography, I discovered, that their 
 former ignorance of this science, and of tlie very 
 existence of many foreign nations in distant quar- 
 ters (A' the globe, was the cause of sucli iudiHcr- 
 ence. 13ut as soon as tlicv bc^an to Irani who 
 the people are, who re(|uire to liave tlic ( liopcl 
 preached to them, and in wliat part of th<; glolje 
 they dwell, they felt tlie same concern for the 
 
 s 2
 
 260 SCHOOLS FOR YOUNG WOMEN. 
 
 circulation of the Gospel that other Christians 
 entertained. " These new acquirements, in fact, 
 enlarged their spirit, made new creatures of them, 
 and seemed to triple their very existence. 
 
 *' In the end, I advanced so far as to give some 
 lectures in geometry, and this too produced a happy 
 moral dcvelopement. 
 
 ** Lessons in music formed part of our evening 
 employment, and those being, like geography, 
 a sort of amusement, they were regularly suc- 
 ceeded by grave and edifying reading, and by such 
 reflections as I took care to suggest for their im- 
 provement. 
 
 " Most of the young adults of the village were 
 present at such lessons, as were within the reach 
 of their comprehension, and as the children had 
 a separate instructor, the young women and 
 girls of Dormilleuse, who w'ere growing up to 
 womanhood, were now the only persons for whom 
 a system of instruction was unprovided. But 
 these stood in as great need of it as the others, 
 and more particularly as most of them were now 
 manifesting Christian dispositions. I therefore 
 proposed that they should assemble of an evening 
 in the room, which the children occupied during 
 the day, and I engaged some of my students to 
 give them lessons in reading and writing. We 
 soon had twenty young women from fifteen to 
 twenty-five years of age in attendance, of w^hom 
 two or three only had any notion of writing, and
 
 SELF-DENIAL. 261 
 
 not half them could read a book of any difficulty. 
 While Ferdinand Martin was practising the rest 
 of my students in music, I myself and two of the 
 most advanced, by turns, were employed in teach- 
 ing these young women, so that the whole routine 
 of instruction went on regularly, and I was thus 
 able to exercise the future schoolmasters in their 
 destined profession, and both to observe their 
 method of teaching, and to improve it. I thus 
 superintended teachers and scholars at the same 
 time." 
 
 It is quite impossible for those who have 
 not seen the country, to appreciate the devoted- 
 ness to the Christian cause, which could induce 
 Neff to entertain even the thouoht of making; the 
 dreary and savage Dormilleuse his own head 
 quarters from November to April, and of persuad- 
 ing others to be the companions of his dismal 
 sojournment there. I learn from a memorandum 
 in his Journal, that the severity of that winter 
 commenced early. " We have been in snow and 
 ice since the first of November, on this steep and 
 rugged spot, whose aspect is more tcrril)le and 
 severe than any tiling can be supposed to he in 
 France." He liiniself was the native of a delight- 
 ful soil and climate, and even some of the moun- 
 taineers, whf)m he drew to fliaf ^tcrn spot, were 
 inhabitants of a far less rcj)ulsiv(' district, Imf 
 had yet made it their custom to seek a milder 
 region thaii tjieir own, during the inrlemeiicy of
 
 262 SELl'-DEMAL. 
 
 ail Al])iiH' winter. To secure attendance and ap- 
 plication, when once his students were embarked 
 in their undertaking, he selected this rock, where 
 neither amusement, nor other occupations, nor the 
 possil)ility of frequent egress or regress, could 
 tempt them to interrupt their studies : — and he 
 had influence enough to induce them to commit 
 themselves to a five months' rigid confinement 
 within a prison-house, as it were, walled up with 
 ice and snow. Nothing can be compared to the 
 resolution and self-denial of the volunteers, who 
 enrolled their names under Neff for this service, 
 but the similar qualities, which were called into 
 action by our own gallant officers and seamen, 
 who embarked in the polar expeditions, with the 
 certainty before them of being snowed or iced up 
 during many months of privation. In their case 
 the hope of promotion and of reputation, and the 
 ardour of scientific research, were the moving in- 
 ducement. In that of the pastor and his young- 
 friends, a sense of duty, and thoughts fixed on 
 heavenly things constituted the impulse. To Neff 
 himself it was a season of incessant toil, and that 
 of the most irksome kind. He did violence to his 
 natural inclination every way. His mind and 
 body were kept in subjection. He was devoted to 
 his profession, as a minister and preacher of the 
 Gospel, and yet he suspended the pursuits, which 
 were more congenial to his tastes and habits, and 
 went back to first principles, and consented to
 
 SELF-DENIAL. 263 
 
 teach the simplest rudiments, and meekly sunk 
 down to the practice of the humblest elementary 
 drudgery, when he saw the necessity of laying a 
 foundation for a sj^stem of instruction different to 
 that, which had hitherto prevailed in this neglected 
 region. His patience, his humility, his good- 
 humour and perseverance, his numberless expe- 
 dients to expand the intellect of his pupils, to store 
 their minds, and to keep up a good understanding 
 among them, arc all subjects of admiration, which 
 it is bevond the power of language to express. 
 W hose heart does not warm towards this true 
 disciple of the good Shepherd, who thus followed 
 his Divine Master's path, and gathered the lambs 
 with his arm, and carried them in his bosom, and 
 gently led them: this amiable teacher, who 
 practised all the lessons he taught on the first day 
 of the week, and rose with the morning sun of 
 the six other days, to pursue his routine of active 
 benevolence, — this wise master builder, who saw 
 that the spiritual condition of his Church would 
 be improved, by laying a foundation for tlie high 
 and holy things of the Gos})el, with the precious 
 stones of connnon-place information : who pre- 
 pared the minds of his flock for the reception and 
 comprehension of sacred truths, by giving tlicm an 
 insight into those secrets of knowledge, which some 
 arc weak ciiou^iii to imagine are too ])n)f()nii(l for 
 the sinijjh!, and too ;ittr;icti\ c for the religious. 
 The young mm w ho Mibiuittrd to their pastors
 
 264 THE YOUNG CATECHISTS. 
 
 system ot" discipline at Dormilleuse, must have 
 their share also of our admiration. We cannot 
 but feel respect for students, who willingly shut 
 themselves up amidst the most comfortless scenes 
 in nature, and submitted to the severity of not less 
 than fourteen hours of hard study a day, where 
 the only recreation was to go from dryer lessons 
 to lectures in geography and music. It was a 
 long probation of hardship. Their fare was in 
 strict accordance with the rest of their situation. 
 It consisted of a store of salted meat, and r3"e 
 bread, which had been baked in autumn, and 
 when they came to use it, was so hard, that it re- 
 quired to be chopped up with liatchets, and to 
 be moistened with hot water. Meal and flour 
 will not keep in this mountain atmosphere, but 
 would become mouldy, — they are, therefore, 
 obliged to bake it soon after the corn is threshed 
 out. Our youthful anchorites were lodged gra- 
 tuitously by the people of Dormilleuse, who also 
 liberally supplied them with wood for fuel, scarce 
 as it was, but if the pastor had not laid in a stock 
 of provisions, the scanty resources of the village 
 could not have met the demands of so many 
 mouths, in addition to its native population. The 
 party consisted of five from Val Queyras, one from 
 Vars, five from Champsaur, two from Chancelas, 
 four from the lower part of the valley of Fressi- 
 niere, and eight from the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of Dormilleuse.
 
 THE SEPARATION. 265 
 
 Neft' had the satisfaction to find that his plan 
 answered well, and this was reward enough. " I 
 never," said he, " can be sufiiciently thankful 
 to Almighty God for the blessing which he has 
 vouchsafed to shed upon this undertaking, and for 
 the streno-th he has o-iven me to enable me to bear 
 the fatigue of it. Oh ! may he continue to extend 
 his gracious protection, and to support me under 
 my infirmities, or rather, to deliver me from them, 
 that I ma}'^ be able to devote myself to his service 
 and o;lorv, to mv life's end ! " 
 
 A note of the expenditure upon this occasion 
 will excite some wonder in the minds of many 
 readers, who are not aware how much good may be 
 done at a small cost, when the stream of bounty 
 is made to pass through proper channels. 
 
 " Our disbursements for the adult school, in- 
 cluding candles, ink, and paper, the salary of an 
 assistant master, and food for the sixteen or seven- 
 teen students who came from a distance, did not 
 exceed 560 francs (about 22/. \0s.) for four 
 months. Of this sum I can replace a little more 
 than two-thirds, because some of the students 
 have repaid tlieir share of the expense, and even 
 the poorest furnished their (piotu of bread. We 
 flid not jjrovide (•(jminous ior those who belonged 
 to Dormillcuse, because they boarded at home." 
 
 The separation of this litth' ])arty is not the 
 least interesting {(art in tlie liistory of tlieir j)ro- 
 ceedings. Towards Easter, the opening spring
 
 266 Tilt: SEI'AUATION. 
 
 gave tlie signal for their return to their several 
 communes, and the studies of the school-room 
 gave place to manual labour in the fields and 
 woods. The breakint;" up of a society, which 
 had been united by the strongest ties of mutual 
 respect and affection, could not be contemplated 
 without feelinos of reluctance on all sides — but it 
 was an event which was regarded with peculiar 
 regret by the mhabitants of the secluded Dormil- 
 leuse. It was a perfect epoch in its history to 
 have received in its bosom a company of young- 
 men, who, though they were of grave habits and 
 serious demeanour, yet gave a dash of unwonted 
 cheerfulness to the dull routine of Alpine life. 
 To see them in the village sanctuary, to hear 
 their voices at the close of day, and to listen to 
 the swelling harmony, when their evening hymn 
 of praise was raised to the throne of the Most 
 High, to receive them in their humble dwellings, 
 and to meet them by the torrent side, when the 
 weather would permit them to take exercise — these 
 were so many incidents to change the sameness 
 of their usually unvaried existence, and the day, 
 on which they were to bid farewell to their guests, 
 was one of painful anticipation to the Dormilleu- 
 sians. On the evening before they took their 
 leave, the young men of the village prepared a 
 supper for their new friends, and invited them to 
 the parting banquet. It was a simple and a 
 frugal repast, consisting of the productions of the
 
 THE FAREWELL SUPPER. 267 
 
 chase. The bold hunter coritribiited his salted 
 chamois, the less enterprising* sportsman of the 
 mountain laid a dried marmot upon the table, 
 and one or two of the most successful rangers of 
 the forest, produced a bear's ham, as a farewell 
 offering in honour of the last evening, on which 
 the conversation of this interesting group was to 
 be enjoyed. It was at the same time a pleasing, 
 and a melancholy festival, but I do not find, in 
 the pastor's Journal, that either the achievements 
 of their ancestors, who had garrisoned this rocky 
 citadel, and had repulsed numberless attempts to 
 storm it, or the exploits of the chasseurs, who had 
 furnished the festive board, formed the conversa- 
 tion of the evening. It seems to have savoured 
 rather of the object, which originally brought 
 tliem together, and when one of the party re- 
 marked, — " What a delightful sight, to behold 
 so many young friends met together — but it is 
 not likely that we shall ever meet all together 
 again !"" The pastor took the words up like a 
 text, and enlarged upon the consolatory thought, 
 that thoui:;h they niiglit see each other's faces no 
 more in tliis life, they would most assuredly meet 
 again in a joyful state of existence in the world 
 to come, if they would persevere in tlieir Christian 
 course. He then gave tliem a ]);irtiii|j: benedic- 
 tion, and, after a h»ng and mounilul .-ileiice, 
 wliifli each seemed unwiUing to iHternipl, eiflier 
 by uttering tlie dreaded good-by*-. nr nioviiig 
 
 1
 
 268 PUOGHESS MADE BY NEFFS STUDENTS. 
 
 from liis scat, the valedictory words and embraces 
 passed from one to another, and they separated. 
 The next morning at an early hour, they were 
 seen winding down the mountain path to their 
 several homes ; they of Dormilleuse gazed after 
 them till their figures were lost in the distance, 
 and the village on the rock appeared more dreary 
 and desolate than ever. 
 
 NefF left behind him some remarks touching 
 the progress which these students made, and their 
 several capacities, and dispositions, from which I 
 select the following passages. 
 
 " With regard to the improvement which I ob- 
 served, this varied according to the character of 
 the individuals. The greater part of them were 
 so illiterate and so raw, and the time was so short, 
 that it did not suffice for the inculcation of the first 
 elements of human knowledge. But yet we had 
 seven or eight, who will, I trust, answer the pro- 
 posed object, that is to say, they will become 
 qualified to discharge the functions of village 
 catechists, and to diffuse around them the pre- 
 cious knowledge of Jesus Christ. As many 
 more, without taking upon themselves the same 
 office, will consecrate the knowledge they have 
 acquired to the glory of God : and the rest, 
 though less advanced, will yet be likely to profit in 
 every respect by the information they have picked 
 up, and by the edifying things which they have 
 learnt. Two young women of Dormilleuse, (Anna
 
 BAttTHELIMI ALBERT. 269 
 
 Maria Arnouf, and Susannah Baridon,) have 
 made very great progress, and will be extremely 
 useful to the Sunday-school, which has been 
 established in their village. They are the centre 
 and soul of a religious life to all in Dormilleuse, 
 and even in the other hamlets of the valle}^, by 
 means of the religious correspondence which they 
 keep up with many persons, whom they have 
 never seen. Many others have perseveringly 
 continued to seek for the kingdom of God and 
 his righteousness. Hitherto none of my young 
 eleves have been placed out as regular school- 
 masters, because the schools are not open in the 
 summer-time, but many of them preside over 
 Sunday-schools, which now begin to take in this 
 country. At Arvieux in Val Queyras, Barthelimi 
 Albert of Brunichard, aged nineteen, who is lame 
 in both feet, but in other respects strong and 
 healthy, and intelligent, and gifted with a good 
 ear for music, (a very rare accomplishment in 
 these mountains) reads and sings in tlie church 
 at Arvieux, and performs two services ' at Bruni- 
 chard every Sunday. He will also be at tlie liead 
 of the Sunday-school which I hope to establish 
 there. This youth contends firmly against the 
 apathy and rudeness of his coinpanioiis, and 
 
 ' In all the Protestant churches of France* and Italy, a j^n-at 
 part of the puhlic service, Kuch as reading the chaj)ters and the 
 commandments, and giving out and leading the j)salms, is regu- 
 larly performed hy laymen.
 
 270 ANDREW VASSEROTTI. 
 
 asrainst tlie levitv of some young men who bring 
 from Marseilles, (where they generally go to work 
 during the winter) some of the corruption of a 
 populous city. He does much to confirm the 
 good intentions of those who are well disposed. 
 At San Veran, Chaffrcy Matthew and Joseph 
 Jouve, take charge of the public services and the 
 Sunday-school. The latter is clever and well 
 informed, and has a great deal of originality of 
 character and firmness of purpose : during the 
 winter he advanced rapidly in spiritual attain- 
 ments, and from being proud and self-willed, is 
 become a faithful follower of the Lamb of God. 
 Daniel Isnel, also of San Veran, who intends to 
 be a schoolmaster, is about fifteen years old, and 
 is going to Languedoc, to place himself under 
 a relation who is following this vocation, continues 
 to manifest an excellent disposition, without being 
 a very great proficient as yet. Stephen Matthew, 
 w hom they wished to retain at Mens as precentor, 
 when he accompanied me there on his last visit, 
 is the most promising youth of his village, and I 
 have reason to hope, that he will be the means of 
 spreading the light of the Gospel, wherever he 
 goes. At Fousillarde, Andrew Vasserotti performs 
 three Sunda}^ services, and holds two meetings 
 during the week. He sings well, reads impres- 
 sively, expresses himself fluently, even in French, 
 and but for some few defects of style, would fre- 
 quently be thought to be a regular preacher.
 
 THE BARIDONS. 271 
 
 The valley of Fressiniere, to my great astonish- 
 ment, has not furnished a single individual, who 
 is even moderately gifted. Even those, who in 
 the ordinary affairs of life, and in matters purely 
 spiritual, manifest great judgment, are incapable 
 of acquiring a knowledge of any of the sciences. 
 Notwithstanding all the pains I have taken with 
 them, and their own application, their progress 
 is by no means satisfactory. The most intelligent 
 of them is James Baridon of Uormilleuse, who, 
 until lately, was only distinguished for his great 
 bodily strength, and the violence of his character, 
 and the irregularity of his conduct. From the 
 time that he began to frequent our school, he be- 
 came a changed man, and has been doing all he 
 can to edify others ; but his past life prevents his 
 gaining the confidence of his neighbours, and I 
 think it would be a good thing if he would take 
 liimself away for a short time. Peter Baridon, 
 also of Dormilleuse, is perhaps the most steady 
 and Christian-minded youth of the whole village ; 
 it is he who has undertaken the charge of the 
 boys' Sunday-school there 
 
 " At Minsas, the two brotlicrs Bessoii, and at 
 Violins, John Baridon, have opened Sunday- 
 schools, and evening meetings. Francis Bcrtho- 
 lon of La liiljc, tlio first -l)orn of llic \ alley, 
 attended the sciiool during llic winter. Iml lie 
 des[)ises all human a('(juirenienl.s ; i kn«»\\ luit 
 wliy, and regrets tiie time he has spent in llieni.
 
 'J/*J ALEXANDER VAI.ON. 
 
 This is the more to be luineiited, because with 
 his zeal and Christian attainments, he would be 
 able to do much good, if he \vould make himself 
 master of the languages, and would learn to read 
 better. Champsaur sent us five students, and my 
 assistant master, Ferdinand Martin, who has since 
 taken his departure for Paris. If he is well 
 encouraged and directed, he will make rapid 
 progress in all his studies. He is beloved and 
 regretted wherever he has been, and especially in 
 his native valley. One of the most promising 
 youths of Champsaur is Peter Albert, who burns 
 to consecrate himself to the ministry — but his 
 relations, though they are rich, will probably 
 refuse their consent. But the most surprising 
 person is Alexander Valon of St. Laurent, who, 
 previously to last autumn, made a boast of being 
 the wildest and most profligate man in all that 
 country. He had even suffered imprisonment for 
 eight months, for nearly killing a man. He ^ is 
 now at the head of the Lord's work in Champ- 
 saur, and supplies the place of Ferdinand Martin. 
 His former companions scarcely recognise him as 
 the same person. He passed the winter with us, 
 and though he is now thirty-three years of age, 
 the progress he made was very extraordinary. 
 He reads remarkably well, and will make a good 
 schoolmaster. He has already had several places 
 
 ' XefF's great prudence and discernment induce me to hope, 
 that he was not deceived in the change wrought in this person.
 
 JOHN ROSTAN. 273 
 
 oft'ered to him. The valley of Vars ', between 
 Guillestre and Barcelonette, contains but very 
 few Protestants, and sent us only one student, 
 John Rostan, aged eighteen, of a very decided 
 character, and of good abilities ; he will either 
 go to Paris and place himself under M. Olivier, 
 or he will become a schoolmaster. There is 
 another verj^ deserving young man at Vars, Peter 
 Tolosan, who is a cultivator of land in the sum- 
 mer, and a colporteur, or pedlar, in the winter, tra- 
 
 ' Brockeden's animated description will help the reader to 
 comprehend the nature of the country about Vars, which I had 
 not an opportunity of visiting myself. 
 
 " The descent of the Col de Vars is gradual over a fine pastu- 
 rage, thence passing through St. Marie, and the village of Vars, 
 the traveller descends the mountain brow, between the valleys 
 of the Vars and D'Eserans, and a magnificent scene opens upon 
 him of Guillestre, and the fort of Mount Dauphin, the valley of 
 the Durance, and the mountains covered with glaciers, which 
 flank the Col de Lautaret. 
 
 " From Barcellonette, a path by the Col de la Vachere, leads 
 across the mountains to Embrun, but the chem'in royal, as 
 Bourcet calls it, lies by the course of the Ubaye, though in many 
 places not a vestige of a chemin remains, for the violence of the 
 Ubave, and the streams which fall into it, is so great in the 
 winter, as to leave the entire valley for miles a ])ed of stones and 
 black mud. After crossing a hill, and dcseending a zig-zag 
 road at the pass of La Tour, in losing sight of Laurent, all is 
 again sterile. On looking back, the deep course of the I'baye 
 is Hcen issuing from the defile of La Tuur, and the grand forms 
 of the mountain of Cuguiton dcs Tfois Erequrs, present a scene 
 which is savage, mountainous, and dreary." 
 
 1
 
 '27 A THE COLPORTHLRS. 
 
 veiling' the country about Nismes. He has the re- 
 solution to avoid that species of falsehood, which 
 most men practise in his line of life, and to 
 demand a fixed price for his articles. At first, 
 after making this determination, he sold nothing, 
 but by persevering in it, he has had better custom 
 than others in the same business, so that many of 
 them have l)ecn obliged to follow his practice." 
 
 This is the second time that mention has been 
 made of the Colporteurs of Dauphine, and here 
 J will take the opportunity of remarking that 
 some of the religious Societies have made great 
 use of these itinerant venders, who follow their 
 wandering occupation on the borders of France, 
 Italy, and Switzerland, and supply the mountain- 
 eers and inhabitants of villages remote from towns, 
 with almost all the small articles of convenience 
 which they require. These men are employed 
 in the circulation of Bibles, Testaments, and 
 tracts, which they generally sell at reduced 
 prices, but in some cases they are allowed to dis- 
 tribute them gratis ; and, when disposing of their 
 other commodities, they have often produced very 
 beneficial effects, by dropping a word in good 
 season, concerning the more precious stores with 
 which their packs are furnished. 
 
 I know an officer of high rank in the British 
 service, and of whose Christian labours I never 
 can think without the deepest sentiments of re- 
 spect, whose time and talents, since the peace.
 
 EDUCATION IN FRANCE. 275 
 
 have been devoted to translating the Gospels into 
 the patois of one of the Alpine provinces, and 
 whose principal dependence, for the circulation of 
 his selections of Scripture, in corners where it is 
 difficult to obtain access for them, rests on the 
 fidelity and zeal of the colporteurs. " It would 
 be tedious," says the Report of the Continental 
 Society, " to give the detail of all the operations 
 of the colporteurs, but it may not be uninterest- 
 ing to state, that one individual in a range of 
 country comprising fourteen towns, disposed of 
 3,900 of Leander Van Ess's New Testament, 500 
 of Gossner's, and 1,700 of De Sacy's.'' 
 
 I cannot bring this chapter, on Neff's scholastic 
 labours, to a conclusion, without offering some 
 remarks upon the state of education in France, 
 and the difficulty of putting any system of national 
 education on a firm and good footing there. " To 
 establish a new school,"' says Vincent in his Vues 
 sur le Protestantism in France', " is a work of 
 enormous labour, in which patience the most per- 
 severing must not always expect to succeed. It is 
 necessary to create schoolmasters. We have ab- 
 solutely none. It is necessary to know how to 
 teacli, and therefore Normal, or Model, Schools 
 we must have for the instruction of Schoolmasters, 
 in uliicli they may be made acfjuain i-d wiiii the 
 best methods ol" iji)p;irliii<_r know Irdoc : in a word, 
 
 ' Vol. ii. p. 32. 
 
 T 2
 
 27() EDUCATION IN FRANCE. 
 
 ill wliicli themselves may learn the most difficult of" 
 all arts, the art of teaching. " It was this that Ncff 
 undertook to do, at a time when the attempt was 
 more arduous, than at the period wdien Vincent 
 published his work, (in 1829,) for the parti-pretre, 
 which had been o])posing- every comprehensive 
 system of education, was then on the decline. 
 This writer has stated, on the authority of M, 
 Soulier's Statistique, that the scarcity of Protes- 
 tant schools was so great, that on an average, 
 there was only one school for 2857 Protestants, 
 or supposing that each school contained thirty 
 scholars, a population of one hundred, reckoning 
 by round numbers, would only have one scholar. 
 M, Vincent allows for some exaggeration in this 
 statement, but with every allowance it shows how 
 want of funds, want of zeal, and want of well 
 qualified instructors, have combined to keep the 
 inhabitants of that country, which professes to be 
 the most civilized in the world, in a state of the 
 most woeful neglect. A still more recent publica- 
 tion \ complains not only that France ranks 
 considerably below England, Switzerland, great 
 part of Germany, and of the north of Europe, 
 Holland, and North America, in the scale of 
 nations, where provision is made for public educa- 
 tion, but that there is scarcely any country, except 
 Spain and Portugal, and others where the Ro- 
 
 ' The Semeur, of November, 1831.
 
 EDI CATION IN FRANCE COMPARED '217 
 
 maiiism of the middle ages still prevails, which 
 does not rise above her. It then states that more 
 than two-thirds of the entire French population are 
 unable to read ; that in many departments there 
 are whole villaii'es, where not more than three or 
 four of the inhabitants can read, and that according 
 to the official reports of the Minister of Public 
 Instruction, there are a great many communes, 
 where there are no elementary schools. In the 
 pursuit of this interesting inquiry, the Semeur 
 quotes the statistical table of M. C. Dupin to 
 show that Great Britain, with a population less 
 by half than that of France, has more scholars in 
 her oratuitous Sunday-schools only, than France 
 in all her schools put together, and concludes 
 with the observation, that the difference between 
 the state of education in those parts of the king- 
 dom which are Protestant, and those which are 
 Roman Catholic, is something enormous. Such 
 is the condition of France revolutionary, France 
 sceptical, France Roman Catholic, France refined 
 and philosophic, wlien compared with countries 
 under the influence of more steady and more 
 scriptural religious principles. " Wherever the 
 true princij)les of tin; Gospel are obscured," says 
 the same journal ', " either l)y scepticism or by 
 Romish sujxT-titiou, th<'re intellectual progress is 
 retar(h'(l. and we ni:i\ l;iv it down as a general 
 
 ' The Scinour.
 
 278 WITH THAT Ul- PROTESTANT COUWTRIES. 
 
 rulo, Avitli all the precision of a mathematical 
 problem, that national instruction and the num- 
 ber of scholars vary in every country, in a direct 
 ratio with the influence of the Gospel, and in an 
 inverse ratio with the influence of Popery and 
 monkery, or with sceptical philosophy." The 
 Semeur assip-ns the hio-liest rank in the scale 
 of educated nations to Protestant Scotland ; but 
 the Protestant population of the Valleys of Pie- 
 mont may take an equally, if not a more honour- 
 able place still, for there provision is made for the 
 elementary instruction of every child, without 
 any exception : and from all that I can collect, it is 
 a very rare case of neglect on the part of the 
 parents, if a single child can be found among the 
 Waldensian peasantry, of age sufficient to learn, 
 who cannot read. 
 
 In fact it has been reserved for Protestantism 
 only, to produce what the wise and the good of 
 all ages and countries have desired to see, namely 
 an entire population furnished with the means of 
 receiving education. The Gospel, in its pure 
 form, has done what philosophy and philanthropy 
 have made the su])ject of their eulogies, and of 
 their recommendation, but have never been able 
 to achieve : it has raised up a race of men, who 
 have consecrated themselves to the task of making 
 others acquainted with the most valuable part of 
 their own knowledge, and have laboured to do so, 
 not in the graceful walks of the refined, the
 
 THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER. 279 
 
 clever, and the docile, but in the haunts of the 
 squalid, the dull, and the intractable. It was 
 for the sages of old, to attract admiration, and to 
 add to their fame by lecturing to young patricians, 
 on the popular literature of their day, and it is 
 for the learned and the liberal of our own times, 
 to praise and to patronize, and to promote by 
 their writings, and by their open purses, the 
 systems of instruction, which they think will be 
 extensively useful. None however, but such 
 men as Oberlin, and Neff, none but those who, 
 like them, have been under the strong influence 
 of Christian motives, have ever done violence to 
 their natural tastes and inclinations, and have 
 left the more agreeable, and equally legitimate 
 duties of their profession, to assume the functions 
 of the humble pedagogue and of the village dame, 
 and to teach the lowest rudiments to the lowest poor ; 
 not before the admiring eyes of the world, but in se- 
 clusion, and amidst all the disheartening circum- 
 stances of dirt and stench, of chilling cold or suf- 
 focating heat. Those wlio profess to be the be- 
 nefactors of their country, and the utilitarians 
 f)f the day, whose names are constantly before the 
 public, and who run away with ;iLl the ])raise of 
 philanthropy and wisdom, will, we trust, continue 
 to i'orin ])l;iiis lor the aiiiclioratioii ol"iii;iiikiii(i. ;iii(l 
 for the advaiicciiiriit of Imiiiaii kiiowicdgc ; but, 
 uiih'ss they arc actuated by tlic liiujicst aiui holiest 
 motives, thcv will not be any thine nnu-e tiian
 
 280 THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER. 
 
 theorists : they will not be the working parties in 
 H cause, which never can be efiectually promoted 
 l)ut by those, who, feeling the power of the Gos- 
 })el, are constrained to acts of self-denying charity, 
 and to busy, practical benevolence, by Christian 
 love, and a deep sense of religious obligation. It 
 was this that led Neff to the dismal solitudes of 
 Dormilleuse, and shut him up with his twenty-five 
 pupils, and urged him to abandon for a time those 
 pursuits, which were most congenial to his mind 
 and habits, in order that he might lay a founda- 
 tion of knowledge and happiness, and contril)ute 
 something to the stock of general prosperity in a 
 district, which was separated from the more habit- 
 able parts of the world by rocks and mountains, 
 cold and sterility. 
 
 Nole. — The Journal of Education, No. 3. contains informa- 
 tion on the subject of education in France, confirmatory of what 
 I have advanced on this subject. It states that very little has 
 yet been done for the education of the lower orders, that " almost 
 every thing remains to be done," but that nothing will be done 
 till a sufficient number of schools shall be formed for the edu- 
 cation of masters. It intimates that " the theocratic or absolutist 
 party" has been the means of keeping the country in this 
 wretched state.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Neff's strength fads — Winter horrors of Dormilleuse — Nejf' 
 obliged to return to Switzerland — Parting Scenes — Neff goes 
 to the baths of Plombieres — His last address to his Alpine 
 floch — His sufferings and patience — His last hours — His 
 death at Geneva. 
 
 It was after the winter of 18*25, and the cold 
 spring of 18'26, when the severe duty of presiding 
 over the Normal School at Dormilleuse, and of 
 visiting his distant churches at regular intervals, 
 overwhelmed him with fatigue, that Neff began 
 to feel that his career must soon end. The long- 
 continued excitement and anxiety, the oft repeated 
 journeys on foot in all weathers, the sharpness of 
 tlie external air, and the suffocating heat of a 
 small room, in which so many persons, not re- 
 markahle for tlieir cleanliness, were crowck'd 
 together, day after day, tliese, togetlier witli the 
 exertion of dailv and ahnost hourly lectures, 
 would liaN'c uiidrruiiiicd \\\r. most rohiist haiiic. 
 I)<:j)i'i\ aliou added to hard work, and llic irit';^n- 
 larity. as well a-^ llie coarse iiiiw lioloome <|iialit\' 
 of his meals, liroii^lit on a weakness oi sloiiiaeli, 
 w liicli was lollowcd li\ a tiMal deranu'ement oi tlu*
 
 282 NEFFS STRCN(JTll FAILS. 
 
 digestive organs. Had he relaxed his exertions 
 in time, he might have been saved, but in the 
 destitute state of the Alpine churches, he could 
 not reconcile it to his mind to desert his post of 
 duty, so long as he had any strength remaining. 
 He struggled through the summer of 1826 pretty 
 Avell, l)ut when the winter came, and he resumed 
 his labours both in the school, upon the rock, and 
 in visiting his scattered hamlets, while the snow 
 blocked up some of the more direct passes, and 
 rendered all difficult of access, it was more and 
 more manifest that the conflict could not last 
 long. The internal pains, which he suffered from 
 indigestion, were aggravated by an accidental 
 disaster. To avoid the danger of an avalanche, 
 he traversed a dhhr'is of rock ; his foot slipped, 
 and he sprained his knee so badly, that the effects 
 were felt long and severely. His letters, written 
 from Dormilleuse in the early part of 1827, 
 breathe the same devout and resigned spirit as 
 before, but I fancy that I trace in some of them a 
 melancholy foreboding, that his projects had just 
 been completed in time, and that the erection of 
 his school-room, and the instructions which he 
 had been enabled to give to those, who were 
 destined to the catechetical and scholastic office, 
 were seasonably completed before his race was 
 run. The following gives an animated descrip- 
 tion of the wintry horrors of Dormilleuse. 
 
 " Thanks to the generosity of my friends, our
 
 WINTRY HORRORS OF DORMILLEUSE. 283 
 
 little school is now floored and glazed — the benches 
 and seats are all finished, and while all the other 
 schools in this country are held in damp and dark 
 stables, where the scholars are stifled with smoke, 
 and interrupted by the babble of people and the 
 noise of the cattle, and are obliged to be constantly 
 quarrelling with the kids and fowls in defence of 
 their copv-books, or shifting their position to avoid 
 the droppings from the roof, we have here a com- 
 fortable and well warmed apartment. I am again 
 conducting a school for the education of those, 
 whose business it will be to educate others — it 
 now consists of aliout twenty young men from the 
 difterent villaoes. We are buried in snow more 
 than four feet deep. At this moment a terrible 
 hurricane is raging, which dashes the snow about 
 in clouds — we can scarcely put our feet out of the 
 house, and I know not when my letter will reach 
 vou. Durino; the late abundant falls of snow, 
 and the violence of the wind, our communication 
 with the other vallevs has been both difficult and 
 dangerous. The avalanches threaten us on all 
 sides. They have been falling thick, especially 
 about Dormilleuse. 
 
 " One Sundav evening, our students and many 
 of tlie inhal>itants of DormiUeuse, were returning 
 home after the scniion at V^ioliiis. wIkh tin y nar- 
 rowK c-capcd an a\ alaiiclic. It rolled down into 
 a verv narrow (hlilc, and Ifll between two groups 
 of |»copl('. Had it rallcii a momrnt vooner or
 
 284 WINTRY IIOIUKMIS OK DORMILLEUSli. 
 
 later, it would have rolled one of the parties into 
 the abyss below, and would thus have destroyed 
 the flower of the youth of this region. But the 
 Eternal, who rules over the waves of the sea, 
 commands also the ice and the snow, and protects 
 his children in the midst of peril. The villages 
 are every where menaced with the impending 
 danger. Upon several occasions lately, I have 
 seen even our calm and daring Alpines express 
 anxiety. In fact, there are very few habitations 
 in these parts which are not liable to be swept 
 away, for there is not a spot in the narrow corner 
 of the valley, which can be considered absolutely 
 safe. But terrible as their situation is, they owe 
 to it their religion, and perhaps their physical 
 existence. If their country had been more secure 
 and more accessible, they would have been exter- 
 minated like the inhabitants of Val Louise." 
 
 When his eleves separated for the second time, 
 the pastor returned to Arvieux, and nursed his 
 sprained knee, but his stomach had so entirely lost 
 its tone, that it could receive nothing but liquids, 
 '' I perceived," said he, when bespoke of himself 
 afterwards, " that my strength was diminishing 
 rapidly, for the first time I became conscious that 
 it was time to seek for that succour, which, with 
 all their kindness, these poor mountaineers could 
 not procure me." 
 
 It was heart-rending to him to think of quitting 
 the vallovs, where he liad been of so much use, and
 
 PARTING SCENES. 285 
 
 ^vhel•e he bad been received and treated so aftec- 
 tionately : but he submitted to the absolute neces- 
 sity of a removal to his own native climate, and 
 made preparation for a return to Geneva by slow 
 journeys. From henceforth, during his short con- 
 tinuance on earth, we shall find him exercising 
 the passive virtues of a suftering Christian, as emi- 
 nently as he had displayed the active qualities of 
 a zealous man of God. 
 
 Neff took leave, for ever, of his presbytery at 
 La Chalp, on the 17th of April, 18'27. He was 
 surrounded by so many afflicted friends, that he 
 was constrained to repeat the Apostle's tender re- 
 buke, " M hat, mean ye to weep, and to break 
 mine heart ? "' At the distance of about three miles 
 from Arvieux,just before he entered the gloomiest 
 part of the pass of the Guil, he was met by four 
 young men, from Dormilleuse, who had then 
 walked eight leagues since sunrise, to have the 
 melancholy satisfaction of paying their farewell 
 attentions to their beloved pastor. They considered 
 it no fatigue to continue walking by his side till 
 they arrived at Guillestre. Tlie next morning, 
 witli the earliest dawn, one of the faithful creatures, 
 who had observed how jciiiil'iil ii was for Neff, in 
 his exhausted state, t<j i)iir-ii«' lii< joiinic y <»n foot, 
 set out for Fressiniere to procure a horse for the 
 invalid. He met a parly consisting of tlie lirads 
 of families, wlio were on their way to bid adieu to 
 the pastor, and great was their joy, wiien tlicy
 
 286 PAUTINi; SCENES. 
 
 learnt, that the painful good-bye would yet be 
 deferred for a short time, and that it was his in- 
 tention to pass through the valley of Fressiniere on 
 his route to Mens, from whence he was to proceed 
 to Switzerland by the easier direction of the high- 
 road. But that none of his flock might feel them- 
 selves forgotten, or neglected, NefF turned his face 
 towards Vars, the furthest out-post on the south 
 of his vast parish, and there preached a farewell 
 sermon to the w^eeping Protestants of that village. 
 His last charge to John Rostan of Vars, of whom 
 honourable mention is made in NefF's Journal, 
 and whose zeal and attainments gave him hopes, 
 that he would become a useful minister of the 
 Church, was, that he should make frequent tours 
 through the several hamlets during the summer, 
 and keep things in order. He also left that young 
 man some money to bear his expenses, and there 
 is every reason to believe tliat the expectations 
 entertained of him wdll be realized. 
 
 On my way to Dormilleuse, from the Piemontese 
 Valleys, in 1829, Rostan heard of my arrival at 
 Guillestre, and accompanied me from thence to Val 
 Fressiniere. I was struck with the affectionate and 
 respectful manner in which the young catechist w^as 
 greeted, as we passed through the several hamlets, 
 and judged that his services would be extremely 
 beneficial in the valleys, ifhecoidd get ordained. 
 He had been to the university of Montaul)an for a 
 term or two, but had found it too expensive to con-
 
 PARTING SCENES. 287 
 
 tiiiue liis studies there, it is therefore to be feared 
 that his hopes of ministerial advancement will be 
 disappointed, and that he must remain in the 
 humbler station of a catechist. 
 
 When Neff proceeded through Cliancelas, and 
 Palons, and Fressiniere, and Violins, and Min- 
 sas, and Dormilleuse, on his way to Mens, the 
 struggle between his emotions, excited by a fare- 
 well visit to the cottages of his friends, and his 
 sense of the necessity of keeping up their spirits 
 and his own, was a terrible conflict for his weak- 
 ened frame. " However, I was not sorry,"' said 
 he in one of his letters, " to have seen once more 
 my friends of the mountains. I observed with jo)% 
 that, amidst the sadness caused by my departure, 
 those who were truly established in religious princi- 
 ples, bore it with the greatest fortitude, and joined 
 their voices to mine, in assuring the more dejected 
 that Jesus Christ, the chief Shepherd, never leaves 
 us, and that with him, we can want nothing : that 
 the ministers of the Gospel are like so many John 
 the Baptists, whose mission should be considered 
 as done, when they have pointed out the Lamb of 
 God, and that they, and dependance on tliem, 
 ought to diminish, in proportion as Jesus increases 
 in the licart. Several otihosc who idt ilic <^rcate8t 
 affection for me, exclaimed, ' had you always re- 
 mained witli those among wiioni voii first hiboiircd, 
 we niight have contiinu^d in darkness until now ; 
 it is fair that some others should now ha\e the 
 1
 
 'JSS NEFF UKTURNS TO SWITZERLAND. 
 
 l)c'noHt of your niiuistry. May the Lord accom- 
 pany you, and bless your labours, every where, 
 for his name's sake.' ' 
 
 The invalid stopped for a short time at Mens, 
 Avhere he was again deeply affected by the atten- 
 tions of his friends in that town, and in its vicinity ; 
 and his anxiety to address them once more from 
 the pulpit, induced him to exert himself in a man- 
 ner which added considerably to his debility. 
 When he arrived at Geneva, he was in a state of 
 extreme languor and suffering, but his native air 
 produced a temporary improvement, which gave 
 some faint hopes that he might yet be restored. 
 The ever busy spirit, however, would not suffer 
 the body to rest ; he imprudently attempted to 
 do things beyond his strength, and in a very short 
 time his malady had increased so much, that he 
 found himself utterly unable to take any solid food : 
 the digestive organs seemed to be completely 
 paralyzed. In this miserable condition he drag- 
 ged through the remainder of the year 1827, and 
 the spring of 1828, when, as a last expedient, it 
 was recommended to him to try the effects of 
 mineral waters. 
 
 Neff was not deceived respecting his own 
 condition ; he had very little hope of recovery ; 
 but he did not think it right to neglect the advice 
 of his physician, who ordered him to go to the 
 baths of Plombieres. He left Geneva on the 
 19th of June, to travel thither by short stages,
 
 PLOMBIERES. 289 
 
 and journeyed slowly throug-h the cantons of 
 Vaiid, Neufchutel, Berne, and Bale, where he 
 had preached the Gospel, eight years before. It 
 was soothing- to his mind, to meet again the ac- 
 quaintances he had made there, and to be cor- 
 dially greeted by many others who were strangers 
 to him, but who gathered round him with affec- 
 tion for the sake of the good work in which he 
 had been engaged. 
 
 The journey, or rather thejoy he felt, at the 
 reception he met every where, having reanimated 
 him, he had strength to preach in every place 
 where he stopped. At Plombieres, he found 
 what is to be met with at all watering places, a 
 confused mixture of every moral and physical 
 evil, and he felt himself called upon to publish the 
 word of life amidst this throng of persons, whose 
 minds were occupied chiefly by their sufferings, 
 or their pleasures, ' where no one,' said he, 
 ' seemed to think of eternity.' Madame de C — , 
 wife of the prefect of the Vosges, a Protestant 
 lady, proposed to him to establish a public service 
 on Sundays, and she made it known to all the 
 Protestants of the place. The congroiiation was 
 large, and lie had never before preached to so 
 Ijrilliant an audience, yet he spoke with as much 
 freedom and >iiii|ili('itv, as lie liad done to the 
 mountaineers of \\h'. AI|)>. < )ii ilif succeeding 
 Siiii(hi\s tlicrf was a great miiiiltcr <»f I^ouian 
 
 u
 
 290 PLOMBIERES. 
 
 Catliolic'S ill atteiulauce, and two large apartments 
 could scarcely contain the hearers. Many per- 
 sons of both persuasions appeared to take delight 
 in these services. 
 
 The use of the waters and the baths promised 
 at first to produce a good effect. His strength 
 and his appetite improved, and it was thought 
 adviseablc to add solids to the milk, wdiich, for 
 a whole year, had been his only nourishment,- but 
 this experiment proved highly injurious. After 
 some days he suffered more severely than ever, 
 and it was evident that the most skilful care 
 could not arrest the progress of the disorder for 
 many weeks more. On the approach of the bad 
 season at Plombieres, it would have been right to 
 have moved him away at once, but his total loss 
 of strength rendered every exertion more and 
 more hazardous : yet in this melancholy situation, 
 his letters contained such sentiments as these : — 
 " I, cannot sufficiently thank God for his goodness 
 to me ! What composure, what peace, he per- 
 mits me to enjoy ! Until lately it appeared to me 
 impossible to support the idea of being cut off 
 from the number of Christ's labourers, and of 
 being condemned to absolute inaction ; but the 
 Lord no sooner saw^ fit to call upon me to make 
 this sacrifice, than he made me sensible that, 
 what is impossible with man, is possible with him. 
 Sustained by his grace, I can say Amen to his
 
 NEFF RETURNS TO GENEV^V. *291 
 
 decrees." Wliilst he was confined to his bed, he 
 received several visits from one of the cures of 
 Plombieres, and from some young Romish eccle- 
 siastics. ' Had they come for controversy/ said 
 NefF, ' I should not have been able to receive 
 them, weak as I was ; but they carefully avoided 
 every thiuo- that could fatigue me, and even lis- 
 tened willino-ly to the few words I addressed to 
 them. They were surprised to hear a Protestant 
 speak of the conversion of the heart and of s])i- 
 ritual life, in the same terms as some of their 
 most eminent divines. I have often observed that 
 with such persons, it is much better, if possible, 
 to build up and to plant, than to tear away and to 
 destroy ; most of their prejudices proceed from their 
 ignorance of all that concerns true Protestantism, 
 and they are half disarmed, when we speak to them, 
 without any argument, of that which constitutes 
 the life, the strength, and the peace of the soul.' 
 
 Certain prescriptions having, in some degree, 
 restored his strength, lie quitted Plombieres, but 
 not without expressing his regret at being de- 
 prived of the affectionate care of his iii((li(;il at- 
 tendant, Dr. Turck, who is \v«'ll known to tlw 
 visitors at Plombieres, for liis biimanc disposition, 
 as well as for liis professional talents. Tlii^ time 
 too, tlic jounic\ aLi'ain sccnu.'d to n'\i\c tlic in- 
 \ali(l a little, and on hi- arrisal at ( icnc\a, sonic, 
 faint |jop(!S wctc clicri.-^hcil, ' hni Nury soon, said 
 oiH- of ]\\< fVifnds, " a- thon^li the strciitrth of his 
 
 II 2
 
 '292 IHS SUFFERINGS. 
 
 body liad been absorbed by that of his mind, he 
 became worse than before." 
 
 Tlie period of his sufferings, at which we are 
 now arrived, was long and dreary ; his stomach 
 could scarcely bear a little milk whey, for even 
 with this he often suff'ered terribly from indiges- 
 tion, and the pain it caused was so violent, that 
 he could not venture to take this slight nourish- 
 ment, until after he had endured the pangs of 
 hunger for many hours. When he was no longer 
 able to go out of doors, they contrived all kinds 
 of manual occupation to assist his digestion. 
 Conversation was forbidden him : only a small 
 number of his friends were permitted to enjoy the 
 privilege of seeing him, and, during these visits, 
 they could only press his hand, and render him 
 some trifling service. He loved to see them for 
 a few moments, and when he was fatigued, he 
 made a sign for them. to leave him. " It was 
 most heart rending," said a spectator of his suff'er- 
 ings, " to behold him, thus pale and emaciated, 
 his large eyes beaming with an expression of 
 fortitude and pain ; covered, from head to foot, 
 with four or five woollen garments, which he was 
 obliged to change frequently ; submitting, in 
 silence, and with the greatest calmness, to the 
 application of the moxas \ a painful operation, 
 
 ' An Indian or Chinese moss, used in the cure of some dis- 
 orders, by buminj; it on the part affected.
 
 Ills ANXIETIES. 293 
 
 which was constantly repeated ; suffering the 
 pangs of hunger ; counting the hours, and at last 
 venturing to take something, then waiting with 
 anxiety till the food, such as it was, should digest, 
 and thus passing all his days and nights during a 
 long succession of relapses, and of physical pros- 
 tration, which we sometimes looked upon as a 
 relief." 
 
 As he became more and more debilitated and 
 exhausted by hunger, new kinds of decoctions 
 were continually tried, but what he at first took 
 with apparent pleasure he soon refused. His 
 thoughts were perpetually turning towards the 
 Alps, and there he seemed to have centered all 
 his anxieties. If he still cherished an earthly 
 wish, and ventured to hope against hope, it was 
 that the Almighty would again vouchsafe to em- 
 ploy him, in the work which he had there com- 
 menced. When he could no longer write to his 
 Alpines himself, he requested his mother to 
 become his amanuensis, and to her he dictated 
 his energetic exhortations, and ihc toucliing ex- 
 pression of Ills never-ceasing solicitude on llicir 
 account. 
 
 In the loUowing extracts from two of these 
 letters, the reader will perceive liow strong liis 
 feelings were even in (h.-atli, and will Ik- ablt- to 
 understand something of tlir lorcc of ( liri-iiaii 
 affections and anxieties, ami may -liidy tlicm, as 
 a t.'d)lct on wliicji were wrillcii tlir [uiir and it a!
 
 •^[)4 LETTi:i{ TO llli: ALl»INliS, 
 
 sentiiiicnts of a minister of religion, when all 
 worldly considerations had passed away. 
 
 From a Letter, dated October 6th, 1828. 
 
 " In the state of complete isolation in which 
 1 am kept by my long sickness, a portion of my 
 time is employed in imaginary excursions into 
 Danphine. My mind wanders, as in a dream, 
 over the high Alps and the Trieve '. My heart 
 accompanies it in its progress, and finds itself 
 (not without emotion) in all those places, where 
 it has experienced so many delightful sensations ; 
 especially where it has beat for the conversion of 
 poor sinners, and where I have been in the so- 
 ciety of precious souls, eager for the word of sal- 
 vation. Again, I pass through the valleys, and 
 over the mountains, and- along the shepherds' 
 paths which I have so often trodden alone, or 
 with my friends. I find myself again in the cot- 
 tages, in the stables, in the orchards, where I 
 have conversed of heavenly things with all those 
 who are dear to me in Jesus Christ. I see them 
 all separately or together, I hear them and speak 
 to them. In such moments as these, the feelings, 
 which then animated me, naturally resume their 
 influence, and, as I did then, I lift up my soul to 
 the Father of every perfect gift, in prayer for his 
 dear children. In this retrospect also, the re- 
 
 ' The countrv about Mens is so called.
 
 LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 295 
 
 membrance of my brethren who are no more, pre- 
 sents itself to my mind, and 1 sigh deeply, but 
 soon I bless God for them, and I rejoice to see 
 them in the sheepfold, sheltered from all evil, and 
 guarded against any wandering. Doubtless I 
 cannot thus recall times and places, without feel- 
 ing many very liumiliating recollections, nor 
 without thinking that, if now I am, as it w ere, set 
 aside, and cut off from the service of Christ, I 
 have well deserved to be so. These reflections 
 are salutary ones, and 1 should be wrong to banish 
 them. But that which throws the deepest shade 
 over the j)icture, is the number of those who have 
 perished in the wilderness, wdio, after having come 
 out of Egypt, have returned thither in their hearts, 
 not having had courage to press forward to pos- 
 sess the good land ! How many unhappy souls do 
 I remember amongst you, who have been shaken 
 by the preaching of the word, who have trembled 
 at the foot of Sinai, who have exclaimed in 
 anguish, ' what shall 1 do to be saved '/ wlio 
 have for a time renounced tlic worhl, borne its 
 hatred, and suflered affliction with tlir jx'ople of 
 God. \\ ho have then become tind of the way, 
 have iH) hjngcr (h'eaded the wrath to come, liavi; 
 forgotten alikt- the tiireats and the |)romises, 
 and have faMcM ash'cj), after liaviii;^,- w atclird, 
 long eiioiiLih, ahis I to be without excuse, ami 
 to pn'|)ar<' lor tliciiisclves eternal sorrow, and 
 till' iiio-t terrible <oii(l<'iiinatioii ' ( )|i ' lii»w the
 
 296 LETTEU TO THi: ALPINES. 
 
 reniciiibraiicu of them grieves me ! how deeply I 
 lament the loss of those dear children, of whom 
 my heart has been long in travail, and who have 
 not been able to attain to the new birth, who have 
 appeared bright as flowers, but like barren flowers, 
 have produced no fruit ! But what shall I say of 
 those who have yielded some fruit, who have 
 begun a new life, who have tasted the heavenly 
 gift, who have borne witness to the truth, who 
 have even brought many to the light of it, and 
 who have returned, like the sow to her wallowing 
 in the mire, who have forgotten the purification 
 of their past sins ; who have forsaken the right 
 way like Balaam, and have done despite unto the 
 Spirit of grace, wherewith they have been sancti- 
 fied ? Take heed, dear friends, to that expres- 
 sion of the Saviour : ' Abide in me, as the branch 
 abides in the vine.' He does not only say there, 
 as he did elsewhere : ' Come unto me,' but, 
 ' Abide in me !' And how ? As the branch, 
 which never separates itself from the vine ; with- 
 out which, and apart from which, it has no life." 
 
 Fj'om a second Letter, dated March 1829. 
 
 " Five months have passed away since you re- 
 ceived the address of which this letter is the sequel, 
 and during that time I have had much experience. 
 I am considerably weaker than I was then, and 
 I shall not be able to arrange methodically what 
 remains for me to say to you, indeed 1 shall have
 
 LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 297 
 
 power to say very little ; but I am most anxious 
 to address you. I feel constrained to confirm to- 
 day all that I have before spoken, and all that I 
 preached to you and told you when I was with 
 you ; for I have now proved those truths which I 
 then taught you. Yes, now, more than ever, I 
 feel the importance, absolute importance, of being 
 a Christian indeed, of living in habitual com- 
 munion with the Saviour, of abiding in him. It 
 is in the time of trial, that we can speak of these 
 things as we ought. A Christian without afflic- 
 tion is only a soldier on parade ; but I experience 
 it now, and I will openly bear witness of it, whilst 
 God still gives me strength so to do. It is strictly 
 true, that, through much tribulation, we must enter 
 the kingdom of heaven, and we must personally 
 feel what is said of the Prince of our salvation, 
 ' that it became him to be made perfect through 
 affliction.' Though he were the Son of God, yet 
 ' learned he obedience by the things which he 
 suffered.' How much more need have we our- 
 selves of this instruction. Yes, I can now say, it 
 is good for me that I have been afflicted ; this trial 
 was needful for nic I felt beforehand that it 
 was rerpiisite, and 1 (l<j not fear to tell you, that 
 i prayed to the Lord for it. My situation is indeed 
 painful; I, who (l('li;j,litc(l .-<> much in an active, 
 stirriu'^- lilc, havtj I«jng been rciluccd id ihi' most 
 (•»(iii|ihf r incrtiiui. >cai'c(I\- ahh' to cat, drink, 
 shell, -peak. oi- to h.-«tcu to rcadiu;^. or to recei\e
 
 298 LETTKR TO Tin; A1.IMNE8. 
 
 the visits ot" iiiv brethroii, and fecliiio; it a great 
 ertort to dictate these few lines, I am weighed down 
 bv the pains of sickness, and often I am deprived, 
 by agonies, or Ijy the wiles of Satan and my own 
 heart, of the sense of Gods presence, and of the 
 consolations which it would afford me. I can, 
 liowever, without hesitation declare, that I would 
 not exchange this state of trial, for that in wliich 
 some of my years have been passed, even in the 
 midst of my ministerial labours ; for though my 
 life may have been spent in the service of Christ, 
 and may have appeared exemplary to the eyes of 
 men, I find in it so much unfaithfulness, so many 
 sins, so many things which, in my sight, and 
 above all in the sight of the Lord, have polluted 
 my work, — I have passed so much time in forget- 
 fulness of God, that had I still thirty years to live, 
 I should prefer a hundred times over passing 
 them on this bed of languor and anguish, to re- 
 covering my health and strength, and not to lead 
 a life more truly Christian, more holy, more en- 
 tirely devoted to God than I have done hitherto. 
 Ah ! my dear friends ! how much time we lose, 
 of how many blessings and graces we deprive 
 ourselves, when we live far from God, in levity 
 and thoughtlessness, in seeking after perishable 
 things, in the gratification of the flesh, and of self- 
 love. Now I feel that it is so, and you will feel it 
 also in the day of trial. Redeem then the time : 
 I cannot re])eat it too often ; live unto God, by
 
 LETTER TO THK ALPINES. 299 
 
 faith, by ])rayer, and by serious conversation. 
 But can I recommend duties to you without notic- 
 ing those, whicli you are bound to fulfil towards 
 that multitude who live in the darkness, out of 
 whicli the Lord has brought you by his grace. 
 Should the Church of Christ be contented, like 
 the garrison of a besieged town, to defend herself 
 and preserve her own territory ? Ought she not, 
 on the contrary, to make continual sallies, and to 
 advance, like a victorious army, over the enemy's 
 land ? So soon as a tree ceases to grow, it begins 
 to wither away ; so soon as a Church ceases to ad- 
 vance it becomes torpid, and begins to decline. 
 Ah I if you feel the infinite worth of your heaveidy 
 calling ; if you know that love of Christ which 
 passeth all understanding, and the riches of the 
 glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is 
 the excellent greatness of his power towards us 
 who believe, if you have tasted how good the Lord 
 is, and how precious is the lot which is fallen to us, 
 if at the same time you know the value of immor- 
 tal souls, and how dreadful is tlie fate of those, 
 who know not Jesus, can you ever forget the worth 
 of that glorious title, child of God, which you 
 bear? Can you ever be any thing l)ut C'hristlans, 
 if you hav(! felt wliat infinite hap|)iiM'ss if is to 
 be a ( ']iri>f iaii ' Voii will be siicii. in all tilings 
 and ill all places ; ^■oll will w i>li tin- world fo bc- 
 conic siicli ; each oiur of \ on will bccoiiic, in mmiic 
 wise, a witiic-^ of ( io(| - gi'acc, a iiii>>ionar\\ a 
 
 1
 
 300 LETTliU TO THE Al.lMNE.S. 
 
 preacher, a minister of Christ. Your heart will 
 hiirii with zeal for the salvation of souls, and from 
 it will ascend, without ceasing, as from a burning- 
 altar, sighs and prayers in their behalf. Labour 
 then in the kingdom of God ; be courageous in 
 this holy warfare, give no rest to yourselves. Cease 
 not to importune the Lord, till he re-establish 
 Jerusalem, and till he make it to flourish again 
 upon the earth. 
 
 " As to myself, I have every reason to believe 
 that my task is finished ; I wait, until by means 
 of trials and afflictions, the Lord shall accomplish 
 w ithin me that work of patience, which must be 
 perfected ; and may he then take me, how and 
 when he pleases, to his eternal rest. Having then 
 no hope of seeing you again in this world, and 
 not thinking that I shall be able to write more, I 
 must take leave of you, recommending you from 
 this time forward to God and the word of his 
 grace. 
 
 " Oh, my dear friends, how^ many things still 
 remain for me to say to you ! how many things 
 would I still call to your attention ! but the Lord 
 will supply them. 
 
 " Sometimes peruse again and again these last 
 exhortations, w^iich I have given you, and beseech 
 the Lord to enable you to put them in practice. 
 Above all read the Bible : go constantly to that 
 tree of life which bears fruit in all seasons : you 
 will always find there some fruit ripe for you,
 
 LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 301 
 
 some word wliicli will do good to voiir souls. If 
 you have opportunities for any other reading, let 
 it be chosen agreeably to the will of God : I should 
 wish, for instance, that each of you should possess 
 the Pilgrim's Progress, and the Life of Bimyon, 
 that conscientious and experienced Christian. Try 
 to read also in the Paris Missionary Journal, 
 (second year, No. 3.) the Life of the Missiouart/ 
 Brainerd. I hope that they will soon publish those 
 excellent Letters of the Minister Charles Jlieu, 
 who died in Denmark. Another work which I 
 expect will soon appear, and which I cannot too 
 strongly recommend beforehand, is the Ancient 
 and Modern History of the Bohemian and Mora- 
 vian Brethren. There you will see what a Christ- 
 ian ought to be, and what a true Church of Jesus 
 Christ may be. This work will be too expensive 
 for each one of you to purchase it for himself; 
 but some of you can contribute jointly to have it 
 in common. Lastly, I shall recommend to you, as 
 a book of prayer and edification, as well as a col- 
 lection of hymns, the compilation ])ublished at 
 Geneva, under the title of Psalms, J///tn/is, Sjiiri- 
 tiial Songs, ^t. 
 
 " I wish, my very dear tVit-nds, my dear brotlicrs 
 and sisters, that I could designate each of you by 
 name; but, tliank (iod, ihcrt- would he too miucIi 
 \<) do. iiiid I de-ire that eaeli ol \(mi iMa\' read those 
 letters, as il the\' were addressed to himself in 
 jiarticular ; for \ou know ni\' aflection lor \-ou all.
 
 30*2 l-RTTEK TO TJIi: ALPINES. 
 
 and how ardently I wish to meet you all again in 
 that kingdom, where ' God will wipe away all 
 tears from our eyes, where there will be no more 
 death, neither sorrow, nor crying.' 
 
 " Be of good courage, then, my dear friends ! We 
 shall soon meet again, and it wall be for ever, for 
 ever ! Think upon this, and grieve not at our short 
 separation. Once more adieu, my dear brothers 
 and sisters in Jesus Christ ! May the Lord bless and 
 keep you ! May he give you that peace and joy 
 which the world cannot take away ! 
 
 " Your very affectionate brother, 
 
 " Felix Neff." 
 
 The interest which Neft' expressed so forcibly, 
 in his letters, in the fate of his beloved Alpines, 
 led them to believe, that his strength was reno- 
 vated, and encouraged them to hope, that they 
 should yet see him again in the midst of them \ 
 Some of his friends, therefore, wrote to Mens, and 
 to the valleys of Fressiniere, and Queyras, and 
 prepared them to expect the worst. The answers 
 
 ' A few days before his death, he was asked ])y one of his 
 most intimate friends, if he still adhered to the sentiments which 
 he had expressed in his two farewell letters to his Alpines, of 
 October and March. His answer was given with all the force 
 that his debilitated frame would permit him to use, " I feel as 
 if I should wish to preach those things even in paradise," and he 
 then asked for a pen that he might sign a confession to that 
 effect, but it was very properly judged that he was too weak for 
 such an effort.
 
 THEIR ANSWER. 303 
 
 which were received, were full of grief and con- 
 sternation. In one of them, addressed to Netl'hini- 
 self, there was this simple, but fervent expression 
 of affliction, and self-reproach. 
 
 " It is we, it is we, who are the cause of your 
 long illness. » Had we been more ready to listen 
 to you, you would not have had occasion to fatigue 
 yourself in the deep snow, nor to exhaust your 
 lungs, and all the powers of your body. Oli, how 
 much pain has it cost you to teach us, like our 
 good Saviour ; you forgot yourself for our sakes. 
 Dear pastor, sensible of the affection you have 
 always manifested towards us, we desire, with all 
 our hearts, to be useful to you. We can say, with 
 truth, that if our lives could be of service to you, 
 we would give them, and then we should not be 
 doing more for you than you liave done for us. 
 May the Lord bless you, and grant you patience 
 in this long trial. May he shower upon you a 
 thousand benedictions from on high, and recom- 
 pense you for all the pains you have taken for 
 us I Your reward is in licavcn : an iimiiorfal crown 
 awaits v<>ii. \\ (.' will coucIikIc 1)\ iiitrcating your 
 prayers in our behalf ; unworthy as we are, we do 
 not forget you in ours. Every family, witliout ex- 
 ception, from the heights of Romas to the foot of 
 the Influs, salutes you, and you will siMthc uaiiM-s 
 of souk: ol" tliciii ill llii> IcHcr. We arc your 
 unworthy, but ciiliicl\ dcNdinl brother.-. 
 
 These artless aii<l tciidrr line- were Ibllowcd \>\
 
 304 Ills LAST DAYS. 
 
 a great number of sio-natures, tliose of the heads of 
 the families of Dormilleuse and its vicinity proba- 
 bly of all who could sign their name. In the same 
 letter these good men proposed to depute two per- 
 sons from among them to see him once more, or 
 to send him the money, which such a journey 
 would cost, if he needed it ; but NefF refused both 
 these offers, lest he should be a charge to them. 
 He displayed his disinterestedness in another way 
 about this time. Having received a bill of 400 
 francs, which w^ere due to him, he said, " This 
 money is no longer mine, it is for the missionary 
 of the Alps," and he sent it to M. Blanc at Mens, 
 to be employed as the donors had intended. 
 
 During this prolonged illness, his friends watched 
 by him by turns, but until the few last nights of his 
 life he would not allow them to remain standino; 
 about his bed, he even suft'ered inconvenience 
 rather than call to them. By day, however, it was 
 necessary to be constantly near him, to lift him 
 up, and to moisten his lips with a sponge steeped 
 in milk, mixed with a little lemon-juice ; he took 
 nothing else. They applied friction to his stomach 
 to soothe the pains of hunger, and even in this ex- 
 tremity he retained such a playfulness of mind, 
 that when he would ask one of them to rul) him, 
 he called out " give me my dinner." 
 
 " ^ His voice became so weak that it was neces- 
 
 ' This account of NefT's last days is taken from the " Notice 
 siir Felix Xeff" published at Geneva in 1831.
 
 HIS LAST DAYS. 305 
 
 sary to go very close to him in order to hear it ; he 
 spoke with great difficidty and with severe pain, 
 yet he wilHnglv endured this suffering when he 
 had any salutary advice to give us/' 
 
 " We had the satisfaction,"' said a narrator of 
 the dying scene, " of being much with him towards 
 the close of his painful career, and we never heard 
 a murmur escape from his lips. He was grateful 
 for the affection shown towards him, and returned 
 it abundantly. Often, after our poor services, he 
 threw his arms round our necks, embraced us, 
 thanked us, and exhorted us with all his soul to 
 devote ourselves to God. ' Believe my experience,' 
 said he, ' He only is your sure trust. He only is 
 truly to be loved. If you should one day be em- 
 ployed in the preaching of the Gospel, take heed 
 not to work to be seen of men. Oh, with how 
 many tilings of this kind do I reproacli myself! 
 My life, which appears to some to have been well 
 employed, has not been a quarter so much so 
 as it might have been ! How much precious time 
 have I lost!' He accused himself of unfaithfulness 
 in the employment of liis time, and of having 
 been vain-glorious : he, wliose laboui's werc^ 
 scarcelv known to a few friends ! wlio liad refused 
 to marrv. tlial bis heart might be entireU (IcNdled 
 to lii- Master, and who-c ai'drnl cliarilN lor liis 
 fcllow-rreatnrc- liad ltron<_ilit liini. al I lie age of 
 thirty-one, to liis bed of (b-atli ! Knowing liis h)vo 
 fr»r tarTPd niusir, wefrerpHMitlv a'-seinblecl in a rof)m
 
 3()G HIS LAST DAYS. 
 
 near his own, and sung, in an under tone, verses 
 ot" his favorite h^^mns, particularly ' Rien 6 Jesus 
 que ta grace,' and a paraphrase on the thirty -first 
 chapter of Jeremiah, which he had himself com- 
 posed. This singing filled his soul with a thousand 
 feelings and recollections, and affected him so 
 much, that we were obliged to discontinue it, though 
 he did not see us, and he heard us but faintly. 
 
 " About a fortnight before his death, he looked 
 on a mirror, and discovering unequivocal signs of 
 dissolution in his countenance, he gave utterance 
 to his joy : ' Oh, yes ! soon, soon I shall be going 
 to my God !' From that time he took no more 
 care of himself : his door was opened to all, and 
 the last hours of the missionary became a power- 
 ful mission. His chamber was never empty, he 
 had a word for every one, until he was exhausted 
 by it. In the full enjoyment of all his mental 
 faculties, every thing was present to his memory ; 
 the most trivial circumstances ; even conversations 
 which he had held many years previously, and he 
 made use of them with extraordinary energy in 
 his exhortations. On his mother's account only 
 did he show the least inquietude : old, feeble, and 
 devoted to him, she could not restrain her tears. 
 Before her, he assumed a firmness which amount- 
 ed even to reproach ; then, when she left him, no 
 longer able to refrain from weeping himself, his 
 eyes followed her with tenderness, and he would 
 exclaim * my poor mother ! ' 
 .1
 
 HIS LAST DAYS. 307 
 
 " He made presents to his friends, and set apart 
 some religious books for many persons to whom 
 he still hoped to be usefid ; after having underlined 
 several passages, he thus wrote the address : — 
 Felix Neff, dying, to 
 
 " We shall have an indelible recollection of the 
 last letter that he wrote ; it was a few days before 
 his death. He was supported by two persons, and, 
 hardly able to see, he traced at intervals, and in 
 large and irregular characters which filled a page, 
 the lines which follow, addressed to some of his 
 beloved friends in the Alps. What must have 
 been the feelings of those who received them, with 
 the persuasion that he, who had traced them, was 
 no more ! 
 
 " ' Adieu, dear friend, Andre Blanc, Antoine 
 Blanc, all my friends the Pelissiers, wdiom 1 love 
 tenderly ; Francis Dumont and his wife ; Isaac 
 and his wife ; beloved Deslois, Emilie Bonnet, 
 &c. &c. ; Alexandrine and her mother ; all, all 
 the brethren and sisters of Mens, adieu, adieu. I 
 ascend to our Father in entire peace ! Victory ! 
 victory ! victory ! through Jesus Clirist. 
 
 Felix Nkif.' 
 
 " The last niglil ol" lii> lift', we and sonic othrr 
 persons remained to sit up with liini. Never shall 
 we forget those hours of ano:uisli, so well called 
 thf valley of tlif shadow (»f death. It wa«* neces- 
 
 X C'
 
 308 HIS DEATH. 
 
 sary to attend to him constantly, and to hold him 
 in his convulsive struggles ; to support his fainting 
 head in our arms, to wipe the cold drops from his 
 forehead, to hend or to straighten his stiffened 
 limbs ; the centre of his body only retained any 
 warmth. For a short time he seemed to be chok- 
 ing, and we dare not give him any thing : a few 
 words of Scripture were read to him, but he did 
 not appear to hear ; once only, when some one 
 was lamenting to see him suffer so much, and said, 
 * poor Neff*,' he raised his head for an instant, 
 fixed his large eyes full of affection upon his friend, 
 and again closed them. During the long night of 
 agony we could only pray and support him. In 
 the morning, the fresh air having a little revived 
 him, he made a sign that he should be carried to 
 a higher bed ; they placed him on this bed in a 
 sitting posture, and the struggles of death began. 
 For four hours we saw his eyes raised to heaven ; 
 each breath that escaped from his panting bosom, 
 seemed accompanied with a prayer ; and at that 
 awful period, when the heaviness of death was 
 upon him, in the ardent expression of his sup- 
 plication he appeared more animated than any 
 of us. We stood around him weeping, and almost 
 murmuring at the duration of his sufferings, but the 
 power of his faith was so visible in his countenance, 
 that our faith too was restored by it, it seemed as 
 though we could see his soul hovering on his lips, 
 impatient for eternity. At last we so well under-
 
 HIS DEATH. 30y 
 
 stood what his vehement desire was, that with one 
 impulse we all exclaimed : Come, Lord Jesus, 
 come quickly. 
 
 " Two days afterwards, (his death took place 
 12th of April, 1829,) we accompanied his remains 
 to the tomb. Over his resting-place were read some 
 beautiful verses of that Word which shall never 
 pass away. We then prayed, and in compliance 
 witli his wish, his numerous friends, who were 
 assembled at the grave, sang together those lines 
 of M. Vinet, of which the stanzas conclude thus : — 
 
 " lis lie soiit pas perdus, ils nous out devances, "
 
 CHAPTER Xll. 
 
 licvicw of Ncjj^^s character — lis value as an example — His 
 practical wisdom and usefulness — ///"* prudence and caution 
 — His gentleness of spirit — His conciliating manners — Two 
 remarlcahle traits — Ncff compared with Bernard Gilpin, 
 George Herbert, Oberlin, and Henry Martyn — Testimonies 
 to Neff's services. 
 
 When I determined to publish the preceding 
 memoir, I had two objects in view ; first, to make 
 known the existence of another mountain church ' 
 
 ' The existence of brandies of the Christian Church, not sects, 
 to which, and through which apostolical Christianity has been 
 transmitted from age to age, without any admixture of Romish 
 error, is a truth in history, which must be agitated, until more 
 justice shall be done to the question by ecclesiastical writers. 
 The author of a " History of the Church," published under the 
 superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Know- 
 ledge," the best Church history which has yet appeared, will, I 
 am sure, receive this hint with the same spirit of candour and 
 inquiry which he has displayed throughout the whole of his 
 work. In chapter xviii. pp. 353-355, has he not misapplied the 
 terms, heresy, heretics, and sect, in application to the Waldenses 
 of Piemont, for example ? !My object, of wliich he has kindly 
 made honourable mention, was not to prove the apostolical 
 descent of the Vaudois, for this would be a vain attempt, but to 
 prove their apostolical Christianity, from time immemorial, and 
 their independence of Rome, at periods when the Church of 
 Rome pretends that all who professed to be Christians were
 
 REVIEW OF NEFF's CHARACTER. 311 
 
 iu the Alps, besides that of the Waldenses of 
 Piemont, which has continued independent of 
 Rome, and ft'ee from its corruptions, ever since it 
 was first planted ; and secondly, to hold up the 
 example of a village pastor, who in our own times 
 has displayed " the zeal of an apostle, and the 
 constancy of a martyr."' 
 
 Whoever has a station in the Christian Church 
 to fill, and appointed duties to discharge, may find 
 something in Neff's character, which is worthy of 
 imitation, and those, whose place it is to receive 
 with meekness the engrafted word, may learn to 
 estimate its importance, from the earnestness with 
 which that devoted servant of God delivered it. 
 
 The striking peculiarity in Neft's character, 
 which I will now endeavour to draw out into its 
 full breadth, was his practical wisdom and use- 
 fulness as a Christian minister. No man ever 
 preached, or insisted upon the main and essential 
 doctrinal points of the Gospel more strongly than 
 he did ; these were put prominently forward in all 
 his sermons, in his conversations, in his corres- 
 pondence, and in his private diaries, but at the 
 same time he exacted attention to the ordinary 
 
 either in communion with her, or were heretics. Now if I have 
 proved this their jjerpetual aj)ostolieal ('hristianity, how eould the 
 Vaudois be herilics, when i\u-\ were |)rore.ssinf; the true faith ( 
 and why call them a Sfct, when tliey wire always a hraiich of 
 the vine, abiding' in the vine, and never cut themselves oJl' frnm 
 any community, of whieh fhey were on<e a |)art f
 
 2\2 REVIEW or neff's character. 
 
 ilutics of life, witli all the streiiuousness of one 
 who would admit of no compromise. It was his 
 anxiety to build up the Christian on a foundation, 
 where self-dependence, vain-glory, and imaginary 
 merit, were to have no place whatever ; and yet 
 every act of his ministry proved that he set a just 
 value on knowledge and attainments. It was his 
 labour of love to show, that whenever any addition 
 is made to our stock of knowledge, we not only 
 gain something- in the way of enjoyment, but are 
 laving lip a store for the improvement of our 
 moral and religious feelings, and of our general 
 habits of industry. The spiritual advancement of 
 his flock was the great end and object of all his 
 toils ; but no man ever took a warmer interest in 
 the temporal comforts of those about him, and this 
 he evinced bv instructing them in the manage- 
 ment of their fields and gardens, in the construc- 
 tion of their cottages, and in employing all his 
 own acquirements in philosophy and science for 
 the amelioration of their condition. He was not 
 only the apostle, but as somebody said of Oberlin, 
 " he was also the Triptolemus" of the High Alps. 
 To discharge the proper duties of a preacher of 
 the Gospel, was a vehement desire with NefF, 
 strong as a passion : his heart and soul were in 
 them ; yet he often left this walk, so glorious in 
 his eyes, to follow another track, and to point out 
 those things to the notice of his people, which re- 
 lated to their worldly conveniences. It was his
 
 HIS PRUDENCE AND CAUTION. 313 
 
 high and lofty ambition to elevate their thouglits 
 and hopes to the noblest objects to which immor- 
 tal beings can aspire, and to raise the standard, 
 until they should reach to the fulness of the 
 stature of Christ : and yet he so condescended to 
 things of low estate, as to become a teacher of 
 a, b, c, not only to ignorant infancy, but to the 
 dull and unpliant capacities of adults. Begin- 
 ning witli the most tiresome rudiments, he pro- 
 ceeded upwards, leading on his scholars me- 
 thodically, kindly, and patiently, until he had 
 made them proficients in reading, writing, and 
 arithmetic, and could lead them into the plea- 
 santer paths of music, geography, liistory, and 
 astronomy. His mind was too enlarged to fear 
 that he should be teaching his peasant boys too 
 nmch. It was his aim to show what a variety of 
 enjoyments may be extracted out of knowledge, 
 and that even the shepherd and the goatherd of 
 the mountain side, will be all the happier and the 
 better for every piece of solid information that be 
 can acquire. 
 
 Xeff was a niau of tlie most ardent and 
 ehistic zeal, else he never could have dedicated 
 Iiiniself so entirely to the work of a missionarv 
 pastor ill a foreign countrv : yet lie Iinm^lii ilu; 
 good sense of a masculine iiii(lfi>taii(liiiL:- to hear 
 upon all his rehgious j)rojects : lie exercised a de- 
 gree of pnnh-ncc! seldom witnessed in conjunction 
 with such anh)iir, and he was constantlv <"liecking 
 the ebullitions of his >pirit, and tempering iiis
 
 314 REVIEW OF NEFl-S CllAHACTEU. 
 
 zeal with salutary prudence. The nicest discre- 
 tion, and the most judicious caution, distinguished 
 his proceedings. This was especially manifested 
 in the selection and training of his catechists. 
 He knew that a few young men, well prepared, 
 would do more good among their, countrymen 
 than a host of undisciplined enthusiasts and ill- 
 taufjht novices. 
 
 The broad distinctions and uncompromising 
 truths of Protestantism were matters of awful 
 sanctity with Neff ; and yet, though he was the pas- 
 tor of a flock opposed to Popery b}' all the strong 
 prejudices of hereditary separation, I might almost 
 say of deep-rooted aversion, yet with dogmatical 
 and polemical Protestantism he would have no- 
 thing to do. He made numberless converts from 
 Romanism, not so much by argument and dis- 
 cussion, as by mildly inculcating the true spirit of 
 the Gospel ; not by dwelling on topics of strife, 
 and on points of diff'erence, but on points of uni- 
 versal agreement, and by exhibiting our common 
 Christianity in its most persuasive form, until 
 their hearts melted before the one Mediator and 
 Intercessor, and they said, your God shall be our 
 God, and your creed shall be our creed. 
 
 He was rigid in his notions of Christian de- 
 portment ; yet there was a meekness, and a 
 kindness of manner about him, which conciliated 
 all, and convinced them that he had their best 
 interests at heart ; so much so, that perhaps no 
 man was ever more reverenced and loved. When
 
 THE VALUE OF HIS EXAMPLE. 315 
 
 1 traversed the villao:es and hamlets which had 
 coustitLited his charge, two years after his removal 
 from them, the recollection of his services was 
 still cherished with so much fondness and vene- 
 ration, that his name was never pronounced but 
 with a seriousness and tenderness of voice, which 
 assured me, that he still lived in their affections, 
 and that he will form the subject of discourse and 
 admiration, as long as one of the present race 
 shall survive. 
 
 Such was the pastor of the Alps in his exten- 
 sive parish, consisting of scattered and remote 
 hamlets. Now, if Neff, — his ministeried duties 
 spreading over such length and breadth ; the 
 boundary lines of his charge stretching far and 
 wide over mountains, and barriers of ice and 
 snow, and across rapid rivers and deep ravines, and 
 having to encounter all the difficulties of distance, 
 climate, unknown language, and those other im- 
 pediments usually thrown in the way of a foreigner, 
 — if he could yet propose to himself, and could 
 effect such improvements as were the objects of 
 his ministry, may not the clergy of our own 
 Church look upon their field of labour with hope 
 and courage. W itli tlie same ])romise of su])j)ort 
 from above : witli |)arish('s for llic mo^f j»;irf ot" 
 moderate extent, with all tlic adv aiita;i,('s of cu- 
 (hnviiicnt ' : with f'acililics derived iVoiii scliolastic 
 
 ' The tendency of cndowmcntH has often been iliscuHsotl. 
 Sonic an- inrlincfl to think that thev aro not hrncficial to th«'
 
 316 TWO REMARKABLK TRAITS. 
 
 establislinients of old standing — from institutions, 
 wliere teachers are trained to their profession, — 
 from societies which supply cheap and useful 
 books : with the aid of an authorized version of 
 Scripture, where every copy that is used is the 
 same, word for word, (an advantage this, which 
 is unknown upon the continent,) and with innu- 
 merable other resources, what may not yet be 
 done to extend our usefulness, and to grow in 
 favour with God and man, if we will but diligently 
 
 cause of religion, and it has been argued, that a minister of the 
 ■word may be safely left to the generosity of his flock, that a 
 congregation will never suffer an active and pious clergyman to 
 be insufficiently provided for. The name of Oberlin is now 
 proverbial, and synon}TTious for that of an eminent and merito- 
 rious pastor. At the revolution, Oberlin, like the rest of the 
 established clergy of France, was deprived of his scanty income. 
 This was in 1789. At first liis parishioners came forward with 
 generous alacrity, and declared that their excellent minister 
 should be none the worse — that they would raise 1400 francs, 
 or about 56/. a year for him at the least. The first year they 
 subscribed a purse of 1133 francs : the second year their libera- 
 lity fell down to 400 francs (16/.) The pastor saw how things 
 were going on, and requested that there might be no more annual 
 collections for him : he w-as unwilling to appear to be drawing 
 from the poor or the reluctant ; he would leave it entirely to 
 their free will, and imsolicited offerings : they knew the way to 
 his house, he said, and might bring to him what and when they 
 pleased. In 1 794, few as were Oberlin's wants, his own resources 
 and his parishioners' bounty had so far failed him, that he was 
 obliged to undertake the charge of ten or twelve pupils for his 
 sxibsistence.
 
 TWO REMARKABLE TRAITS. 317 
 
 and tliankl'ully employ all the means with which 
 we are so abundantly supplied ! 
 
 It has been stated by one of Xeff"s most inti- 
 mate friends, that there were two traits in his 
 character, which are seldom found in one pos- 
 sessed of such powers of mind as himself, and 
 whose whole life, from the period of his maturity, 
 had been a career of activity and usefulness. 
 The first, that he was entirely free from any am- 
 bitious views, he had no desire to be the first, 
 that thorn in the side of the Christian Church ; 
 and though his labours had in reality been more 
 abundant than those of most of his brethren, yet 
 he never undervalued the performances of others, 
 and it never seemed to be a feeling in his own 
 mind, that he had " laboured more abundantly 
 than they all." The second was, such extreme 
 humility, that he even regarded his own energy 
 and activity, as something that partook of the 
 nature of sin ; as being an obstacle in the wav of 
 his more frequent communion with (iod; as dis- 
 tracting his thoughts from himself, and those 
 secret contemplations which are needful for the 
 individual. He was fully sensible that an active 
 spirit, and an affectionate concern for tin- tem- 
 pore] and spiritual coucci'm orollicrs, ai-c (pialities 
 excellent in themselves, and iudispcu'^ablc for flu' 
 good of tlic Cliristian conimonwcaitli, au<l tor the 
 extension oj' (hrist's kiu«xdon) ; but in lii- own 
 case, lie was afraid that tins abxulnd ntlnr
 
 'M^ NEFF COMPARED 
 
 qualities. He knew that it was not the establish- 
 ment of schools, the conducting of missions, or 
 the preaching to others, which of themselves con- 
 stituted the life of the soul : on the contrary, that 
 the strenuous pursuit of great usefulness often 
 becomes a snare and a pitfall, and a covering 
 under which pride lurks : and he felt, with the 
 apostle, the necessity of bringing himself under 
 subjection, lest, when he had preached to others, 
 he himself might become a castaway. It was 
 under the influence of this feeling, that he was 
 inclined to set small value upon his own labours. 
 From his very youth he seems to have had 
 continual conflicts with himself: the life of the 
 chamois hunter would have been most in accord- 
 ance with the natural flight of his spirits, and his 
 ardent attachment to mountain pursuits : but he 
 controlled his wishes, when he was first of an age 
 to seek employment, and he submitted to the con- 
 finement, and to the dull sameness of a nursery 
 garden. Afterwards, when circumstances placed 
 him in the army, and a path was opened to him 
 that was leading rapidly to military reputation, and 
 to the indulgence of some of his early schemes, he 
 turned aside from the tempting prospect, and 
 determined not to know any thing save Jesus 
 Christ, and him crucified. " His temper," said 
 another of his friends, after his death, " natu- 
 rally violent and unbending, was completely sub- 
 dued."
 
 WITH BERNARD GILPIN. 319 
 
 It is not venturing too mucli to say, tliat Neft's 
 character will bear comparison with four of the 
 most distinguished ornaments in his own profes- 
 sion : with Bernard Gilpin, George Herbert, 
 Frederick Oberlin, and Henry Martyn. 
 
 His sphere of action was not, indeed, so concen- 
 trated as that of the three first ; and we have not 
 the parsonage tales and anecdotes to adorn the 
 page of his history, which grace the biography 
 of the pastors of Houghton, Bemerton, and Wald- 
 bach : — nor was it so extensive as that of the mis- 
 sionary Martyn ; it partook, however, of tlie fixed 
 charge of the three first, and of the difHculties of 
 the last. 
 
 In the Memoirs of Gilpin, there are several par- 
 ticulars to which passages in Neff 's life bear re- 
 semblance. Gilpin's parish, Houghton, contained 
 no less than fourteen villages, and had been much 
 neglected before his arrival. Nefl:''s contained as 
 many, or more, and its religion was little more 
 than traditionary. The people of Houghton had 
 been so Ions: excluded from all means of infor- 
 mation, that king Edward's proclamation, for a 
 change in the religious services of the country, 
 had not even been heard of at the time of that 
 prince's death. So, in j)arts of \';il (^iieyras, the 
 edict of toleration of l.ouis XVI. was ii(»t known 
 till four years after its jiiiblication. (Jil|)in s admo- 
 nitions and exanij)le were so impn'ssive, and were 
 so well received, that in a few years a most extraor-
 
 320 COMPARKD WITH BERNARD GILPIN. 
 
 diiiary change was observed in the whole neigh- 
 bourhood of his church : and so among Neff's flock. 
 Gilpin thought that kindness and moderation, on 
 his part, would produce more conversions than 
 the strife of controversy : and it appears from the 
 accounts of his intercourse with non-conformists, 
 how much he was opposed to all intolerant prin- 
 ciples, and how wrong he thought it, on the one 
 hand to assail an established Church with violent 
 hands, and on the other to molest and vex a quiet 
 separatist. Neff's letter ^ on establishments and 
 separation, and the whole page of his ministerial 
 history, will show that they were kindred spirits. 
 
 The following extract from tlie Life of Gilpin, 
 compared with De Thou's^ account of Val Fressi- 
 niere in his time, and with Neff's description of 
 the poverty and ignorance of his Alpines, of his 
 " obtruding Christianity on the notice of the peo- 
 ple," by following them to their habitations, when 
 the winter season confined them within doors; 
 and to the fairs, and places of resort, when they 
 were likely to be found there ; and of preaching 
 to them in any place most convenient for his pur- 
 pose : — this will extend the parallel. In fact, 
 there is ever the closest resemblance between the 
 means, whicli all wise, and pious, and active- 
 minded pastors employ, under similar circum- 
 stances." 
 
 ' Seep. 51. =* See p. 16.
 
 COMPARED WITH BERNARD GILPIN. 321 
 
 " Gilpin used fi'equently to visit the most neg- 
 lected parts. In each place he staved two or three 
 days : and his method was to call the people about 
 him, and lay before them, in as plain a way as pos- 
 sible, the danger of leading wicked, or even care- 
 less lives : explaining to them the nature of true 
 religion, instructing them in the duties they owed 
 to God, their neighbour, and themselves, and 
 showing how greatly a moral and religious con- 
 duct would contribute to their present as well as 
 future happiness. There is a tract of country upon 
 the borders of Northumberland, called Redesdale 
 and Tynedale, of all barbarous places in the north, 
 at that time, the most barbarous. In this dreadful 
 country, where no man would ever travel that 
 could help it, Mr. Gilpin ' never failed to spend 
 some part of every year. He generally chose the 
 Christmas holidays for this journey, because he 
 found the people at that season most disengaged, 
 and most easily assembled. He had set places for 
 preaching, which were as regularly attended as 
 the assize towns on a circuit. If he came where 
 there was a church, he made use of it : if not, he 
 made use of barns, or any other large building, 
 where great crowds of people were sure to at (end 
 him, some for his instruction, and others for his 
 charity. 'I'Iji- was a very diHiciih and laborious 
 
 ' Owing U) the dearth of" fit and able nitn in those times, 
 personn of Mr. Gilpin's character and UiU-nts, Imd licenci-s to 
 preach in diffcrpnt parts of thp diorosp, nut of their own parishfR. 
 
 Y
 
 322 COMPARED WITH GEORGE HERBERT, 
 
 emj)lovinent. The country was so poor, that what 
 provision he conld get extreme hunger only- 
 made palatable. Tlie badness of the weather, and 
 the badness of the roads, through a mountainous 
 country, and at that season covered with snow, 
 exposed him often to great hardships. All this 
 he cheerfiilly underwent, esteeming such suffer- 
 ings well compensated by the advantages, which 
 he hoped might accrue from them to his unin- 
 structed fellow-creatures ^" 
 
 The resemblance between George Herbert and 
 NefF will be seen at once by comparing the minis- 
 try of the latter with Herbert's description, and his 
 own exemplification of the '' Country Parson :" 
 in his performance of the great and neglected duty 
 of catechising, in the true sense of the word ; in 
 his display of all the sympathies and affections of 
 a pastor, and in the corresponding reverence of his 
 parishioners, who would leave their ploughs when 
 his church bell rang for morning prayers, to attend 
 the summons ; m his extraordinary love of sacred 
 music, and persuasion that the introduction of it 
 at hours of devotion is a strong help to piety ; 
 and lastly, in the briefness of his career, which 
 was shortened by his ministerial labours. Her- 
 bert's and Neffs bed of sickness was to each a 
 school of discipline, for which they were thankful 
 and rejoiced. " I do not repine," said Herbert, 
 
 ' Gilpin's Life of Bernard Gilpin.
 
 OBERLIN, AND HENRY MARTYN. 323 
 
 " but am pleased with my waut of liealth ; my 
 heart is now fixed on that place, where true joy is 
 only to be found. I praise God I am prepared to 
 make my bed in the dark : I praise him, that I 
 have practised mortification, and have endea- 
 voured to die daily, that I may not die eternally." 
 We have seen what Neff's dying- bed was. 
 
 Nefi" professed to make Oberlin his pattern, and 
 the parallel between the two appears — in their 
 charge of mountain parishes of wide extent, and 
 in the prudent manner in which each devoted 
 himself to the improvement of a half civilized and 
 indigent population. So much has been said on 
 this subject in the course of the present work, that 
 it need not be further enlarged on. 
 
 With equal justice may Neff, in his character of 
 a missionary, be likened unto the devoted and self- 
 denving' Henry Martyn. Like him, he left his 
 home for a distant country, when he was yet in his 
 youth, and when his heart was still fondly clinging 
 to objects of affection in liis own di-ar laud. W ith- 
 otit any object of aiiiliition, curiosity, or avarice, 
 lie took up his pilgrims staff, and went fortli among 
 a strange j)eople, wliose lial)its and language were 
 n('W to liim ; and laying all that he had,— his time, 
 his abilities, liis knowledge, — and all iliai Ik- was, 
 (III tlir altar <»l" his Uedccmer, he cMCdiiiih rrd (\i-- 
 privatioii> and hardships of every kind, lor u race 
 who had nootlicr <-laini upon liini, than that they 
 were of the human s|M'ci('s, an<l «»1" tin- I'lotcstanl
 
 3'24 TESTIMONIKS TO NEFFS SERVICES. 
 
 faith. " With the Gospel in his hand, and the 
 Saviour in his heart," he went his way, hraving 
 the rage of climates, and submitting* to the 
 drudgery of learning an unknown tongue, and to 
 the disagreeable necessity of seeking society which 
 was oftentimes offensive to him, and of enduring 
 all things, and becoming all things, in the patient 
 hope of being the means of saving some. But as 
 it was with Martyn, so with Neflf, when he was 
 once embarked in the cause to which he had con- 
 secrated himself, nothing then moved or disgusted 
 him, but every living creature, in whom he took 
 an interest, was soon entwined around his affec- 
 tionate heart. There are many things in the sort 
 of life which a missionary pastor must lead, which 
 are so revolting to the natural man, that no feel- 
 ino^s of mere kindness or benevolence can enable 
 him to endure them. It is the power of the 
 Gospel working in his heart, which can alone 
 sustain the Christian under them. 
 
 The following testimonies to the conduct, and 
 services of the estimable subject of this memoir, 
 will close this review of his character. They are 
 taken from the Reports of the Continental Society, 
 whose agent he was for many years. Without 
 professing to approve of all the measures of this 
 association, or to subscribe to all the sentiments' 
 
 ' Is it wise, is it just, to make such sweeping charges as the 
 following? — the first is contained in one of the Reports of the
 
 TESTIMONIES TO NEFFS SERVICES. 325 
 
 advanced in their printed statements, I cannot 
 forbear taking this opportunity of observing, that 
 the thanks of every true Christian are due to a 
 Society, which brought forward and fostered such 
 a man as Felix NefF, which furnished him with 
 the pecuniary means of discharging the duties 
 of an authorised pastor of the established Protest- 
 ant Church of France, when the regular stipend 
 was withheld for want of letters of naturalization, 
 
 Society, and the second in a speech delivered at the Society's 
 general meeting, and published in one of its annual state- 
 ments : 
 
 " And it is of the utmost importance that all persons, who 
 desire that the preaching of the Gospel may be heard on the 
 Continent, should bear continually in mind, that there the word 
 * Protestant' means nothing but a person who does not go 
 tlirough the ceremonies jorescribed by the Church of Rome, and 
 who has, together with the superstitions, for the most part, re- 
 nounced also every fundamental of Christianity " 
 
 " "We have also heard to-day, what Continentjil Protestantism 
 is. And if I were to state what, in my opinion, it is, from my 
 own examination, I would say, it is composed half of the Deist, 
 and half of the persecuting spirit of the Pajiist. In fact, the 
 very' spirit of persecution on the Continent is not only allowed, 
 but em Ultra frcd, by those very persons who call themselves Pro- 
 testants.' When we hear of Protestantism, we tliiiik it is some- 
 thing like our own Protestantism, which is the Protistautisni of 
 the Bible: but that is not the Protestantism of the Coiitiiifiit ; 
 the Protestantism of the Continent is a system, from whitli the 
 whole of true Christianity is excluded but the forms. In fact, 
 Sir, of the two, if I were to judge, I should say, 1 do liclicvc 
 that Popery in tlie best. Is not, then, the institution of such n 
 Society em this indinpenNably necessary ?"
 
 3'J() TESTIMONIES TO NEFFS SERVICES. 
 
 which the government offices vexatiously delayed 
 to send liim, and which generously continued to 
 remit his salary to him, during his last illness, for 
 many months after he had ceased to be one of its 
 labourers. Something objectionable to our own 
 pre-conceived opinions of what is most expedient 
 may be found in every religious and benevolent 
 society, but we are not justified in seeking an ex- 
 cuse in this, for refusing our just praise to what 
 is truly good and beneficial. 
 
 " One of the agents of the Society, Mr. Neff, 
 labours as suffi*agan to a Protestant pastor, among 
 these mountainous districts, and visits different 
 places where the truth was formerly held so pure 
 amidst all the corruptions of the days of anti-christ- 
 ian tyranny, but where now little else than mere 
 nominal Christianity is to be found. With indefa- 
 tigable zeal he ascends the mountains, and de- 
 scends into the vallej^s, to preach, and catechize 
 the children of the inhabitants ; often meeting 
 with great opposition, and many difficulties arising 
 from their ignorance and prejudice against the 
 Gospel. He has been the instrument of a consi- 
 derable revival in some parts, and in one district, 
 more than two hundred children are under his 
 superintendence as catechumens, of whom he 
 speaks in the following terms : — ' I cannot too 
 earnestly recommend to your remembrance at the 
 throne of God, and of the Lamb, this numerous
 
 TESTIMONIES TO NEFF's SERVICES. 327 
 
 family/ Probably, there is not on the whole Con- 
 tinent another flock of two hundred catechumens 
 under the care of the same pastor, instructed in 
 pure doctrine with so much simplicity, and solely 
 founded on the New Testament." 
 
 "Neff" is the spiritual father of these and also of 
 several others in the churches I afterwards visited. 
 He is particularly calculated for this parish, being- 
 capable of undergoing fatigue, indifferent about 
 the conveniences of life, full of zeal, preaching at 
 the end of a long day's march, in the mountains, 
 with unabated energy. The churches being sepa- 
 rated far from each other, in a difliicult and miser- 
 able country, only a person of such qualities could 
 discharge w4th efficiency the duty of a minister. 
 The inhabitants are a race of the most simple 
 habits, and until Neff" came amongst them, quite 
 ignorant. Dormilleuse, Minsas, and Violins, are 
 altogether Protestant ; the lower valleys contain 
 many Catholics. Dormilleuse is the highest of 
 all, and of difficult access ; the snow, 1 am told, 
 lies eight months on the ground, and they have 
 but a small tract of poor land to furnish their 
 subsistence ; this retreat lias been at all times 
 inaccessible to the superstition <•!' Huiiic, wlicthc r 
 acting by violence or j)ersuasion. The last allcm|»l 
 to convert them was of tin; latter nature ; a church 
 was ])uilt, and a cure sent to reside aiiiong the 
 simple inhabitant.-, but lie was not able to gain a
 
 328 TESTIMONIES TO NEFF's SERVICES. 
 
 single proselyte. The committee will not rightly 
 appreciate the valuable services of NefF, without 
 taking into their view the revival that has taken 
 
 place in the parish of . Mr. , the 
 
 pastor, owes his own self, also, to NefF." 
 
 *' Before concluding, I have to mention to you 
 the existence of a few more Protestant communi- 
 ties, inhabiting the mountains of Haut Dauphine, 
 near Brian^on in France, and only separated by 
 a high Alp from the valleys of the Vaudois. I 
 was within a few hours' walk of them, and if the 
 passage had not still been blocked up by snow, I 
 should have gone thither. There is at present a 
 Mr. NefF amongst them, who does the duty alter- 
 nately at the six different churches. From all I 
 have heard of him, he seems to be pervaded by a 
 truly evangelical spirit, and has been the means 
 of producing a great awakening amongst the 
 people. I was confirmed in my opinion by the 
 
 account given of him by the venerable Mr. M , 
 
 ' Monsieur NefF, (he said,) etoit ici il n'y a pas 
 long temps, et il a preche dans mon Eglise. C'etoit 
 un discours excellent et d'accord avec I'evangile ; 
 bien calcule de faire une bonne impression. C'est 
 un veritable enfant de Dieu et qui fait beaucoup de 
 bien ; il ne craint ni de fatigues, ni de froid, ni de 
 privations d'aucune sorte. 11 a passe tout I'hiver 
 dans les montagnes, et on ne joue plus comme 
 auparavant, on ne danse plus les dimanches, les
 
 TESTIMONIES TO NEFFS SERVICES. 329 
 
 gens semblent inspires par un esprit et iine zele 
 pour la religion, comme on ne se rapelled'aucune 
 autre epoque.' May his labours be crowned with 
 still more and more success, and may lie be the 
 blessed instrument of turning many, many more 
 from ' darkness unto light, and from the power of 
 Satan unto God." '' 
 
 Such were the testimonies rendered to the ser- 
 vices of Felix Neff, whilst he was yet alive, and 
 in the exercise of his ministry. Now that he is 
 gone to his rest, may this record of his Christian 
 Virtues have the effect of commending him, not 
 only to the esteem, but also to the imitation of 
 those to whom the memory of such men is dear.
 
 P O S T S C R I P T. 
 
 Since the preceding- pag-es of this work wont to 
 press, I have been favovired with the foUowiug 
 communication from Captain Cotton, whose in- 
 teresting account of an excursion, in company with 
 the lamented subject of this Memoir, will he 
 received as a valuable addition to those remi- 
 niscences which I had previously collected. 
 
 ** I spent several days with Neff in visiting tlie 
 scattered hamlets of which he had taken the spiri- 
 tual oversight, and I was thus afforded a good op- 
 portunity of observing the zeal of that excellent 
 man, his affection for the ol)jects of his care, his 
 singular fitness for ministering in a country of such 
 peculiar natural and moral features, and the re- 
 gard which his simple flock had for him. illlic 
 following transcripts from notes made at tlie time 
 will be of service to your work, you are welcome 
 to make whatever use of fluin vou think pn)i)cr. 
 
 ''E. A.C." 
 
 *' At Pallon, at lln- entrance of the N'allcv of 
 Fressinien;, I met wiili Sr\]\ wlm. lull nl -|»irii> at
 
 332 CAPTAIN cotton's account 
 
 my arrival, proposed climbing to the caverns that 
 had served the inhabitants, in former times, both 
 as places of refuge and of worship. Among others 
 visited by us under the guidance of a native, there 
 was one still called the Glcsia or Ecjlisc, whence 
 many a time the prayers of the people, obliged 
 to retire out of the reach of their oppressors, 
 went up to the throne of mercy; — it is now but a 
 small place, owing, it is said, to a slide of the 
 rock. The opening is on the crest of a frightful 
 precipice. The guide fearlessly entered it, though 
 the rugged rock afforded scarce a hand's breadth 
 to reach it by ; we squeezed through another 
 opening. I do not know that I ever felt the power 
 of association more strongly than when Neff and 
 another, who accompanied us, chaunted Te Deum 
 in that wild temple, the guide appearing the re- 
 presentative of the persecuted race. We entered 
 also another cavern, said to have been used for a 
 similar purpose, during the persecutions in the 
 reign of Louis XIV. The last we entered seemed 
 from below inaccessible. We gained it by the use 
 of hands as well as feet. On returning to Pallon 
 I offered our guide a franc, but instead of taking 
 it, he called Neff's attention to the circumstance, 
 who bade me put the money into my pocket, and 
 not teach the people bad habits. It was also 
 with difficulty that I forced some money on the 
 young man, who had been my guide from St. 
 Laurent du Cros, when he returned ; for three
 
 OF AN r.xcriisroN with nkff. 333 
 
 days' labour, he felt himself repaid in the grati- 
 fication derived from the journey, and in helping- 
 forward my object. From Pallon we mounted to 
 La Ribe, the next village, where we were received 
 by M. Barridon, percepteur of impots in the dis- 
 trict. 
 
 " Neff held a reunion in his house in the course 
 of the evening : it is by means of meetings of this 
 kind principally that he effects the good he does in 
 the mountains. His congregations are so dispersed 
 that he is of necessity in continual motion from 
 one village to another. On arriving, perhaps after 
 a toilsome walk of several leao'ues over the moun- 
 tains, he calls the inhabitants together, and com- 
 mences his service improviso. Those who assem- 
 ble first, when in a private house or stable, where 
 the assembly usually takes place in the winter, pass 
 the time in singing hymns, the women spinning or 
 knitting, till he appears. It is a simple service 
 among simple people, several of whose hearts, 
 however, arc impressed with the Gospel. A table 
 is placed for the minister ; some forms or chairs 
 are brought for the rest, all sitting with a thick 
 carpet of manure under their feet ; one or two 
 lamps, susjjended by strings, throw their liglii on 
 the plain-featured, and plainly-attired grouj), and 
 show the' eatth' raii<j,'e(| at their iiiaii;^ri> hrhiiid. 
 Sometimes the li\inii«-, that the eongregafion are 
 singing at his entrance, l"urni>li a subject for .\eH"s 
 diseoursr, ^^funetinies he (■\|)oun(I'- a eha|)ler of
 
 334 CAPTAIN cotton's account 
 
 the Bible, or preaches from a text: singing* and 
 extempore prayer preceding and concluding the 
 service ; at other times he questions his auditory 
 from a chapter, a mode of teaching well suited for 
 private assemblies. For a minister to be useful 
 among a population so situated as that of the high 
 Alps, it is necessary to have a heart overfloNving 
 with the Gospel, a lively solicitude for his people's 
 souls, and a mouth which never tires of those doc- 
 trines that convert, console, and edify, however 
 weary the body may be, and which, after the 
 service performed, still loves to dwell on the all- 
 important theme. 
 
 " 1st November. — Having slept and breakfasted 
 at Barridons, we went to Violins, a village situated 
 at the Combe : this word signifies, as in Devon- 
 shire, an abrupt narrow valley in the mountains. 
 Let the etymologist discover how the inhabitants 
 of Devon and Dauphiny came to possess the word 
 in common. Divine service was performed by NefF 
 in the new temple at Violins, after which we pro- 
 ceeded upwards to Minsals, another small village, 
 then enjoying during the day only half an hour's 
 sunshine, and about to lose the glorious luminary 
 till the month of March : during the intervening 
 cold months he never rises above the mountains 
 so high as to dart his rays down to the poor 
 cluster of cottages at Minsals. There is no comfort 
 in the houses ; they are vaulted, perhaps to resist 
 an extraordinarv accumulation of snow ; the walls,
 
 OF AN EXCURSION WITH NEFF. 335 
 
 tlioiig:]i thick, are badly built, and within black with 
 soot, and a single small window sheds a partial lioht 
 into the gloomy apartment. We paid, notwith- 
 standing, a very interesting visit, in one of these 
 dark dwellings, to a family named Besson, nine 
 or ten in number ; all of them, I believe, are 
 blessed with the lio-ht of the Sun of Righteousness, 
 to cheer them in the absence of his type in the 
 firmament. The inhabitants in all the valleys in 
 this severe climate are accustomed to pass the 
 winter in the stable along with their cows, sleep- 
 ing in cribs erected for that purpose, 
 
 " After this we returned to La Clialpe, 
 
 where NefF presided at another meeting, previ- 
 ously to bidding adieu to our friends ; we then 
 descended the valley to Philippe, our friend at 
 Moulins : here again a meeting of the neigh- 
 bours was held in Philippe's stable; they were 
 mostly if not all Catholics. The example of the 
 miller's family has doubtless excited some of 
 these persons to think seriously about their 
 salvation, and the interesting nature of Neff's 
 meetings ; prayers whicli they can coniprcliciid, 
 and the mercies of (iod in Christ, jjlainly and 
 affectionately set before them, occasion those 
 wlio have heard once to desire to hear again, and 
 to bring others. The diflerent services of iliis 
 day, except a few prayers in tin* temple, were all 
 exteinjion-. W hi-thcr fired or not. Nell' i> at all 
 times ready l*> Ix'iin. fliinkin'^ lie iM'\er doe>< 
 
 7
 
 336 CAPTAIN cotton's account 
 
 enough. We passed the evening by Philippe's 
 fire-side, the women retiring behind to afford us 
 the best places, and after a cheerful meal we re- 
 tired for the night. 
 
 ^' Early next morning we left our kind host's 
 cottage, who evinced considerable emotion at part- 
 ing. Returning to the point where we had left 
 the valley of Queyras, we ascended by Chateau 
 Queyras, which is a small fortress on a rock, 
 commanding the passage up and down the valley, 
 to Fousillarde, and were received with great joy 
 by a warm-hearted and zealous convert, named 
 Andre Vasserot, who was prepared to undertake 
 a school in the winter. It is one of Neff''s plans 
 of amelioration to form and place pious school- 
 masters in the villages, who may in some measure 
 supply the want of a minister, and especially im- 
 plant, betimes, religious principles in the minds 
 of the young. There was a lame youth so trained 
 whom I saw at La Chalpe. The villagers were 
 brought together for service in the temple, and 
 we then proceeded through the snow, crossing and 
 recrossing a wood of meleze, a species of fir, to 
 San Veran. A meeting was held here also, in a 
 stable belonging to Pierre Sybille, in whose house 
 we slept for the night, being at no great distance 
 from the top of the ridge separating France from 
 the valleys of Piemont. By daylight next morn- 
 ing, we were on our way back, through the snow, 
 to Guillestre, descending by the channel of the
 
 OF AN EXCURSION WITH NEFF. 337 
 
 Guil to that town. After dining- there, I monnted 
 a wretched mule, and set off again for Fressiniere, 
 Neff still walkino'. It was dusk before we reached 
 Champcella, a village not far from Pallon. We 
 put up here with a family of the name of Arnaus, 
 who were, I believ^e, lately Roman Catholics, and 
 much opposed to Neff's proceedings, but now 
 greatly altered. Although Neff had been on foot 
 from daylight, except during the time of breakfast 
 and dinner, he called a meeting; tog-ether in a 
 neighbouring house, at which, notwithstanding 
 the lateness of the hour, a considerable number of 
 persons attended, and among them several Catho- 
 lics. To this hastily assembled crowd, he ad- 
 dressed the divine word, and then spent some 
 time with a sick person. Through the activity of 
 Neff, I was on the back of a mule on the way to 
 our friend Barridon's, at La Ribe, before daylight. 
 We walked from thence to Minsals, and visited 
 aofain the Christian familv of Besson in their 
 stable, where it was so dark that we could not see 
 all the inmates, till they came mar the small 
 window to show themselves. We mounted from 
 this place, in company with some others, to Dor- 
 milleuse, the highest of all the villai^es in Fres- 
 siniere. One would imagine that no motive, l»ut 
 tliat of jxTsonal security, could have led to tlu; 
 construction of u village in that |)Iac('. ( )m- side 
 of the valley, as we ascended, appeared iinj)raeti- 
 cable to the foot of man ; the iiu'lr/.e waves there
 
 338 CAPTAIN cotton's account 
 
 on lofty ledges which seem inaccessible, yet the 
 chasseur climbs among* them, and the inhabitants 
 I believe, derive from thence a supply of fuel : 
 on the other side, between the mountain and the 
 stream, enormous fragments are piled together 
 or thrown about the small extent of flat ground 
 which is susceptible of cultivation ; farther on we 
 climbed b}- a tedious zig-zag path on the face of the 
 mountain, over ruins, that having been split off" by 
 the frost or rain, had rolled from above. The nature 
 of the slope was almost hid from the eye by a 
 deep layer of snow ; large icicles were hanging 
 from the cliff. As winter advances these increase 
 in size and form, as I was assured, to stupendous 
 columns, far more wonderful than the porticos 
 effected by human labour, which are intended to 
 occupy the public eye from age to age, whereas 
 those of the Almighty are renewed and dissolved 
 year after year. 
 
 " After a very toilsome walk we at length reached 
 the remote village of Dormilleuse, one of the least 
 and most retired of the many thousands of France, 
 but particularly distinguished by Him, who seeth 
 not as man seeth, in being- preserved inviolate 
 from the papal abomination. The houses are 
 ranged above each other on a steep hill; the in- 
 habitants are inoffensive and kind, and some of 
 them are pious characters. The snow lying deep, 
 several of the villagers were warming themselves 
 on the sunny side of their cottages as we ap- 
 1
 
 OF AN EXCURSION WITH NEFF. 339 
 
 preached. The people were soon assembled in 
 the church for service, and here I observed the 
 women kneel in those parts of the service in which 
 the men stood. The church was built by govern- 
 ment previous to the revolution, with a parsonage- 
 house, and a cure was appointed for the village, 
 in hopes by mild measures to gain over the people 
 to the Roman religion ; but persuasion was as 
 ineffectual in this attempt as persecution in former 
 instances — the priest met with no success ; he 
 disappeared at the revolution, and has never been 
 replaced : the inhabitants have free possession 
 both of the church and of the house. Neff" uses 
 the latter as a school, having little need of a 
 house, as he is continually on a journey ; he has 
 here both a school for boys and for adults during 
 the winter ; there is also a Sunday-school and a 
 school for infants. 
 
 " A crowd of people came into the house where 
 we had taken up a place by the fire ; and Neff 
 asking me if I had the courage to pass over the 
 Col d'Orcieres to Saint Laurent du Cros, to avoid 
 making so great a circuit as we should do in orbing 
 by the vallev, the practicability of the measure 
 was debated, and the opinion of an experienced 
 cha.sseur takcai : his decision was that the passage 
 might be performed if the weather should be 
 clear and without wind. Tlic dan<:,('r from <l<)udv 
 weather is tin- probabilitv of <mow falling : lluit 
 from wind is grratcr, as it offm j-auscs so tliitk a 
 
 z2
 
 340 CAl^TAIN cotton's ACCOUNT 
 
 cloud of snow as to hinder the traveller from see- 
 ing his way. A perfect knowledge of the moun- 
 tains is also requisite, as the drifted snow fre- 
 quently conceals the danger of the path by lying 
 lightly perhaps against a precipice ; and should 
 the unwary traveller set his foot upon it, the mass 
 is instantly set in motion, he is carried away with 
 it, and never rises again. We saw while ascend- 
 ing to Dormilleuse the effect of the wind, or, as 
 it is called in the Alps, the tourmente, on the 
 snowy summits of the mountains, they seemed to 
 smoke like so many volcanoes. We intended by 
 the laborious journey of the following day to save 
 time, but we were as long in performing it as we 
 should have been in going round about. I supped 
 this evening on a marmot, and found it by no 
 means bad fare ; it is a rich food, more like pork 
 than any thing else. 
 
 ' ' The morning following proving clear and free 
 from wind, we prepared for the fatigues of the 
 day by a good breakfast ; my thick and heavy 
 nailed shoes were covered with linen socks, and 
 a string passed across my gaiters and round ray 
 ancles, to prevent the snow from entering. The 
 mountaineers always take the precaution of secur- 
 ing their feet from the admission of snow in a 
 similar way. I was furnished like the rest with 
 a staff, and we set out, eleven in number, 
 the peasants having the laborious task of tracing 
 the wav for us. The first of the party had a
 
 OF AN KXCLRSION WITH NEFF. 341 
 
 very laborious task, appearing sometimes to be 
 breast high, and it was necessary for the others 
 successively to take the lead : in this manner we 
 passed over the dreary white and trackless waste, 
 crossing several considerable eminences, though 
 we were in a valley, compared with the ridges on 
 each side. It might seem impossible for any 
 livino; beino-s to make this tlieir natural abode, 
 yet the wild is not left untenanted : the wolf and 
 the bear are natives of the Alps, but require more 
 shelter than is to be found in the tract we were 
 passing over ; the lynx is sometimes, but rarely, to 
 be found ; the marmot keeps himself as warm as 
 he can in the earth ; the chamois ranges over 
 the loftiest summits at perfect liberty — we saw a 
 flock of them on the mountain to our right, far out 
 of the reach of man. I was exceedingly fatigued 
 and vexed to be continually sinking when the 
 others trod firm. There is an art in foUowin"- the 
 leader's track ; great care must be taken to place 
 the foot in the trace of him that goes before, and 
 to follow with the same foot. At length the Col 
 appeared before us. We had hoped to reach it 
 before it would be necessary to take refreshment, 
 but our progress was so slow and our whole Jiurty 
 80 exliausted, as to render a meal necessary ; it 
 being impossible to sit, we trod down the snow, 
 and ate our bread and clicc-c and drank <»nr wint^ 
 standing, aitrr which \\v. start(Ml again. ISff! 
 sometimes to(jk tin; phice of leachr, and in the 
 most laborious part of the journey roused tlie
 
 34*2 CAPTAIN COTTONS ACCOUNT, &C. 
 
 spirits of the people by chanting hymns. At last 
 the height was won, but not till two or three in 
 the afternoon, A new waste of snow presented 
 itself on the other side, but the labour of descend- 
 ing was comparatively trifling ; having rested a 
 short time, Neff, myself, and three mountaineers, 
 on their way to Mens also, proceeded downwards 
 from the Col. The kind people watched from 
 the top till we were out of sight, being anxious 
 about me, whom they saw to be an inexpert moun- 
 taineer and quite tired. Instead of being in a 
 valley as before, we passed over a country of an 
 undulating surface, and descended very rapidly. 
 Proceeding more by the general bearings of the 
 country than by any landmarks, we descended 
 several precipices, where I should never have 
 hazarded myself alone, even had there been no 
 snow. Some small lakes lie between the hills, 
 probably furnishing the sources of the Drac which 
 orioinatcs hereabouts. Some notion of the height 
 at which we were, may be formed from the cir- 
 cumstance of one of these lakes having been 
 passed incautiously in the month of July by a 
 man, who did not know he had been on the ice 
 till he had crossed it ; we came afterwards among 
 stone fences of fields under the snow, and a little 
 lower down to a village, and shortly after reached 
 the inn at Orcieres." 
 
 THE END. - 
 
 Gilbert & Rivinoton, Printers, St. John's Square.