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 acquaintances in the villages, similar testimonies of veneration were displayed. "At St. Jean d'Heran he was obliged to repress the outbursting 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 unfavorable construction might be put upon these public indications of esteem, and he begged one of his friends to go forward, and to request that the honest villagers 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." His mode of treating his catechumens may be conceived of from the following sketch, selected from many of a similar kind in his journal. "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 my displeasure so plainly, that she gave up her design; but I 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 lips only gave confession of the truth. Things were in this state with her when she heard my sermon on Good Friday. She was struck by these words, which I repeated more than once:'Go to Golgotha, and there you will see how odious sin is to God!' For the first time she understood, in the sufferings of our Lord, the terrible demands of the holy law of God. In the bitterness and anguish of her soul she shed many 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 endeavored 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 morning, 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, Matt. v. 20. 'It is too true,' said she,' that our righteousness does not surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees it is even less than theirs.' 6 "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 her the passage in St. Paul's Epistle to Titus, and I reminded her of the example 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 gratitude, which incline them to obedience, and to a renouncement of the world. "Do you think,' added I, 'that they, who have such sentiments as these, can find any pleasure in the things of the world?' "No,' said she, 'but I do.' "I then endeavored 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 Comforter. 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.' 666 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 increase their faith.' "But they, at that time, had a little, and I have none at all.' "Here her tears burst forth again, and all that I said appeared to have no effect upon her. She continued all day in such a melancholy mood as to alarm her parents. She could scarcely utter a word; she avoided company, and ate scarcely any thing. "The next morning she told 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.' I 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 vanity. 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 present, but your sadness shall be turned into joy. The Lord will comfort you.' "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 a piece of silver in the dust. He will finish the work which he has begun in you. He will call you to himself, after he has purified you.' "It was in vain that I endeavored to console her by such discourse as this; I could not succeed, and I left her with these words:-' My dear Emily, Í 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 with perfect confidence. I recommend you to acquaint 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 mayor 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 laborers in the vineyard, and dwelt upon those who were hired at the eleventh hour. He listened, and then made some objections. He did not appear to be persuaded. I prayed with him, and then took my leave, after having addressed him with great earnestness, and I hope with affection. I do not know whether the Lord, who came five or six hours af terwards, found him clothed with the white garment, or naked. I also visited another sick person, whom I found much better disposed, and then re turned 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 awakening should produce bad effects, especially if her anguish of mind should continue, and affect her health, which is but feeble even now. 'Oh how "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. happy I am,' she exclaimed, the moment 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 understand what he meant to say, when he exclaimed, 'My soul is full of heaviness, even unto death.'. I should never have done, if I were to endeavor 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-important deportment had now given way to modesty and sweetness. It was no longer the same Emily. My first movement was naturally to bless the Father of mercies and the Saviour of sinners." The people at Mens were extremely desirous of retaining Neff as their pastor; but Providence, designing him for a wider and more difficult sphere of usefulness, threw obstacles in his way; and, near the close of the year 1823, he entered the field of his labors as Pastor of the High Alps. His parish extended in one direction more than eighty miles, and in another nearly sixty. Over this wide extent was his flock scattered among the cliffs, and in the deep ravines of the High Alps; and, though provided with a parsonage for his residence, he was continually passing, summer and winter, from hamlet to hamlet, and spent nearly all his time in the humble and dirty abodes of his people. "We find him, not only preaching, and performing public service, in every village between Dormilleuse and the frontier 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 ordinance; 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 pastoral duty, which have the sure effect of endearing a parochial clergyman to his flock, by proving that he takes a real and affectionate concern in all that interests them." Neff had every thing to do for his poor Alpines; and we shall here give some curious instances of his care for the temporal as well as spiritual interests of his flock. "His first attempt was to impart an idea of domestic 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 conception 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 were not unusual prescriptions in the height of a raging fever. "Strange enough, 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 "From the first he made it his study to conciliate the affections and confidence of the peasants, by employing all his attainments for their improvement, and by showing them that there were many things, in which his general knowledge might 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 artisan, and to the husbandman's implement, and thus to drill the peasantry into better management, 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, introducing 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 Fressinière, 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 compelled the poor creatures to part with their stock at an inadequate price. Neff's eye perceived that a direction might be given to the streams in one part, which would 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 persuading 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 expense stared them in the face like certain ruin; and the labor appalled them, as being perfectly insuperable. When 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 sterile soil, which he wished to see improved, he exclaimed, 'You make as little use of those ample streams, as you do of the water of life. God has vouchsafed to offer you both in abundance, but your pastures, like your hearts, are languishing with drought!' In the spring of 1825, there had been so little snow, that there was every appearance of the soil yielding even less than its usual scanty increase : its wonted supply of moisture had failed. Neff took advantage of the state of the season, and once more pressed them to adopt 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, another would not: the next neighbor 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 endeavor 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 neighbor 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 neighbor 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. He proposed that 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 hours, the stream should be permitted to pour its waters into the different sections and branches of its courses. 6 "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 accordingly as it should be required. But again there was some demur. The people would only labor 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 humor and compliance, if he could only once set them on. Every thing having been arranged, the working party, consisting of forty, met at day-break, and, with their pastor at their head, proceeded to examine the remains of an ancient aqueduct, which it was thought might be rendered in some degree available 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. “Neff 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 the 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 superintending the progress of others. At ten o'clock the party expressed a desire to discontinue their labor and go home to their breakfast. But this would not do for their chief. He foresaw that there would be strag glers, and perhaps deserters, if they should once lose sight of each other: therefore, still setting them the example, he sent for his own breakfast, continued at his work, and persuaded the rest to do the same. "It was a toilsoine undertaking. In some places they had to elevate the floor of the main channel to the height of eight feet, and in others to lower it as much. In the course of the first day's labor, it was necessary to carry the construction across the rocky beds of three or four torrents, and often when 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 labors: 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 spectators. 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 obstinate or dogged humor, 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 fleece, but exhausting his own strength, and wearing himself out for the |