scenery, from the pure and beneficent ministry of the extraordinary man whose pious achievements will make the subject of this article.

John Frederic Oberlin, 'le bon papa Oberlin,' was first made publicly known by a small pamphlet of the Rev. Mark Wilks, of Paris. The Secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society had indeed before alluded to him in honorable terms; and a letter written by himself appeared, without his name, in their First Report. At that period, Oberlin had been prosecuting for nearly forty years a series of the most arduous labors in the cause of virtue and humanity, in the recesses of mountains scarcely accessible to the traveller. He died about a year and a half ago, and has left in his life a striking evidence how much enviable usefulness may bless a station the most obscure.

At the time when the good father Oberlin became its pastor, the Ban de la Roche was in a condition inconceivably degraded. So deep was the ignorance which prevailed, that M. Stouber, who preceded Oberlin, and for a few years labored for their improvement, found the inhabitants unable to read. He had to begin his work by compiling a spelling-book, which with some difficulty he placed in the hands of the children; their parents being at a loss to understand its meaning and object, and suspecting some heresy or divination to lie hid among the unconnected syllables, long opposed the use of the book. On perceiving, however, that the young people were able to read any book in consequence of their lessons, the adults begged to be themselves taught. Stouber left them before this object had been securely accomplished, and they were in danger of relapsing into their former dark

ness.

Nor was their condition in other respects less deplorable. Their houses were sunk in the sides of the mountains, were damp and therefore unhealthy, and afforded but a miserable shelter. They subsisted on potatoes chiefly, and for these they had no cellars, which in winter might preserve them from the frost. There were neither masons, smiths, joiners, glaziers, nor wheelwrights in the country. The various domestic manufactures, as spinning, knitting, weaving, were unknown. Having been long destitute of religious institutions their moral habits were debased, and they were almost as wild in their manners as barbarians.

To this degraded peasantry, Oberlin devoted his talents and his life, from his twenty-seventh year. He applied himself directly to the difficult task of meliorating their condition. To this end he perceived it to be first necessary to open some communication between them and other districts. The roads, if such they could be called, by which only they could reach the highway, were, most of the year, absolutely impassable, and, even in summer, were never used but on some extremely urgent occasion. The good pastor assembled his parish and explained to them his wishes. He proposed that they should open a new road, and throw a bridge across a torrent, which might enable them to communicate freely with adjacent districts. All were amazed. It was impossible. They declined the undertaking. In vain did Oberlin reason with them upon its importance, until seizing a pick-axe he exclaimed, "all who feel the importance of my proposal, come and work with me." His enthusiasm instantly spread. All ran for their tools and joined him. His plan being matured already, they began at once.

And thus at the head of two hundred peasants did the zealous pastor toil, till at the end of two years, after overcoming the most disheartening obstacles, he saw his design successfully accomplished. Roads were afterward made to connect the several villages. Walls were built to prevent the soil on the declivities from being washed down by the mountain streams. And thus, by the energy of an individual, the first impulse was given, to improvements whose benefits are felt by a whole people.

Oberlin next selected a number of youths from among his parishioners, clothed them, and apprenticed them in the adjacent towns; and thus in a few years he had prepared good workmen in all the most important trades. He caused also a warehouse to be opened in which were deposited various utensils for farming, to be sold to his people at cost, with such credit as they needed. He instructed them to erect cottages instead of their miserable hovels, with good cellars, and properly furnished. He directed their attention to the improvements in agriculture which were most essential. By introducing a new method of cultivating the potato, and obtaining new seed from Germany and elsewhere, he augmented the resources of his people; and to his exertions they attributed their being saved, in some years of scarcity, from famine. As soon as he saw that they began to recognise the utility of his instructions, Oberlin formed a little Society among his more intelligent farmers, which he affiliated with that at Strasbourg; and the latter Society placed at his disposal, in 1805, the sum of two hundred francs, to be distributed in prizes to the peasants who had excelled in the care of their nurseries and fruit trees. He instituted a weekly lecture, for the young people, with

a view to render these improvements permanent, in which he explained to them in a familiar way, the subjects of agriculture and general science, as well as religion. Not a year passed, in which some useful plans were not introduced and carried out; so that the rapid progress in civilization and prosperity of this once savage canton, was a subject of wonder in neighboring districts.

To provide employment for the increasing population of so confined a district, not one fourth of whom could be occupied in cultivation, Oberlin introduced various mechanic arts, and domestic manufactures. The reputation of their pastor, and the moral character of his parishioners, their intelligence, simplicity and integrity, induced M. le Grand to remove a manufactory of silk ribbons from the Upper Rhine to the Ban de la Roche. "The pleasure," says he, "of living in the midst of a little colony, whose manners are softened, and whose minds are enlightened by the instructions which they receive from their earliest infancy, compensates the privations of a valley separated from the rest of the world, by the mountains which surround it."

Education must, of course, have soon engaged the zealous cares of the good pastor. When he came there, but one wretched hut in the five villages was used as a school, nor were the peasants willing to hear of any other. Oberlin was poor, but he caused a building to be begun at his own risk, even securing his people against expense for repairs; and in no long time, they had a school-house in each village. He gathered the youngest children into spacious rooms hired and fitted at his own charge, and placed over them governesses who had been prepared by his own instructions for their task. Herc

was spent a happy infancy, in such amusements as were most suitable, and the acquisition of the simplest rudiments of learning. The pastor enjoined that only pure French should be used among these children, and thus nearly banished the patois from the canton.

When prepared the children were received into the public schools. Their religious instruction Oberlin reserved for himself. Every Sunday they were assembled at the church, and recited what they had learned, to their pastor, by whom they were tenderly admonished. During the week, another meeting was held, for the purpose of mutual improvement both of teachers and pupils. From benevolent friends Oberlin procured funds for a juvenile library, and to this he added an electrical machine, some other philosophical instruments, and a collection of plants. Useful works, some of which he himself printed, were made to perform the tour of all the schools yearly; and prizes were awarded to masters and scholars. Oberlin drew up an Almanac to take the place of the superstitious calendars then in use. In their summer walks he taught the children to search for the plants the names of which they had learned in winter. He encouraged a taste for flowers and gardening; and scholars of twelve years of age and upwards were required to write out and commit to memory lessons on agriculture and the care of trees, prepared for them by himself. He impressed on parents and children equally the importance of cultivating the earth, as a part of religion. And it was his custom to require a certificate of every youth who came to be confirmed, showing that he had planted in a described spot, two young fruit trees. The influence which Oberlin gained over his pa