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provement. The limits of this short notice will not permit me to enter into any detail of my proceedings, during the three years and a half that I remained with them. 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 frequented 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 preparation. Several of the inhabitants have shewn a strong inclination to take advantage of the information 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 ministration of regular pastors. Up to the present time, the Valley of Fressinière has not a pastor of its own. It is served in connexion with the churches of Val Queyras, which are ten leagues distant, on the other side of the Durance, and are separated by a lofty range of mountains, whose passes are not only very difficult, but absolutely dangerous in the winter. The visits of the pastor are, therefore, 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, I 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 Fressinière and Queyras, have been too much for me; and total exhaustion, proceeding from this cause and from a stomach complaint, 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 be able to return.

"At this juncture, when respect for the adherents of the primitive doctrines and forms of Christianity has manifested itself so conspicuously in behalf of the Protestants of the Valleys of Piedmont, I have thought it my duty to give publicity to the fact, that their brethren of the French Alps are equally objects of interest, and much more indigent, although they have hitherto remained unknown and unnoticed." pp. 5-10.

Anxious to know more both of this Apostle of the Alps and ' of his flock,' Mr. Gilly determined to visit the Val Fressinière,

VOL. IX.-N.S.

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on his way to or from Piedmont; and he had the gratification of traversing nearly the whole of the alpine diocese which was the sphere of Neff's pastoral labours; but that extraordinary man had gone to his rest a few months before his Biographer arrived at Dormilleuse. From the information collected on the spot, together with other documents *, including Neff's own journals, the present volume has been compiled.

Felix Neff was born in the year 1798, and was brought up in a village near Geneva, under the care of his widowed mother. The village pastor gave him instruction in the Latin language, as well as in history, geography, and botany. Among the few books that were within his reach, Plutarch and Rousseau were his favourites: the former, by making him acquainted with the great heroes of antiquity, kindled his youthful ambition; and the writings of the latter encouraged his love of nature and his taste for mountain scenery. Military exploits and scientific researches shared the visions of his boyhood; and his character and habits were thus formed in remarkable adaptation for the arduous duties and hardships of his future station " as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

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 the bustle of the garrison; and at seventeen, Felix entered † as a private into the military service of Geneva, in the memorable year 1815. Two years afterwards, he was promoted to the rank of serjeant of artillery; and having raised himself to notice by his theoretical and practical knowledge of mathematics, he continued to make this branch of science his study during his continuance in the army. . . . Neff 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 among the superior officers, which was far from honourable to them. They wished him out of the service: he was too religious for them; and after a few years, the serious turn of his mind became so marked, that he was advised to quit it, and to prepare himself for holy orders.' pp. 43-45.

*The Author acknowledges his obligations to a small tract, entitled, "Notice sur Felix Neff, Pasteur dans les Hautes Alpes." A brief memoir of Neff, chiefly translated from this tract, was given in the Congregat. Mag. for April last.

+ In a memoir referred to in a preceding note, it is stated, that Neff was compelled to enrol himself in the garrison.'

It would have been interesting to learn more distinctly the means and mental process by which, amid circumstances and associations so unfavourable to piety, Neff first became awakened to his own spiritual condition and to the paramount importance of eternal interests. A deep and solemn examination of the motives which had hitherto governed his conduct, appears to have led to the overwhelming conviction, that he had come utterly short of the primary obligations of a creature, and of the unchangeable requirements of the law of God. The mental anguish produced by this discovery, was augmented by his ignorance of the evangelical doctrine. In this agony of spirit, he had recourse to prayer for guidance and relief, and to the Bible itself, to the study of which he devoted himself with fervent supplications for Divine illumination: Make me, O God, to know thy truth; and deign to ma'nifest thyself to my heart. Such was his language; and his prayer was heard. Mr. Gilly states, that, on quitting the army, Neff placed himself under pious instruction and superintendence.' Having offered himself as a candidate for ordination, he officiated for some time as a probationer, or proposant; first, in the neighbourhood of Geneva, afterwards in the adjacent cantons, and, in 1821, at Grenoble. We should have been glad to learn further particulars relating to this period of his life; but all that is known, or stated in the memoir, is comprised in these facts. He was in his twenty-fourth year, and had not yet received ordination, when, in 1821, he was invited to assist the Protestant pastor of Grenoble. Having remained there about six months, his services were requested at Mens, in the department of Isère, to supply the place of an absent pastor; and at the petition of the inhabitants to the Consistory, he was nominated 'pastor-catechist' on June 1, 1822. His indefatigable zeal and faithful instructions were made useful to many persons there, and endeared him to all. Having thus, during four years, made proof of his ministry, he left Mens in April 1823, with the intention of seeking ordination. But here a difficulty presented itself.

By whom should he be ordained? By the authorities of the National Church of Geneva, the land of his birth? They 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 betrayed the Gospel, by ceasing to uphold the divinity of Jesus Christ and the essential doctrines 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 subject of national establishments, will shew that he was likely to have scruples here.' p. 81.

The letter to which Mr. Gilly refers, explicitly maintains the right of separation from the national Church, but at the same

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time expresses the Writer's opinion in favour of Establishments, as useful institutions. It is necessary in my opinion,' says Neff, 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 compel them to profess ' or to teach a lie, and that it does not reject them from its bosom, because they are in unison with a more spiritual congregation." Neff's views on this subject were in entire coincidence with those of Henry, Howe, Baxter, and the great body of the ejected ministers. Yet, the step which he took, though not in direct opposition to the National Church of Geneva, was one of very decided dissent from it. He resolved to come to this country, where his name and character had been made known through the medium of the Continental Society, to ask for a public recog'nition as a devoted servant of God, in one of those independ'ent congregations whose ministers 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.' Unacquainted with a word of English, he embarked on board a steamboat at Calais; on landing at Dover, consigned himself to a night-coach; and arrived in the Metropolis on a Sunday morning, with no other clew to guide him through the mazes of the city, than a direction to the house of the Rev. Mr. Wilks. After puzzling out his way' to his friend's abode, he found that Mr. Wilks was not at home, and no one in the house could speak French. He then contrived to find his way to the Protestant French Church.

The excellent Mr. Scholl was the preacher at the chapel upon this occasion; and to him Neff 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 promote 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. ... On the 19th of May, 1823, Neff, to use his own ternis, "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."'-pp. 83, 9.

We cannot refrain from remarking, that Mr. Gilly's account of these transactions bespeaks a candour and liberality of mind highly honourable to him as an Episcopalian. There are, we fear, not many churchmen who would let pass so tempting an occasion for asserting the exclusive validity of Episcopal orders,

and for insinuating their contempt for the congregational polity. Neff lost no time in returning to the scene of his pastoral labours; and the affectionate reception he met with at Mens, would have been felt like a triumphal entrance by any but a "person of his humble and unassuming spirit.' The jealousy of the French Government towards foreign preachers, rendered it unadvisable, however, for him to remain there; and he had formed a strong desire to make the secluded and neglected region of the Alps the scene of his labours. With as much ardour as many would have sought the richest preferment, he longed to become the Oberlin of the French Alps.

"I am always dreaming of the High Alps," said he in a letter of the 8th of 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 shall be embarrassed by the presence and conflicting opinions of other pastors. With respect to the description which B has given of these 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 pasturage, and glaciers, and picturesque spots, and above all, an energetic race of people, intelligent, 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. On the application of the elders of the Protestant churches of Val Queyras and Val Fressinière to the Consistory of Orpierre, he was regularly appointed their pastor; but difficulties occurred with respect to some formalities requisite in order to his obtaining the Government stipend; so that his salary from the Continental Society, of about fifty pounds a year, was his principal, if not sole main

tenance.

Neff's journal has noted the 16th of Jan. 1824, as the day on which he arrived at Arvieux, to take possession of the habitation provided for the pastor of the district. The parish of Arvieux, one of the two ecclesiastical sections into which the department of the High Alps is divided, comprises the two arrondissemens of Embrun and Briançon. It extends sixty miles, in a straight geographical line from east to west; but nearly eighty miles must be traversed through the windings of the mountains, in the journey from one extreme point to the other. Within this line are situated seventeen or eighteen villages, containing between 600 and 700 Protestants, who are divided into six distinct and distant groupes. The valley of Queyras, which communicates directly with the Protestant valleys of Piedmont by the pass of the Col de la Croix, forms the eastern quarter of the section of Arvieux.

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