press, and one for bookbinding. I assisted him in colouring a quire of paper, which is intended for the covers of school-books. He gives scarcely anything to his people but what has been in some measure prepared by his own or his children's hands.

"He will never leave this place. A much better living was offered to him. 'No,' said he; 'I have been ten years learning every head in my parish, and obtaining an inventory of their moral, intellectual, and domestic wants; I have laid my plan : I must have ten years to carry it into execution, and the ten following to correct their faults and vices.'

"Yesterday I found him encircled by four or five families who had been burned out of their houses: he was dividing amongst them articles of clothing, meat, assignats, books, knives, thimbles, and coloured pictures for the children, whom he had placed in a row according to their ages, and then left them to take what they preferred. The most perfect equality reigns in his housechildren, servants, boarders, are all treated alike; their places at table change, that each in turn may sit next to him; with the exception of Louisa, his housekeeper, who of course presides, and his two maids, who sit at the foot of the table. All are happy, and appear to owe much of their happiness to him. They seem to be ready to sacrifice their lives to save his."

This letter refers to a period in which the usually quiet district of the Ban de la Roche was disturbed, like other parts of France, by the shock of the Revolution. Owing, however, in a great measure to the tastes and habits implanted in the people by Oberlin, this fearful convulsion passed over the canton with comparatively small effect. Oberlin was himself, in the first instance, exposed to its perils, and the losses it occasioned. Like the rest of the French clergy, he was deprived of his income, and for some years depended on the voluntary but scanty offerings of his parishioners. While public worship was everywhere forbidden as illegal, and many of the clergy imprisoned, Oberlin's accustomed ministrations at Waldbach and the other villages were not interrupted, neither was he exposed to any personal privation. At the commencement of the Revolution he was indeed summoned before the council of Alsace, to clear himself of entertaining views hostile to the movement; but he was not only acquitted of taking any part against the new order of things, but complimented on the excellence of his character, and requested to persevere in his charitable labours.

It would appear from his memoirs, that Oberlin was on the whole favourable to republican principles; and perhaps he gave them the strongest token of his approbation in allowing his eldest son, Frederick, to enter the army as a volunteer; in which situation he was among the first who were killed. His remarkable conduct as respects the famous assignats (paper notes) issued by the French Directory, was, however, as much a matter of benevolence as of political principle. Lamenting the depreciation

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of this visionary paper money, on account of the national credit, and feeling for the losses incurred by his poor parishioners in having accepted the assignats as payment, he commenced the practice of buying up every assignat at its nominal value, or, what was nearly the same thing, giving agricultural implements and other articles in exchange. Incredible as the fact may appear, he continued to accept this utterly worthless paper for a space of twenty-five years, and by this means, at a great sacrifice to himself, cleared the Ban de la Roche and its environs of every assignat. The enthusiasm which induced this singular act of patriotism and benevolence, prompted him also to retain the notes he acquired, and to inscribe on them a few words expressive of his thankfulness in being able to withdraw them from circulation. The following sentence is a translation of one of these inscriptions:-"Thus, thanks be to God, my nation is discharged in an honest manner of this obligation for 125francs.'

Fortunately, in carrying out his numerous schemes of piety and benevolence, Oberlin was not interrupted by bad health. He possessed a vigorous constitution, which enabled him to exercise a universal supervision over all the affairs of his parish, to preach at different stations on the same day, to lecture at different times through the week, and to perform innumerable journeys of charity and mercy. He was, like all great men, methodic in all his undertakings, and did not spend needlessly a moment of time. Everything he did was exact, neatly accomplished, and to the point. He considered himself constantly under the eye of God, and that it was incumbent on him to do nothing heedlessly. In writing, for example, he felt it his duty to form every letter with care. Time he justly reckoned to be of the utmost value. On finding himself obliged to go to Strasburg, which was almost always to perform some service for his parishioners, he generally travelled during the whole night, that he might be home to his usual duties with as little delay as possible. No kind of weather deterred him from making visits to his parishioners. As a clergyman to afford religious consolation, or as a physician to render medical assistance, his activity was as astonishing as his zeal. Latterly, he sent a young man to college as a student of medicine, and when he was fully qualified, he relieved him of this onerous branch of duty.

Oberlin, as we have said, belonged to the German Lutheran church; but his tenets did not perhaps correspond precisely with that or any other confession. He took his belief directly from the Bible, particularly the evangelists, and neither plagued himself nor others with theological subtleties. Pure and simple, his Christianity was eminently practical, and in listening to him, one almost felt himself already within the air of paradise. Once a week, on Friday, he conducted a service in German, for the benefit of those inhabitants of the vicinity to whom that lan

guage was more familiar than French. Nothing could be more primitive or affectionate than these meetings, which resembled the assemblage of a family circle. The women listened to him while going on with their work; and now and then the pastor would break off his discourse, and after taking a pinch from his snuff-box, send it round the congregation. After having pursued his discourse for half an hour, he would stop and say, "Well, my children, are you not tired? Have you not had enough?” His auditors would generally reply, "No, Papa; go on; we should like to hear a little more ;" and the good old man would resume, putting the same question at intervals, till he observed that attention was beginning to flag; or, perceiving that he spoke with less ease, the audience thanked him for what he had said, and begged him to conclude.

It need scarcely be stated of the cher Papa, that he was eminently tolerant of all forms of belief. Among his parishioners there were some Roman Catholics; and many of that persuasion, under their respective priests, bordered on the Ban de la Roche. He was equally kind to all; and on some occasions, at great personal risk, defended Roman Catholics, in the prosecution of their religious observances, from indignity and injury. On one occasion he also manfully interposed to prevent a Jew pedlar from maltreatment. Taking the poor man's packet of goods on his back, he led him from the scene of tumult, and did not quit him till he was placed beyond the reach of danger. At all times his house was open as a place of refuge to the persecuted or distressed; and during the heats of the Revolution, he was known to have thus saved many persons from a cruel and ignominious death.

OBERLIN CONTINUES HIS LABOURS.

Oberlin, as we have seen, began his labours in the Ban de la Roche in 1767, and continued them till the period at which we have now arrived, which was in the early part of the present century. Every year he had been able to make a small but sensible advance in his comprehensive schemes, and now could look around with pleasure on the result. The fame of his astonishing intrepidity and perseverance was also spread abroad over many lands-a fact, however, of which he was unmindful and unconscious-and he was visited by travellers from different countries, curious to see the effects which it was said he had produced.

An English traveller, who visited the canton with a companion, relates a conversation which he had with the driver of his voiture in approaching the residence of Oberlin, which we translate as follows, although losing the vivacity of the original :Driver.-You are going to see our good pastor Oberlin, gen

tlemen?

Traveller.-Yes, we are going to see him. Do you know him?

D.-Do I know him? Yes, I know him well. I have heard him preach frequently.

T-But you are a Catholic, are you not?

D.-Yes; we are all Catholic at Shirmeck; nevertheless that does not hinder us from hearing sometimes the good pastor of Waldbach.

T-Do you find that he preaches well?

D.-Yes, I think very well.

from our eyes.

Often he draws the hot tears

T.-You have been a soldier, I should think?

D.-Yes, monsieur, I have been a soldier; and I am sorry to say when one is a soldier he easily gets into bad habits.

T.-From all that I have seen until this time, bad habits are easily acquired by all.

D.-That is possible. For me, I tell you frankly that I have been no better than others; and when I hear the pastor Oberlin preach, he makes me feel that I am not too good at the present time. He says what is quite right; it is true what he saysvery true.

T-Well; but do you not think that what he says is essential to be known? Do you not believe that the person who tells us of our errors is one of our best friends?

D.-To be cured, one must know the malady.

T-Certainly. You are, then, happy in having a minister who makes you feel the truth?

D.-You are right; and I assure you that M. Oberlin is a man who makes himself useful in all sorts of ways.

T-Tell me, what has he done?

D.-What has he done! He has done all that can be done. In the first place, this road here has been made by him.

T-Well, but that is not absolutely the best in the world. D. That may be; but see you, sir, it is not many years since we could not have passed with a small car in this direction. Monsieur the pastor surveyed all this road, and, moreover, wrought at it with his own hands, for an encouragement to others.

T.-And this little bridge that we are going to cross?

D.-Yes, certainly, that bridge also; that was erected by him.
T-He ought to be rich, to make so many things?
D.-That may be yes and no.

T.-How?

D. We may say yes, because if he had all that he has given to others, he would be very rich. We may say no, because he cares for nothing, absolutely nothing: he gives all to the poorall; yes, monsieur, all! When you see his house, don't expect to see anything very glorious.

Leaving the low country, and ascending the valleys of the Steinthal, the visitors were at every turn delighted with the spectacle which presented itself. The well-cultured fields, and their va

riety of produce; the neat cottages, with their trim gardens and blooming orchards; and the generally good roads and pathways leading to the villages and hamlets; all were remarkable, and the more so from the contrast with the backward and slovenly state of things in the country which had been left. The visitors were not less pleased with the cleanly and decent appearance of the people, their sober deportment, polite address, and correct speech. The children likewise partook of the universal influence, being gentle and obliging, and were seen in clusters going home merrily from school, the stronger leading those who were young and tender. In looking into the houses of the peasantry, everything was orderly and tidy; the beds clean and tastefully decorated, the furniture carefully polished, and the floor dry and comfortable. There was no appearance of wealth -that, indeed, being nowhere visible in the rural districts of France-neither, however, were there any signs of abject poverty, certainly not of either slothfulness or misery. And all this, together with a moral improvement not evident on the surface, was the work of the good pastor Oberlin.

It is an ascertained law that mankind increase at a quicker rate than the means for their support that is, taking any particular spot on the earth's surface as a basis of the calculation. To prevent famine, therefore, one of two things becomes necessary; either that the redundant population be provided with employment from other quarters, or that they emigrate. That such a law has been impressed on human society for the purpose of peopling the unreclaimed but habitable parts of the globe, there can be no reasonable doubt. In usual circumstances, the inhabitants of any particular spot manifest extraordinary reluctance in dispersing themselves; and they too often cling to their homes long after reason and necessity would have bidden them depart. Such was now the condition of the Ban de la Roche. At the time of Oberlin's settlement, the parish contained from eighty to a hundred families; now, it comprised five or six hundred, numbering altogether about three thousand of a population. Here was a perplexing problem. Oberlin felt that the very improvements he had instituted had probably hastened the arrival of the period when the land could support no more inhabitants with a reasonable share of comfort. From whatever cause, the fact of over-population was becoming evident. Every little bit of land was occupied by its family; and the family patches were in the course of subdivision. There was as yet no actual want, because all less or more assisted each other, and the economical habits of the people led them to make the most of the small means at their disposal. Potatoes being their chief fare, the only immediate danger to be apprehended was a failure in the crops of that vegetable. In 1812 the calamity of a greatly deficient harvest fell upon France; corn rose to an exorbitant price; and in some parts of the country potatoes were sold for a sou a-piece.