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FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
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MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 JOHN FREDERIC OBERLIN, 
 
 PASTOR OF WALDBACH, IN THE BAN DE LA ROCHE. 
 
 From the Third London Edition. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : 
 
 HILLIARD AND BROWN, 
 
 Booksellers to the University. 
 
 1832. 
 
Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1832, 
 
 by Hilliard & Brown, 
 
 in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 E. W. MET CALF AND CO. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 This little work was sent to me some time 
 since by an English lady, and I read it with avid- 
 ity and delight. I immediately thought of pro- 
 curing its republication, but gave up the design 
 on learning that it had already taken place. 
 When I found however that the American edition 
 had been printed in a distant part of the country, 
 and in an uninviting form, and was rarely to be 
 met with in this vicinity, I renewed my purpose ; 
 and with the assistance of my friend, Mr. Charles 
 F. Barnard, who kindly undertook the necessary 
 translations and the correction of the press, I am 
 enabled to present to the public this uncommonly 
 attractive and instructive work. It is an exact 
 reprint of the third London edition, with the few 
 following exceptions. Several passages which 
 are there inserted both in the French and English 
 languages, or in the French only, are here given 
 only in English, and in all cases in a new trans- 
 lation. The address at the funeral of Oberlin has 
 
 V 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 been taken from the Appendix and inserted in the 
 body of the work. Specimens of the composition of 
 the children at school have been omitted, and one 
 of the notes of the English edition has been re- 
 moved, as I wished to introduce it with remarks 
 into this preface I think it right to notice these 
 changes, though they in no degree affect the 
 character or value of the book. 
 
 I think it will be acknowledged by the readers 
 of the work, that it contains one of the most 
 charming pictures of a good and useful life of 
 which we have any account. This results in no 
 degree from the skill of the author or the peculiar 
 grace of the composition. Few books are less in- 
 debted to recommendations of this sort. Indeed 
 we are often inclined to wish, as we read it, that 
 it possessed more of the attractions which a taste- 
 ful hand and a glowing imagination might have 
 imparted to it. Yet perhaps on the whole the 
 Memoir is more valuable in its present form. 
 The very nakedness and dryness of the state- 
 ments, the very bareness of the narrative, proves 
 how strong an interest lies in the characters and 
 facts themselves ; we are the more sure of the 
 singular excellence of the man and his works 
 from perceiving that they owe none of their power 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 over our hearts to the manner in which the story 
 is told. Perhaps indeed it may be regarded as a 
 proof of high skill in the author, that she knew 
 how to leave the subject in unadorned simplicity, 
 to make its own impression. 
 
 There is but one thing in the book which I 
 have noticed with regret ; and that is, the manner 
 in which the author has spoken of Oberlin ; s de- 
 lightful Catholicism. Certainly few things are 
 more beautiful and praiseworthy, or display more 
 evidently the ascendency of the Christian over the 
 selfish spirit, than that universal toleration, founded 
 in faith, humility, and love, which passes by the dis- 
 tinctions of party and embraces as brethren, all 
 who are Christians in life, to whatever division of 
 the church they may belong. It seems to me, 
 accordingly, that no one can fail to be touched 
 with admiration at the greatness of soul displayed 
 by Oberlin in his generous treatment of the Cath- 
 olics. " His tolerance/' says the Rev. F. Cun- 
 ningham, "was almost unbounded. He admin- 
 istered the sacrament to Catholics, Lutherans, 
 and Calvinists, at the same time ; and, because 
 they would not eat the same bread, he had, on 
 the plate, bread of different kinds, wafer, leav- 
 ened, and unleavened. In every thing the same 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 spirit appeared ; and it extended not only to his 
 Catholic but also to his Jewish neighbours, and 
 made him many friends among them all." In 
 this connexion let the reader recollect the an- 
 ecdote of the Jew on page 230, of the Catholic 
 infant on page 228, and of the collection of 
 mourning Catholics at this good man's funeral ; 
 and he will feel that here is one who has exhib- 
 ited the noblest example of the real spirit of his 
 Master. It is therefore painful to observe, that 
 our author deems it necessary to apologize for 
 this part of his character as something blame- 
 worthy, as if she would caution her readers 
 against allowing themselves too much to admire 
 or imitate so dangerous an example. The very 
 remarkable language in which she does this, oc- 
 curs in the note above mentioned, which I trans- 
 ferred to this place with the intention of re- 
 marking upon it at some length. But on further 
 consideration it seems quite unnecessary to do 
 more than to express our surprise, that a lady, who 
 has shown herself so capable of rightly appre- 
 ciating the other traits of this character, should 
 be found incapable of perceiving the beauty of 
 this its most benignant feature. The place of the 
 note was on page 226, and it runs in the follow- 
 ing terms. 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 14 It must be conceded that the spirit of liber- 
 ality in this venerable pastor was, in some instan- 
 ces, carried to too great a length. His humility 
 and simplicity of mind, divested of fastidiousness 
 
 and party feeling, led him, perhaps, too readily 
 to embrace in the arms of Christian charity some 
 whom he would have found deficient in the fun- 
 damental doctrines of our reformed religion. If, 
 however, we cannot entirely approve his want of 
 discrimination, we must admire that true spirit 
 of brotherly affection which induced him to look 
 with kindness and toleration upon all whom he 
 had reason to hope loved our Lord Jesus Christ in 
 sincerity. 
 
 " Whatever error in doctrine, or peculiarity of 
 sentiment, may appear in some part of Oberlin's 
 character, the editor cannot but think that in all 
 the main truths of Christianity his views were 
 clear and simple, and that the devoted earnest- 
 ness, ardent zeal, and disinterested benevolence 
 by which this extraordinary man was so eminently 
 distinguished, sprung from love to a crucified Re- 
 deemer, and humble reliance upon his death and 
 merits. If some of the more evangelical doctrines of 
 the Gospel do not appear so prominently in this Me- 
 moir as could he wished, may not the deficiency 
 be attributed, in some degree, to the character of 
 its subject — a character, in which the fruit* of 
 true religion, rather than its doctrines, are exhib- 
 ited : — in which the active, laborious pastor, 
 placed in very peculiar circumstances, and called 
 to very unusual duties in the discharge of his high 
 office, is brought before the reader's notice, rather 
 than the more retired Christian in his secret walk 
 with God." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is to be remembered in this connexion, that 
 while the doctrines which Oberlin held, coincided 
 for the most part with those that are generally 
 accounted Orthodox in the Reformed churches ; 
 yet on some points he followed his own specula- 
 tions till he came to conclusions not a little he- 
 retical ; — as may be seen by turning to page 199. 
 This fact illustrates the independence and de- 
 cision of his character. He thought, as well as 
 acted, for himself. He relied on his own judg- 
 ment, and resolutely followed what he thought to 
 be the light of truth, wherever it led him, even 
 though it occasionally conducted him into unwont- 
 ed paths. 
 
 But it is the fidelity, disinterestedness, and zeal 
 of his active life as a pastor, which renders his 
 history and character invaluable ; and it is prin- 
 cipally for the sake of setting before our young 
 ministers so exciting and encouraging an exam- 
 ple, that the book has been republished. The 
 influence that he exerted, the work that he ac- 
 complished, the changes that he wrought, fill us 
 with wonder ; but we perceive at the same time, 
 that the chief source of his peculiar power lies 
 within the reach of every man. It is less in the 
 endowments of his nature (though undoubtedly 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 much may be attributed to his original constitu- 
 tion of mind), than in the unreserved devotion of 
 his whole soul to one great object, under the in- 
 fluence of one great principle, that the secret of 
 his success is to be found. He thus teaches us 
 wherein lies the power of the ministry, and 
 what should be the study of him who would be- 
 come an efficient pastor; — that character is 
 to be his main reliance, a character founded ex- 
 clusively upon Christian Faith ; through which he 
 lives and acts only for the one purpose of doing the 
 utmost good as a minister of Christ ; — having no 
 other object and no higher ambition. It is this 
 unqualified surrender of himself to the influences 
 of his faith, and this absolute devotion of thought 
 and life to the one work of his calling, which made 
 Oberlin what he was, and is to make other 
 ministers what they should be. 
 
 The study of his character would therefore go 
 to remove two of the chief hindrances to the effi- 
 cacy of the Christian ministry. The one, that to 
 which I have just alluded, — that men are not 
 sufficiently absorbed in their work, that it is not 
 enough the favorite, exclusive object of their life, 
 that they allow other pursuits and interests too much 
 to distract their attention and divide their affec- 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tions. The other, that they do not believe in the 
 power which is committed to thetti, they want 
 faith in the influence which they might exert ; 
 and from expecting to witness but slender fruits 
 of their labor, they pursue their work with a di- 
 vided heart, and a sluggish, unenterprising spirit. 
 They forget that energy and efficiency of action 
 are to be had only by him who possesses a strong 
 hope and confident expectation that his labor shall 
 not be in vain. Oberlin's life is a standing re- 
 buke to our want of faith and zeal. Under the 
 most unpromising circumstances he began to 
 work, in faith that something might be done, and 
 with his heart on fire to do it. It was accomplished. 
 If other men do nothing, is it not because they 
 have neither the faith nor the fire ? Yet the gos- 
 pel can give thern both. 
 
 It is true that the state of society in our coun- 
 try is different from that which existed in the 
 Ban de la Roche, and that consequently the vil- 
 lage pastor here can by no means hope for results 
 equally remarkable with those exhibited there. 
 But let a young man go into any village with the 
 same ardent faith, and the same devotedness to 
 the one object of his ministry ; let him be active, 
 disinterested, and evidently above all selfish 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 views ; let him with the zeal and energy of Ober- 
 lin unite his discretion also ; — and he cannot 
 fail to exert an extensive, wholesome, and visible in- 
 fluence. He cannot, he ought not, like that moun- 
 tain pastor of a semi-barbarous people, take the 
 lead in all affairs, secular and economical, as well 
 as moral ; but he may and he ought to labor in all 
 ways and without intermission to increase the 
 means and excite the desire of improvement. By 
 a paternal interest in the schools, by care in se- 
 curing the best teachers and the best books, by 
 cherishing libraries, lyceums, and associations 
 for mutual improvement, by introducing and 
 countenancing rational recreations and watching 
 for opportunities to elevate the tastes and pursuits 
 of the people, he may render it certain that so- 
 ciety will make progress. And if spared to a long 
 ministry, may find himself at last surrounded by 
 a generation which will owe its character, so- 
 cial as well as religious, to his paternal and fos- 
 tering care. 
 
 Oberlin's life is full of instruction on another 
 point. Those who are entering the ministry, full 
 of the ardor and ambition of youth, need to be re- 
 minded like other young men, that all true 
 honor lies in the faithful discharge of duty, — 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 not in the place that one occupies, or the worldly 
 advantages that attend him ; and that however 
 one station may seem in the eyes of men more re- 
 spectable and desirable than another ; in the sight 
 of God, and in the judgment of Christian principle, 
 the lowest is highest and the last first, if it have 
 been best filled with duty. When we see Ober- 
 lin refusing the posts of honor which awaited him 
 in the polite settlements of France, and resolutely 
 retreating from the confines of civilization, that 
 he might devote himself to the lost sheep of the 
 mountains: we should learn to be ashamed of 
 that love of ease and personal indulgence which 
 causes us to cling around the luxuries and com- 
 forts of home, reluctant to sacrifice our early as- 
 sociations and attachments for the sake of minis- 
 tering to the needy and preaching the gospel in 
 by-places. The example of Oberlin may per- 
 suade us what a rich reward lies in those unfre- 
 quented paths; and how beautifully God com- 
 pensates the disinterested laborer, for sacrifices 
 which a worldly mind would esteem insupporta- 
 ble. It is remarkable, that even Oberlin's 
 fame (a reward which he never dreamt of ob- 
 taining), has been owing to his choice of a re- 
 mote and obscure field of labor. It shows the 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 power of active benevolence to change the hum- 
 blest sphere into a place of distinction. What a 
 rebuke to the toiling aspirants after fame, that 
 while they anxiously spend life in vain endeav- 
 ours to rise, this unambitious pastor, hidden in the 
 mountains from public view, and with no object 
 in life but the glory of God and the welfare of 
 man, has snatched from them the very prize for 
 which they were contending. 
 
 But we must not suffer ourselves to be drawn 
 too strongly to these secondary considerations. 
 The secular benefits which attended the ministry 
 of this excellent man, and the reputation which 
 followed it, were but the incidental consequences 
 of his sacrifices and toils. They did not prompt 
 them. It was his zeal for his religion, and his 
 desire to make men partakers of its blessings, 
 which incited him. And that man altogether de- 
 ceives himself, who fancies that any inferior pow- 
 er to this religious principle is able to create that 
 disinterestedness of spirit, that abandonment of 
 self, that readiness to spend and be spent, which 
 ought to mark the Christian minister, and with- 
 out which his service will be a burden to him. It 
 is this principle of religion, inwrought into the 
 character, actuating the whole life, which alone 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 can originate and support a continued, patient, 
 self-sacrificing philanthropy, proof against dis- 
 couragement, fatigue, and disgust, and happy in 
 proportion to its toils. Such love to man can 
 grow only from love to God. It belongs to men, 
 who, like Oberlin, live for heaven more than for 
 earth, in whose estimation the spiritual life is the 
 only life, whose ambition is to be like Christ going 
 about to do good, and to help in building up the 
 purity and bliss of his kingdom. May the peru- 
 sal of these Memoirs help to form such men. 
 
 Henry Ware Jr. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The peculiar delight with which the writer 
 perused the interesting article respecting John 
 Frederick Oberlin, in the Eclectic Review for 
 October, 1827, first induced her to think of com- 
 piling a more extended memoir of that extraor- 
 dinary man ; and she considers it only due to 
 sincerity to make this acknowledgment, as the 
 following pages contain much of M. Lutteroth's 
 " Notice," there translated by Mr. Conder's abler 
 pen. 
 
 The facility with which she has been enabled 
 to carry her design into execution, through the 
 kindness of several individuals who readily sup- 
 plied her with valuable documents and papers 
 relative to the subject, claims her most cordial 
 thanks to those respected friends. 
 
 She is particularly obliged to P. J. Heisch, Esq., 
 a friend of long standing in Oberlin's family, and 
 a gentleman distinguished by his many benev- 
 olent exertions in this his adopted country, for 
 b 
 
XV111 PREFACE. 
 
 the polite manner in which he furnished her 
 with materials from personal lecollection, auto- 
 graph sermons, and interesting communications 
 from Strasbourg. To her highly valued friend, 
 Dr. Steinkopff, she is indebted for the correction 
 of her German translations, and to the Rev. 
 Francis Cunningham, for the use he kindly 
 allowed her to make of various memoranda and 
 letters written during a short residence in the 
 Ban de la Roche in the summer of 1^20, and 
 also for a number of original papers and MSS. 
 respecting Mr. Oberlin. 
 
 It is to the kindness of these friends indeed, 
 that the volume chiefly owes whatever of interest 
 it may contain ; and, while gratefully acknowl- 
 edging the sources whence she has derived her 
 materials, the Editor is happy to add, that it has 
 undergone the revision of one whose personal 
 acquaintance with Oberlin, and the knowledge 
 he possessed of his character, both as a bene- 
 factor to his country and an eminent servant of 
 God, peculiarly qualified him for the task. Un- 
 der the sanction of this dear friend her Memoir 
 meets the public eye. 
 
 The works from which such parts as are not 
 original are chiefly translated or taken, are 
 
PREFACE. XIX 
 
 Mr. Wilks's little narrative, entitled "The Ban 
 de la Roche and its Benefactor;' 5 M. Lutteroth's 
 "Notice sur Jean Frederic Oberlin," already 
 alluded to ; the same work in German, with 
 additions, by ML Krafft ; " Promenades Al- 
 saciennes, par M. Merlin ; " and " Rapport fait 
 a la Societe Royale et Centrale d'Agriculture par 
 M. le Comte Francois de Neufchateau, sur 
 l'Agriculture et la Civilisation du Ban de la 
 Roche." 
 
 The Editor trusts that the following recital of 
 the astonishing change effected in the morals and 
 condition of the little flock committed to Oberlin's 
 pastoral care, and of the unremitting labors of 
 love, which, for a period of fifty years, were 
 crowned with such signal success, may induce 
 many humble laborers in the Lord's vineyard, 
 who, though in different situations and circum- 
 stances, have to contend against similar or equal 
 obstacles, to " thank God and take courage." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 Preliminary remarks — Account of the Ban de la 
 Roche — Its state previous to M. Stouber's time — 
 Stouber's exertions there ..... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Oberlin's birth and childhood — Instances of his early 
 benevolence — His act of self-dedication — Influence 
 over others — Arrival in the Ban de la Roche . 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Oberlin's first impressions on reaching Waldbach — 
 State of the parish — Improvements needed — Oppo- 
 sition manifested by the peasantry — Correspon- 
 dence with M. Stouber — Letters from the latter — 
 His marriage, and prayer — Improvements in the 
 condition of the roads — Agricultural improvements, 
 &c. 36 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Oberlin's address to his parishioners on the com- 
 mencement of a new year — Erection of a new 
 school-house in the Ban de la Roche — Progress of 
 
XXIV CONTENTS^ 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Page 
 Oberlin's last illness and death — Letter respecting 
 Louisa Schepler, found after his decease — His fune- 
 ral — Address and prayer delivered on that occa- 
 sion — Fragments of an address to his parishioners — 
 Conclusion 263 
 
 Appendix 290 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 JOHN FREDERIC OBERLIN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The memoirs of an individual, whose whole 
 life has been devoted to pious and disinterested 
 exertions for the temporal and spiritual good of 
 mankind, have not unfrequently proved the 
 means of awakening the desires, and strengthen- 
 ing the resolutions of others to follow him in his 
 career of benevolence. 
 
 Such an individual was John Frederic 
 Oberlin, a person whose indefatigable efforts 
 for upwards of fifty years, to benefit the simple 
 villagers who constituted his flock, entitle him to 
 universal esteem and admiration. The writer 
 earnestly hopes that the recital of his labors 
 may, under the divine blessing, tend to confirm 
 the zealous and encourage the weak, and lead 
 all who hear it to catch a portion of that sacred 
 glow by which he was himself animated. 
 1 
 
g MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 His character, as displayed in the uniform 
 tenor of his life, presented a remarkable com- 
 bination of varied excellencies ; for wliilst much 
 exalted sanctity and intrepid zeal were conspic- 
 uous, an unwearied ardor in doing good, and a 
 habitual willingness to renounce his own inter- 
 ests to promote the well-being of his fellow 
 creatures, were equally evident. In addition to 
 this, his extreme simplicity, conscientious integ- 
 rity, sweetness of temper, and refinement of 
 manner, caused him to be both ardently loved 
 and sincerely revered ; whilst his industry, his 
 agricultural skill, his knowledge of rural and do- 
 mestic economy, and the energy with which he 
 carried his plans into effect the moment he was 
 convinced of their utilify, rendered him not only 
 an example, but a blessing to the people among 
 whom he resided, and afforded a delightful proof 
 of the advantages that may accrue from a union 
 of secular and spiritual duties. 
 
 Before I proceed with my narrative, it will 
 be proper to present the reader with some de- 
 scription of the Ban de la Roche, the scene of 
 Oberlin's long and useful labors, and to stale 
 what had been previously effected there by his 
 predecessor, M. Stouber, a Lutheran minister, 
 of congenial spirit with himself. 
 
BAN DE LA ROCHE. 3 
 
 The Ban de la Roche, or Steinthal,* derives 
 its name from a castle called La Roche, round 
 which the Ban or district extends. It is a 
 mountainous canton in the northeast of France, 
 between Alsace and Lorraine, forming part of 
 the declivities and western ramifications of the 
 Haut Champ, or Champ de Feu, an isolated 
 range of mountains, detached by a deep valley 
 from the eastern boundary of the chain of the 
 Vosges. It consists of two parishes : the one is 
 Rothau ; the other, including three churches, 
 comprises the five hamlets of Foudai, Belmont, 
 Waldbach, Bellefosse, and Zolbach. These 
 last mentioned are almost exclusively inhabited 
 by Lutherans. 
 
 The Champ de Feu, as its name implies, 
 bears traces of volcanic origin. It is higher than 
 Snowdon. rising three thousand six hundred feet 
 above the level of the sea. The village of 
 Waldbach, at which Oberlin resided on account 
 of its centra] situation, stands upon its acclivity, 
 at the height of one thousand eight hundred feet ; 
 and the usual road from Strasbourg thither lies 
 through the towns of Molsheim, Mutzig, and 
 Schirmeck. Behind the little town of Schir- 
 meck the extensive and fertile valley in which 
 
 * Steinthal is- the German name for the Ban de la 
 Roche. Its literal signification is, the Valley of Stone. 
 — Dr. Steinkopff, 
 
4 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 it is situated separates into two smaller ones ; 
 the well-wooded vale of Framont on the right, 
 and that of the Ban de la Roche, of which Ro- 
 thau is the first and principal parish, on the left. 
 The approach to the latter place is romantic in 
 the extreme ; the road winding down the side 
 of a steep precipice towards the southern side of 
 the valley, where, after crossing the stream, 
 which flows through its bottom in the character 
 of a mountain torrent, it rises again, and the cot- 
 tages of the peasantry become visible, partly 
 imbosomed in plantations of pine, and beneath 
 immense masses of overhanging rocks. * 
 
 * The mountains of the Ban de la Roche are compos- 
 ed of granite, porphyry, and argillaceous schistus, which 
 are commonly even with their convex surface : sienite, 
 trapp, and grunstein, projecting on the sides and sum- 
 mits in irregular columns, and pointed cliffs, appear origi- 
 nally to have formed the general covering. 
 
 These rocks exhibit great variety in their grain and 
 constituent parts. The granite, which is coarse and 
 less compact towards the base of the mountains, presents 
 the fineness of marble about two thousand five hundred 
 feet above the valley; in these regions it is also found 
 without quartz, taking the appearance of sienite or gran- 
 ite, according to the arrangement of the mica and feld- 
 spar. WlLKS. 
 
 For further particulars relating to the topography of 
 this district, See Propositions Geologiques pour servir, &c. 
 Par H. G. Oberlin, Doct. en Medicine. 8vo. Strasbourg, 
 1806. 
 
BAN DE LA ROCHE. 5 
 
 The hamlet of Foudai, at the distance of two 
 miles from Rothau, is next in course, and occu- 
 pies an almost equally picturesque situation. It 
 is succeeded by Waldbach, whose tapering spire 
 and straw-thatched cottages are surrounded by 
 orchards of pear and cherry trees, and by the 
 intermingled foliage of the alder, the ash, and 
 the sallow. The temperature varies extremely, 
 according to the height and position of the dis- 
 tricts. On the summits of the mountains, for 
 instance, the climate is as intensely cold as at 
 Petersburg, though in the valleys below it is so 
 soft and delightful as to resemble that of Gene- 
 va, and parts of the Jura. The winter months 
 generally commence in September, and the 
 snow usually remains undissolved till the follow- 
 ing May or June, when the wind blows from the 
 south, thus leaving only a period of four or five 
 months for summer weather. The produce of 
 the canton necessarily varies with the elevation 
 of the several communes ; the highest are cul- 
 tivated notwithstanding, though to so little pur- 
 pose, that it is said the wife can carry home in 
 her apron all the hay her husband has mown in 
 a long morning. The harvest differs in time as 
 well as in quantity. At Foudai it is about a 
 week later, and at Waldbach a fortnight later, 
 than at Rothau, which is about four hundred 
 feet below. 
 
O MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 The district of the Ban de la Roche com- 
 prises about nine thousand acres (of forty eight 
 thousand French feet), between three and four 
 thousand of which are covered with wood, two 
 thousand are occupied with pasture, one thou- 
 sand five hundred are employed in meadows or 
 garden land, and the remaining fifteen hundred 
 only are cultivated with the plough.* 
 
 In the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, the whole 
 of this territory was in a most desolate state ; 
 for having been partially the seat of conflict du- 
 ring the thirty years' war (terminated in 1648), 
 and again in the time of Louis the Fourteenth, 
 it w r as so laid waste as to be scarcely habitable, 
 there being no road from one place to another, 
 and but little land under cultivation. About 
 eighty or a hundred families earned indeed a 
 scanty subsistence on its precarious soil, but, 
 being destitute of all the comforts of civilized 
 life, they existed in a state of misery and degra- 
 dation, more easily conceived than described. 
 
 This remote district partook, however, with 
 the rest of Alsace, in a privilege denied to the 
 ancient French provinces. When it was incor- 
 porated with France, it was stipulated in the 
 decree that its inhabitants should continue to en- 
 
 *Four or five hundred potatoes, six hundred rye, four 
 or five hundred oats. 
 
BAN DE LA ROCHE. 7 
 
 joy an entire liberty of conscience ; and whilst 
 the persecuted Protestants of Languedoc, and 
 other parts of France, could not find a suf- 
 ficiently secure retreat for the celebration of their 
 worship, here they possessed their own churches, 
 and no restraint was laid upon their religious as- 
 semblies. 
 
 When M. Stouber, therefore, (who has been 
 already mentioned as the predecessor of Ober- 
 lin,) entered upon his ministerial duties, in 1750, 
 he had not to proclaim the " glad tidings of sal- 
 vation " in the midst of intolerance and perse- 
 cution, nor had he to apprehend any danger 
 from the subtleties of theological controversy on 
 the part of a people almost entirely destitute of 
 the means of religious instruction. Many diffi- 
 culties, however, stood in his way, in conse- 
 quence of the deplorable ignorance and extreme 
 wretchedness that universally prevailed — diffi- 
 culties that would have baffled the endeavors of 
 a mind less ardent and less energetic than his 
 own. 
 
 The following anecdote will convey some idea 
 of the state of the parish on his first arrival there. 
 Desiring to be shown the principal school-house, 
 he was conducted into a miserable cottage, 
 where a number of children were crowded to- 
 gether without any occupation, and in so wild 
 
8 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 and a noisy state, that it was with some difficulty- 
 he could gain any reply to his inquiries for the 
 master. 
 
 " There he is," said one of them, as soon as 
 silence could be obtained, pointing to a wither- 
 ed old man, who lay on a little bed in one cor- 
 ner of the apartment. 
 
 " Are you the schoolmaster, my good friend ?" 
 inquired Stouber. 
 
 " Yes, Sir." 
 
 " And what do you teach the children ?" 
 
 " Nothing, Sir." 
 
 " Nothing ! — how is that ? " 
 
 " Because," replied the old man, with char- 
 acteristic simplicity, " I know nothing myself." 
 
 " Why then were you instituted shoolmaster ? " 
 
 "Why, Sir, I had been taking care of the 
 Waldbach pigs for a great number of years, 
 and when I 'got too old and infirm for that em- 
 ployment, they sent me here to take care of the 
 children." 
 
 The schools in the other villages were of a 
 similar description ; for, if the schoolmasters 
 were not swine-herds, they were shepherds, 
 who, in the summer, followed their flocks over 
 the mountains, and, during the winter months, 
 imparted to their little pupils the knowledge 
 they possessed. This, however, was so trifling, 
 
stouber's exertions. 9 
 
 that many of them were scarcely able to read 
 with fluency, and very few could write at all. 
 A total want of method in teaching, and of ele- 
 mentary books, also raised additional hindrances 
 to the learners. If shown the commencement 
 of a chapter in the Bible, it is reported of them 
 that they could seldom find the end of the pre- 
 ceding chapter, and that even the most accom- 
 plished of the masters found it difficult to col- 
 lect the sense of what he was reading, and would 
 allow the children to say Jesus for Je suis, ca- 
 naille for canal, or to make other mistakes 
 equally egregious, without being aware of the 
 error. 
 
 Stouber's first step, therefore, was to procure 
 some schoolmasters willing to perform, and com- 
 petent to discharge, the duties of their station. 
 This was no easy task, for the office had sunk 
 into contempt, and the more respectable of the 
 inhabitants regarding it as a disreputable trade, 
 would on no account allow their sons to em- 
 brace it. The pastor's ingenuity, however, soon 
 contrived to overcome this difficulty. He chang- 
 ed the name of the office, and the objection no 
 longer existed. " Well then," said he, " let 
 us have no schoolmasters, since that would not 
 become people of your situation in life ; but al- 
 low me to select the most promising of your 
 
10 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 young men, and to make them superintendents 
 (Messieurs les regents) of the schools." To 
 this proposition they readily acceded. His next 
 business was to arrange a regular alphabet, and 
 draw up a series of spelling and reading lessons 
 for their use, which were printed at the expense 
 of a benevolent individual of Strasbourg, who 
 also presented Stouber with a -thousand florins 
 (nearly four hundred dollars), that he might en- 
 courage those schoolmasters whose pupils made 
 the most rapid progress, by giving them the in- 
 terest of it annually, in addition to tbeir salaries? 
 which were necessarily very small. 
 
 The next want to be supplied was that of a 
 school-house, and for this purpose Stouber beg- 
 ged that the necessary timber might be gratui- 
 tously furnished from the surrounding forests, a 
 privilege which the inhabitants of the Steinthal 
 generally had in their power to bestow. The 
 following anecdote shows the persevering char- 
 acter of this remarkable man. In the bad state 
 of the woods at this period the Abbe de Rege- 
 morte (royal Praetor of Strasbourg) found an ex- 
 cuse for refusing the humble request for wood to 
 build a school-house. — " But your Excellen- 
 cy," said Stouber, after having for a long time 
 solicited in vain, " your Excellency will allow 
 me to make a private collection among charita- 
 
stouber's exertions. 11 
 
 ble individuals towards the erection of our new 
 building?'' This request was immediately 
 granted. " Well then," continued the pastor, 
 presenting his hat, " you are, please your Excel- 
 lency, known as a charitable person, and I will 
 make the beginning with you." On hearing 
 these words the Prastor quickly forgot all the ob- 
 jections he had just been adducing, and gave 
 him liberty to cut down as much wood as he 
 pleased, under the express condition that he 
 should dine with him every time he visited 
 Strasbourg. 
 
 Having thus happily succeeded in procuring 
 materials, a small building, or rather a log hut, was 
 constructed under Stouber's direction and super- 
 intendence : but as he had found obstacles in the 
 worldliness of the governor, so now he had to 
 contend with the ignorance and prejudices of the 
 people. They still opposed themselves to his 
 benevolent efforts ; for as schoolmasters had al- 
 ways hitherto been hired, like laborers, at the 
 lowest price, the cheapest were regarded as the 
 best, and the peasants began to fear that if an 
 increase of knowledge were required from their 
 candidate, there would be a proportionate in- 
 crease of expense. Nor was this all ; for on 
 seeing the unconnected syllables which were 
 proposed as lessons for the scholars, they were 
 
12 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 at a loss to comprehend their meaning, and for a 
 long time opposed their introduction from the idea 
 of some concealed heresy or divination. 
 
 On perceiving, however, in the course of a 
 few months, that by means of the new spelling- 
 book little children were enabled to read any book 
 that was put into their hands, their elder broth- 
 ers and sisters, and even the parents themselves, 
 astonished at the rapid progress they were mak- 
 ing, and ashamed to remain behind, came for- 
 ward, and begged to be instructed also. A sys- 
 tem of regular instruction for adults, during part 
 of the Sunday and the long evenings of winter, 
 was consequently established, in addition to the 
 schools. 
 
 Another great object of Stouber's solicitude 
 was to disseminate and make known the Holy 
 Scriptures, as soon as he considered the people 
 prepared for their reception. Hitherto they 
 had only heard of the Bible as a large book that 
 contained the word of God : and when their 
 pastor, in order to circulate the Scriptures as 
 widely as possible, divided each of fifty French 
 Protestant Bibles, he had procured from Basle, 
 into three parts, and bound these portions in 
 strong parchment, to enable him to make a 
 more general distribution, he had some diffi- 
 culty in convincing his parishioners that these 
 
stouber's exertions. 13 
 
 thin volumes would answer the same purpose 
 as the large book which they had been accus- 
 tomed to see, and that they were equally the 
 Word of God ; still more to give them an idea of 
 what was meant by the Old and New Testa- 
 ment, or a book, chapter, or verse. They were 
 not aware that the preceding minister had been 
 in the habit of adhering to any particular text in 
 his sermons ; this, however, is not surprising, as 
 he himself had not possessed a Bible for up- 
 wards of twenty years. No sooner, however, 
 had Stouber placed these Bibles in the schools, 
 with permission to the pupils to carry them 
 home, than the Scriptures began to be read in 
 their different families. Some of them even 
 found their way to the Roman Catholic villages 
 in the vicinity. The priests, it is true, strictly 
 forbade their perusal, but this prohibition only 
 served, in many instances, as an additional stim- 
 ulus to the inquirer after truth. The people 
 secretly procured them for themselves, and 
 sometimes, considering their poverty, at a very 
 high price. I might, indeed, mention many an- 
 ecdotes of the eager delight with which this new 
 and precious privilege was embraced, but it is 
 sufficient to say that the desire of possessing it 
 continually increased, and that the diffusion of 
 Scriptural instruction, both in the Ban de la 
 
14 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 Roche and its environs, was beginning to be at- 
 tended with the most cheering results.* A bless- 
 ing also attended Stouber's discourses in the 
 pulpit, for they were admirably adapted to the 
 capacity and situation of his hearers. He en- 
 deavored in the simplest language to lead their 
 minds to a knowledge of the happiness enjoyed 
 by the people of God, and the means of attain- 
 ing that happiness ; and to convince them that, 
 notwithstanding the poverty of their external 
 circumstances, the Almighty would protect and 
 bless them if they earnestly sought to do his will. 
 He then brought them to consider the all-impor- 
 tant doctrines of the Cross, that we can only be 
 regenerated by the influences of the Holy Spirit, 
 and that we must rely solely upon the Lord Jesus 
 Christ for pardon and redemption. In 1756, 
 when he had resided about six years at Wald- 
 bach, he was appointed pastor to the market 
 town of Barr on the other side of the Vosges. 
 His parishioners, who, though still wild and un- 
 cultivated, had begun to feel the value of his in- 
 structions, expressed the greatest regret at his 
 removal, as his intended successor was little 
 more enlightened than his predecessors had 
 been. 
 
 *For one singular instance, among* many others, of 
 the avidity with which the Bible was sought at this pe- 
 riod, See a letter of Oberlin's, Chap. VI. 
 
stouber's exertions. 15 
 
 Four years afterwards Steinthal again became 
 vacant ; and M. Stouber, notwithstanding the 
 reproaches and contempt cast upon him by many 
 of his friends, who could not understand the 
 principle of the love of Christ which constrained 
 him to exchange a very profitable and respecta- 
 ble living in a town for a physical and moral wil- 
 derness, felt impelled to return to his beloved 
 Steinthal. The pleasure with which this intel- 
 ligence was circulated through the valley was 
 extreme ; the inhabitants of the different vil- 
 lages, both young and old, went to the top of 
 the mountain, which had separated him from 
 them, to witness his arrival and to bid him wel- 
 come with tears of grateful joy. 
 
 It was during this latter part of his residence 
 in the Ban de la Roche, that M. Stouber's min- 
 isterial labors were so peculiarly successful, and 
 that, under the blessing of God, a general im- 
 provement appeared to take place. 
 
 He had resided altogether more than fourteen 
 years in this spot, actively engaged in promoting 
 the welfare of his flock, when he had the afflic- 
 tion of losing a wife to whom he was tenderly 
 attached, and who, animated by the same spirit 
 as her husband, had warmly participated in all 
 his labors of love. She was buried in the church- 
 yard of Waldbach, and the following touching 
 
16 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 epitaph adorned her monument, until it was de- 
 stroyed, with many others, at the time of the 
 Revolution : 
 
 During three years of marriage, 
 
 Margaret Salome, wife of G. Stouber, 
 
 Minister of this Parish, 
 
 Found at the Ban de la Roche, in the simplicity of a 
 
 peaceable and useful life, 
 The delight of her benevolent heart, and, in her first 
 
 confinement, the grave of her youth and beauty. 
 She died August 9th, 1764, aged twenty years. 
 
 Near this spot 
 
 Her Husband has sown for immortality all that was 
 
 mortal ; 
 
 Uncertain whether he is more sensible of the grief of 
 
 having lost 
 
 Or the glory of having possessed her. 
 
 Three years after this afflictive dispensation, 
 which he bore with Christian fortitude, and just 
 when he was beginning to rejoice in the happy 
 transformation effected by his exertions, he was 
 offered the station of pastor to St. Thomas's 
 Church, at Strasbourg. He accepted it, and it 
 was greatly feared that the Ban de la Roche 
 would relapse into its former melancholy condi- 
 tion. 
 
 Oberlin perceived the emergency of the case ; 
 his benevolent mind strongly felt the importance 
 of such a field of labor ; it was a sufficient in- 
 
HIS CHILDHOOD. 17 
 
 ducement for him to undertake its duties that 
 others disdained them, and the very misery and 
 moral degradation which had to be remedied, 
 rendered it in his eyes the more interesting ; he 
 therefore left a spot in which the brilliance of 
 his mental powers might have attracted univer- 
 sal homage ; and led, as he conceived, by the 
 hand of Providence, became the successor of 
 M. Stouber in this retired and desolate scene of 
 exertion. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 John Frederic Oberlin was born at 
 Strasbourg, on the 31st of August, 1740. His 
 father, a man of considerable attainments and re- 
 spectability, though not in affluent circumstances, 
 held an office in the Gymnasium of that city, 
 and devoted his hours of leisure to the instruc- 
 tion of his nine children, to all of whom he was 
 most tenderly attached. They in return looked 
 up to him with devoted fondness, and acquiesced 
 in his wishes rather from motives of sincere af- 
 fection than filial duty, ever anticipating his de- 
 sires, and anxiously promoting his happiness by 
 every means in their power. 
 2 
 
18 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 Notwithstanding the scantiness of his income, 
 he was in the habit of giving each of his chil- 
 dren a present of two pfenninge * every Satur- 
 day to spend as pocket-money in fruit or cakes ; 
 and the following pleasing anecdote, in allusion 
 to this circumstance, is related as an early trait 
 of the little Frederic's character : — When the 
 tailor's or shoemaker's bills were brought home 
 on a Saturday night, as he knew that his father, 
 who was a man of remarkable integrity and 
 punctuality, always liked to discharge them im- 
 mediately to their full amount, without deduct- 
 ing, as the'' tradesmen frequently wished him to 
 do, and as is the usual practice, the odd pence, 
 he used to watch his countenance, and if he im- 
 agined from its downcast expression that he was 
 in want of money, to run to his savings-box 
 and return in triumph to empty all his little 
 store of w T eekly pfenninge into the hands of his 
 beloved parent. 
 
 But this was only one among the thousand 
 instances of generosity and benevolence for which 
 he was, even from his earliest infancy, so peculiarly 
 distinguished. Self-denial ever seemed his rul- 
 ing principle ; and he was never so happy as 
 when an opportunity of relieving the oppressed, 
 
 * The smallest copper coin in the country, and not 
 equal in value to an English farthing. 
 
 
HIS CHILDHOOD. 19 
 
 or the distressed, presented itself to his notice. 
 I shall mention some more anecdotes of a sim- 
 ilar description, because it is interesting to trace 
 the germ of those dispositions, which, when 
 ripened into maturity, brought forth such remark- 
 able fruits. 
 
 As he was one day crossing the market-place, 
 when his little box of savings was nearly full, 
 he saw some rude boys knock down a basket of 
 eggs, which a country-woman was carrying upon 
 her head. The woman was in great trouble, 
 when Frederic not only rebuked the boys with 
 much spirit, but ran home, fetched his box, and 
 presented her with all its contents. Another 
 day, he was passing in Strasbourg market, by the 
 stall of an old clothes' vender. A poor infirm 
 woman was endeavouring, without success, to 
 procure an abatement in the price of some ar- 
 ticle she appeared to be particularly desirous of 
 purchasing. She wanted two sous to complete 
 the sum demanded, and was on the point of 
 leaving the stall from her inability to give them* 
 Frederic, pretending to be engaged with some- 
 thing else, only waited for her retiring, when he 
 slipped the two sous into the dealer's hand, and 
 whispered him to call back the poor woman and 
 let her have the gown ; and then, without stop- 
 ping for her thanks, instantly ran away. 
 
20 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 He at another time saw a parish officer ill- 
 using an invalid beggar in the street; and fol- 
 lowing the impulse of the moment, totally- 
 regardless of consequences, he placed himself 
 in a spirited manner between what he thought 
 the oppressor and the oppressed, reproving the 
 former in strong terms for his inhumanity. The 
 officer, indignant at such an interruption, wished 
 to arrest the little fellow ; but the neighbours, 
 who knew and loved the boy, came running out 
 of their shops to his assistance, and compelled 
 the man to desist. A few days afterwards he 
 happened to be walking in a narrow lane, when 
 he saw the same person at a distance. " Shall 
 I run away ? " thought he to himself. " No : God 
 is with me. I relieved the poor man, and why 
 should I fear? " With these reflections he pro- 
 ceeded on his way ; and the officer, smiling at 
 him, allowed him to pass unmolested. 
 
 This early horror of injustice and oppression 
 was implanted by his parents, whose wise in- 
 structions and virtuous example were, in his 
 case, crowned with the most gratifying success. 
 To his pious and highly accomplished mother he 
 often acknowledged himself indebted for his love 
 of " things that are excellent," and for the de- 
 sire that he subsequently felt of dedicating his 
 talents and his powers to the good of others. 
 
HIS MILITARY AMUSEMENTS. 21 
 
 She was indeed a truly admirable woman, and 
 conscientiously endeavoured to bring up her 
 children " in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord." She was in the habit of assembling 
 them together every evening, and of reading 
 aloud some instructive book, whilst they sat 
 around the table copying pictures, which their 
 father had drawn for them ; and scarcely a night 
 passed but, when on the point of separating, 
 there was a general request for "one beautiful 
 hymn from dear mamma/' with which she always 
 complied. The hymn was followed by a prayer; 
 and thus their infant steps were conducted to 
 Him, who has said, "Suffer little children to 
 come unto me." 
 
 About this time, by way of relaxation, their 
 Father used to take them every Thursday even- 
 ing, at least during the summer months, to his 
 family estate at Schiltigheim ; and on arriving 
 there, he would fasten an old drum to his waist, 
 place his seven blooming boys in a line, and pre- 
 cede them in the capacity of a drummer, making 
 them face to right and left, and go through all 
 the military evolutions. The extreme delight 
 which little Frederic took in this exercise prob- 
 ably induced his early partiality for the military 
 profession, for, whilst quite a lad, he would min- 
 gle with the soldiers and march with them ; and 
 
22 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 having attracted the attention of the officers by 
 the display of his knowledge respecting sieges 
 and battles, he obtained permission to join them 
 in their exercises. His father, however, having 
 destined him to a learned profession, at length 
 interfered, telling the young soldier it was time 
 to renounce this child's play for study and seri- 
 ous labor. Frederic was of an ardent and lively 
 temperament ; but he readily coincided in his 
 father's views, and devoted himself with the 
 same enthusiasm to his literary pursuits, resolv- 
 ing to tread in the steps of his elder brother, the 
 celebrated scholar of the same name, who w T as 
 at this period pursuing his philological studies in 
 the academy at Strasbourg.* By industry and 
 application, he soon regained the time he had 
 lost ; though, indeed, his military exercises, hav- 
 ing had the happy effect of strengthening and 
 hardening his bodily frame, formed an important 
 part of his preparation for the fatigues of the 
 service which awaited him in the remarkable and 
 arduous course which he w 7 as destined to follow. 
 
 * Jeremiah James Oberlin, a learned antiquary and 
 laborious philologist. He wrote " Un Essai sur le Patois 
 Lorrain des Environs du Comte du Ban de la Roche, 
 1775, petit in 8vo.," which contains some very curious 
 notes upon ancient French, and in which he endeavours 
 to prove that the patois is a corruption of the Latin 
 language. 
 
HIS SELF-DEDICATION. 23 
 
 The circumstances that induced him to resolve 
 upon devoting himself to the ministry of the 
 Gospel, are not known ; but it appears from 
 various memoranda found amongst his papers 
 after his decease, that he was, from his very 
 infancy, the subject not merely of pious convic- 
 tions, but of holy affections towards his heavenly 
 Father. "During my infancy and my youth," 
 he says, "God often vouchsafed to touch my 
 heart, and to draw me to himself. He bore with 
 me in my repeated backslidings, with a kindness 
 and indulgence hardly to be expressed." Even 
 at a very early age his frequent prayer was, 
 " Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. O God, 
 teach me to do thy will.' 5 
 
 About this time, Dr. Lorentz excited a great 
 sensation in Strasbourg, by the ardent zeal with 
 which he preached a crucified Saviour. Fred- 
 eric's mother, attracted by the general report, 
 went to hear him, and was so much struck with 
 the powerful manner in which he set forth the 
 grand doctrines of redemption and remission of 
 sin, that she entreated her favorite son to accom- 
 pany her on the following Sunday. Being a 
 student in the theological class at the University, 
 and having been warned by his superiors not to 
 go, it was with some reluctance that he was pre- 
 vailed on to accompany her. In compliance 
 
24 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 with her urgent solicitations, he however at last 
 acceded, and was so much delighted with the 
 evangelical truths he heard preached, that he 
 became a regular and diligent attendant of the 
 Doctor's sermons ; and this circumstance proba- 
 bly contributed to strengthen his religious im- 
 pressions, and to confirm him in the resolution 
 he had made. At the age of twenty, he solemnly 
 renewed his baptismal consecration to God by a 
 formal covenant, agreeably to the method 
 recommended by Dr. Doddridge, in his " Rise 
 and Progress."* Although this interesting 
 
 * " I would urge you to make a solemn surrender of 
 yourself to the service of God. Do not only form such 
 a purpose in your heart, but expressly declare it in the 
 divine presence. — Do it in express words. And per- 
 haps it may be in many cases most expedient, as many 
 pious divines have recommended, to do it in writing. Set 
 you hand and seal to it, 'that on such a day of such a 
 month and year, and at such a place, on full considera- 
 tion and serious reflection, you came to this happy reso- 
 lution, that whatever others might do, you would serve the 
 Lord.' 
 
 "Make the day of the transaction, if you conveniently 
 can, a day of secret fasting and prayer; and when your 
 heart is prepared with a becoming awe of the divine 
 Majesty, with an humble confidence in his goodness 
 and an earnest desire of his favor, then present your- 
 self on your knees before God, and read it over delib- 
 erately and solemnly ; and when you have signed it, lay 
 
HIS SELF-DEDICATION. 
 
 25 
 
 document differs but slightly from the original, 
 I shall transcribe it, because it displays so re- 
 markable a union of glowing zeal and lively faith, 
 with humility and self-distrust. 
 
 " Eternal and infinitely holy God ! Under 
 a feeling of deep humility and heart-felt contri- 
 tion, I earnestly desire to present myself before 
 thee. I well know how unworthy such a worm 
 of the dust is to appear before thy Divine 
 Majesty, before the King of kings and Lord of 
 lords ; and more especially so when he designs 
 to enter into a covenant with thee. 
 
 "But the scheme and plan, O Father of mer- 
 cies, is thine own ; thou hast in infinite kindness 
 offered it to me by thy Son ; and thou hast in- 
 clined my heart to accept it. I come, therefore, 
 to thee, acknowledging my numerous transgres- 
 sions ; and with the repentant publican, strike 
 my breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a 
 sinner." I come, because I have been invited 
 in the name of thy Son, and I rely entirely upon 
 his perfect righteousness. Be pleased, I entreat 
 
 it by in some secure place, where you may review it 
 whenever you please, and make it a rule with yourself 
 to review it, if possible, at certain seasons of the year, 
 that you may keep up the remembrance of it."— Dod- 
 dridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, 
 Chap. 17. 
 
26 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 thee, for his sake, to pardon my ingratitude, and 
 to remember my sins no more. Be reconciled, 
 I beseech thee, to thy disobedient creature, who 
 is now convinced of thy right to him, and desires 
 nothing so much as to belong to thee. Holy 
 God ! I this day surrender myself to thee, in 
 the most solemn manner. " Hear, O heavens, 
 and give ear, O earth." I this day acknowledge 
 the Lord to be my God ! I this day declare myself 
 to be of the number of his children, and that I 
 am one of his people. Hear my words, O my 
 God, and write in thy book, that I henceforth 
 devote myself entirely to thee. In the name of 
 the Lord God of Hosts, I this day renounce all 
 former lords that have had dominion over me ; 
 the joys of the world, in which I have too much 
 delighted, and all carnal desires. I renounce all 
 perishable things, in order that God may consti- 
 tute my All. I consecrate, to thee all that I am, 
 and all that I have ; the faculties of my mind, 
 the members of my body, my fortune, and my 
 time. Grant me grace, O Father of mercies, to 
 employ all to thy glory, and in obedience to thy 
 commands. For ardently and humbly I desire 
 to be thine through the endless ages of a happy 
 eternity. Shouldst thou be pleased to make me, 
 in this life, the instrument of leading others to 
 thee, give me strength and courage openly to de- 
 
HIS SELF-DEDICATION. 27 
 
 clare thy name. And enable mc not only to 
 devote myself to thy service, but to persuade 
 my brethren to dedicate themselves to it also. 
 
 "Grant, Holy Spirit, that through thy assis- 
 tance I may be supported in life, and kept faith- 
 ful unto death. Enable me, during the rest of 
 my days, to acquire that of which I stand most 
 in need, and to amend my ways. May the 
 things of this world no longer exercise dominion 
 over me ; but may I, during the short span of 
 life, live solely to thee. Grant- me grace, not 
 only to tread in the path which, I am convinced, 
 is the best, but enable me also to be always 
 most active in walking therein. I resign myself, 
 and all that I have, to thy direction, to be dis- 
 posed of in whatever manner thine infinite wis- 
 dom shall see good. I leave the ordering of all 
 events to thee, and say only, i Thy will, not 
 mine, be done ! ' Employ me, O Lord, as an 
 instrument consecrated to thy service. Look 
 upon me as constituting one of thy flock. Wash 
 me in the blood of thy beloved Son. Clothe 
 me with his righteousness. Sanctify me by his 
 Spirit. Transform me more and more into his 
 image. Impart to me, through him, thy purify- 
 ing, cheering, and comforting Spirit ; and grant, 
 that my life may be passed under the habitual 
 sense of thy presence, O my Father, and my 
 
28 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 God ! And, after having endeavoured to obey 
 thee, and do thy will on earth, take me hence, at 
 what time, and in what manner, thou shalt see 
 good. When the solemn hour of death ap- 
 proaches, and I stand on the verge of eternity, 
 grant, that I may remember this covenant, and 
 employ my latest breath in thy service. And 
 wilt thou, O Lord, be pleased to remember this 
 covenant, shouldst thou see, that through the 
 weakness or anguish of my heart, in that last 
 hour, I am not able to recollect it. Then, 
 heavenly Father, look down with pity on thy 
 feeble child, struggling with death. I would not 
 prescribe to thee, O my Father, in what manner 
 thou oughtest to take me to thyself. I wish not 
 to ask thee to preserve me from agonizing pain. 
 No ; nothing of that kind shall be the object of 
 my prayers. But I would earnestly entreat, in 
 the name of Jesus, to be enabled to glorify thee 
 in the last hours of my life, and amidst whatever 
 sufferings thy wise providence may see best for 
 me, to be patient and submissive to thy holy will. 
 Strengthen my soul ; give it confidence when 
 thou shalt call it hence ; and receive it to the 
 embraces of thine everlasting love. Admit it 
 into the mansions of them that sleep in Jesus — 
 into the mansions where indescribable joys will 
 be its portion for ever. And while it is still on 
 
HIS SELF-DEDICATION. 29 
 
 earth, permit it peacefully and joyfully to await 
 the accomplishment of the promise which thou 
 hast made to all thy people, of a glorious resur- 
 rection, and of eternal happiness in thine 
 heavenly presence. 
 
 "When I am gone to the grave, if these pages 
 should fall into the hands of any of my surviving 
 friends, O grant that their hearts may be sensi- 
 bly affected ; grant them grace not only to read 
 them as the expression of my own sentiments, 
 but to feel, for themselves also, what I have 
 expressed. Teach them to fear thee, the Lord 
 my God, and to seek refuge with me, under the 
 shadow of thy wings, through time and through 
 eternity ; that they may partake in all the bles- 
 sings of thy covenant, through Jesus Christ, the 
 great Mediator. To Him, and to Thee, O 
 Father, and to the Holy Spirit, be everlasting 
 praises ascribed by the millions of thy redeemed 
 children, and by all those celestial beings, in 
 whose works and happiness thou shalt hereafter 
 call them to share. 
 
 "My God, and the God of my fathers ! Thou 
 who keepest thy covenant, and who scatterest 
 thy blessings to a thousand generations, I humbly 
 supplicate thee, since thou knowest that the heart 
 of man is deceitful, to grant me grace to enter into 
 this engagement with all sincerity of heart, and 
 
30 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 to remain faithful to this confirmation of my 
 baptismal covenant. May the name of the Lord 
 be an eternal testimony, that I have signed this 
 covenant in the steadfast and earnest desire of 
 keeping it. 
 
 "John Frederic Oberlin. 
 "Strasbourg, 1st of January, 1760, 
 
 "Renewed at Walcibach, 1st of January, 1770." 
 
 After having completed his studies, Oberlin 
 was ordained, but he remained for some years 
 without undertaking any pastoral engagement, 
 either because he did not feel himself as yet 
 sufficiently mature for so responsible a charge, 
 or because no situation offered itself, adapted to 
 the view which he had formed of his own char- 
 acter and suitableness. Like the admirable 
 Fletcher,* a man of kindred spirit, who refused 
 to undertake the care of a parish because the 
 emoluments were too large, and the duty was too 
 small, Oberlin wished only for a station where he 
 might find ample scope to be useful : — for having 
 devoted himself to his Master's service, he sought 
 neither worldly distinctions, nor worldly honors, 
 but determined to be actuated only by the specific 
 and prevailing desire of pleasing God, and of living 
 
 * The Rev. J. W. Fletcher, Rector of Madeley, Eng. 
 
HIS INFLUENCE OVER OTHERS. 31 
 
 to his glory. Durng this interval, which lasted 
 from the year 1760 to 1767, he employed himself 
 in private teaching, and became domestic tutor 
 to the family of the then distinguished surgeon, 
 M. Ziegenhagen, of Strasbourg. Whilst in 
 this situation he acquired that surgical knowl- 
 edge, and acquaintance with medicine, which, 
 in his subsequent life, proved so peculiarly 
 useful, and enabled him to render such eminent 
 services to his parishioners. 
 
 His conscientious uprightness, amiable dis- 
 position, and entire dependence upon God in 
 the daily events of life, caused him to be held 
 at this time in high estimation among his fellow- 
 citizens ; and the following occurrence is relat- 
 ed, as a proof of the influence he had almost 
 imperceptibly acquired over them. 
 
 An honest tradesman, relying on the power of 
 Oberlin's faith, came to him one day, and, after 
 a long introduction, informed him, that a ghost, 
 habited in the dress of an ancient knight, fre- 
 quently presented itself before him, and awaken- 
 ed hopes of a treasure buried in his cellar; he 
 had often, he said, followed it, but had always 
 been so much alarmed by a fearful noise, and a 
 dog which he fancied he saw, that the effort had 
 proved fruitless, and he had returned as he went. 
 This alarm on the one hand, and the hope of 
 
32 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 acquiring riches on the other, so entirely absorb- 
 ed his mind, that he could no longer apply to his 
 trade with his former industry, and had, in con- 
 sequence, lost nearly all his custom. He, there- 
 fore, urgently begged Oberlin would go to his 
 house, and conjure the ghost, for the purpose of 
 either putting him in possession of the treas- 
 ure, or of discontinuing its visits. Oberlin re- 
 plied, that he did not trouble himself with the 
 conjuration of ghosts, and endeavoured to weaken 
 the notion of an apparition in the man's mind, 
 exhorting him, at the same time, to seek [for 
 worldly wealth by application to his business, 
 prayer, and industry. Observing, however, that 
 his efforts were unavailing, he promised to com- 
 ply with the man's request, On arriving, at 
 midnight, at the tradesman's house, he found 
 him in company with his wife and severaj female 
 relations, who still affirmed that they had seen 
 the apparition. They were seated in a circle in 
 the middle of the apartment. Suddenly the 
 whole company turned pale, and the man ex- 
 claimed, " Do you see, Sir, the count is stand- 
 ing opposite to you ? " "I see nothing." " Now, 
 Sir," exclaimed another terrified voice, " he is 
 advancing towards you." " I still do not see 
 him." " Now he is standing just behind your 
 chair." " And yet I cannot see him ; but, as 
 
HIS INFLUENCE OVER OTHERS. 33 
 
 you say he is so near me, I will speak to him." 
 And then, rising from his seat, and turning to- 
 wards the corner where they said that he stood, 
 he continued, " Sir Count, they tell me you are 
 standing before me, although I cannot see you, 
 but this shall not prevent me from informing 
 you, that it is scandalous conduct on your part, 
 by the fruitless promise of a hidden treasure, to 
 lead an honest man, who has hitherto faithfully 
 followed his calling, into ruin — to induce him to 
 neglect his business — and to bring misery upon 
 his wife and children, by rendering him improv- 
 ident and idle. Begone, and delude them no 
 longer with vain hopes." 
 
 Upon this the people assured him that the 
 ghost vanished at once. Oberlin went home, 
 and the poor man, taking the hint which in his 
 address to the Count he had intended to convey, 
 applied to business with his former alacrity, and 
 never again complained of his nocturnal visiter. 
 
 In the year 1766, the appointment of a chap- 
 lainship to a French regiment was offered to 
 Oberlin. As the situation accorded with the 
 military predilections he had imbibed in his 
 childhood, and promised to open a sphere of ex- 
 tensive usefulness, he partly agreed to accept it, 
 and soon afterwards left M. Ziegenhagen's em- 
 ploy, and commenced a preparatory course of 
 3 
 
34 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 reading. Whilst thus engaged, the curacy of the 
 Ban de la Roche became vacant, inconsequence 
 of M. Stouber's removal to Strasbourg. No 
 sooner had the latter decided upon taking this 
 step, than it occured to him, that Oberlin, with 
 whose piety and zeal he was well acquainted, 
 would be admirably calculated for the vacant 
 post, and, with the view of communicating this 
 intelligence, he went to his lodging. 
 
 It was a little attic, up three pair of stairs. On 
 opening the door, the first object that caught his 
 attention was a small bed, standing in one cor- 
 ner of the room ; covered with brown paper-hang- 
 ings. u That would just suit the Steinthal," 
 said he to himself. On approaching the bed, 
 he found Oberlin lying upon it, and suffering 
 from a violent tooth-ache. He rallied him about 
 the simplicity of his curtains, and the homeliness 
 of his apartment. " And pray," continued he, 
 after having taken a survey round the room, 
 " what is the use of that little iron pan that 
 hangs over your table ? " " That is my kitch- 
 en," replied Oberlin ; " I am in the habit of 
 dining at home with my parents every day, and 
 they give me a large piece of bread to bring 
 back in my pocket. At eight o'clock in the 
 evening, I put my bread into that pan, and, hav- 
 ing sprinkled it with salt, and poured a little 
 
HIS MODE OF LIVING. 35 
 
 water upon it, I place it over my lamp, and go 
 on with my studies till ten or eleven o'clock, 
 when I generally begin to feel hungry, and rel- 
 ish my self-cooked supper more than the great- 
 est dainties." 
 
 Stouber congratulated him on the happiness 
 of possessing so contented a disposition ; and, 
 assuring him that he was exactly the person he 
 had wished to find, communicated the object of 
 his visit. 
 
 Oberlin was rejoiced at the proposition ; but 
 having nearly concluded his engagement to un- 
 dertake the office of military chaplain, he would 
 not accept the parish until a free discharge 
 from his engagement was obtained, and until he 
 was convinced that no candidates for clerical 
 prefer nt, who had a prior claim to himself, 
 would accept the situation. 
 
 These two points were soon arranged, in con- 
 sequence of a candidate making application for 
 the one office, whilst the other, which offered 
 scarcely any emolument, was left unsolicited. 
 The Ban de la Roche, as a sphere of pastoral 
 labor, was wholly uninviting to any, but those 
 who, in singleness of heart, were wishing to for- 
 sake all for Christ; Oberlin, therefore, after 
 many earnest prayers that a blessing might rest 
 upon himself and upon the little flock commit^ 
 
36 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 ted to his charge, accompanied his new friend 
 and patron thither, and arrived at Waldbach, on 
 the 30th of March, 1767. He was at this time 
 in the twenty-seventh year of his age. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 On Oberlin's arrival at Waldbach, he took up 
 his residence in the parsonage house, a tolerably 
 commodious building, formerly occupied by M. 
 Stouber. It had a court-yard in front, and a 
 good garden behind, and stood in a delightful 
 situation, very near the church, being surrounded 
 by steep dells clothed with wood, and rugged 
 mountains, the tops and sides of which were 
 partially covered with pines, and a few other 
 straggling trees. 
 
 The first glance which he threw over the 
 mountains destined to be the scene of his min- 
 isteriaLlabors, convinced him, that notwithstand- 
 ing the partial reformation effected by M. Stou- 
 ber's exertions, neither the necessities of his 
 flock, nor the difficulties which opposed their re- 
 moval, were of any ordinary kind. 
 
 They were alike destitute of the means of 
 mental and social intercourse ; they spoke a rude 
 patois, resembling the Lorraine dialect, and the 
 
STATE OF THE PARISH. 37 
 
 medium of no external information ; they were 
 entirely secluded from the neighbouring districts 
 by the want of roads, which, owing to the de- 
 vastation of war and decays of population, had 
 been so totally lost, that the only mode of com- 
 munication, frojn the bulk of the parish to the 
 neighbouring towns, was across the river Bruche, 
 a stream thirty feet wide, by stepping-stones, and 
 in winter along its bed ; the husbandmen were 
 destitute of the most necessary agricultural im- 
 plements, and had no means of procuring them ; 
 the provisions springing from the soil were not 
 sufficient to maintain even a scanty population ; 
 and a feudal service, more fatal than sterile land 
 and ungenial climate, constantly depressed and 
 irritated their spirits. 
 
 Confident, however, that strength w T ould be 
 afforded, if rightly sought, Oberlin at once re- 
 solved to emplojydl the attainments in science, 
 philosophy, and religion, which he had brought 
 with him from Strasbourg, to the improvement of 
 the parish and the benefit of his parishioners. 
 
 Those individuals over whom M. Stouber had 
 gained an influence, silently acquiesced in the 
 projects of his successor ; but a very determined 
 spirit of opposition soon manifested itself among 
 the opposite party, under the supposition that 
 old practices are always safe, and that whatever 
 
38 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 is new must be pernicious. They resolved, 
 therefore, not to submit to innovation, but to try 
 what they might be able to effect by determined 
 resistance. On one occasion, soon after his ar- 
 rival, they laid a plan to way-lay their new min- 
 ister, and inflict upon him a severe personal casti- 
 gation, judging that such a measure, at the com- 
 mencement of his career, would prevent his fu- 
 ture interference. 
 
 Oberlin happily received information of their 
 intention, and, without being disconcerted at the 
 intelligence, immediately determined upon a 
 mode of correction, in which the peculiar gen- 
 tleness and decision that formed such leading 
 traits in his character were remarkably displayed. 
 
 Sunday being fixed upon for the execution of 
 this attempt, when the day arrived, he took for 
 his text those words of our Saviour, in the fifth 
 chapter of St. Matthew : — " But I say unto 
 you, that ye resist not evil ; but whosoever shall 
 smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the 
 other also ; " — and proceeded from these words 
 to speak of the Christian patience with which 
 we should suffer injuries, and submit to false 
 surmises and ill usage. After the service the 
 malecontents met at the house of one of the par- 
 ty, to amuse themselves in conjecturing what 
 their pastor would do, when he should find him- 
 
OPPOSED BY THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 39 
 
 self compelled to put in practice the principles 
 he had so readily explained. What, then, must 
 have been their astonishment, when the door 
 opened, and Oberlin himself stood before them. 
 
 " Here am I, my friends," said he, with that 
 calm dignity of manner which inspires even the 
 most violent with respect; "I am acquainted 
 with your design. You have wished to chastise 
 me, because you consider me culpable. If I 
 have indeed violated the rules which I have laid 
 down for you, punish me for it. It is better that 
 I should deliver myself into your hands, than that 
 you should be guilty of the meanness of an am- 
 buscade." These simple words produced their 
 intended effect. The peasants, ashamed of their 
 scheme, sincerely begged his forgiveness, and 
 promised never again to entertain a doubt of the 
 sincerity of the motives by which he was actu- 
 ated, and of his affectionate desire to promote 
 their welfare, 
 
 A few weeks after this event, another circum- 
 stance, of a similar nature, occurred in one of the 
 adjoining villages. He was informed that the 
 young people belonging to it had determined 
 to seize him the following Sunday, on his leaving 
 their place of worship, and duck him in a cis- 
 tern. He consequently took occasion to speak, 
 in his sermon, of the happiness and security 
 
40 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 enjoyed by those who trust in the Lord ; of the 
 special protection which he vouchsafes to his 
 servants ; and of his firm belief that not a hair 
 of our heads can be injured without his express 
 permission. He was in the general habit of re- 
 turning home on horseback, but this time he set 
 out purposely on foot, desiring a peasant to lead 
 his horse. He had not proceeded far, before 
 he saw two or three men partly concealed be- 
 hind the hedge, and awaiting his approach. He 
 passed them, however, with so calm and com- 
 posed a countenance and step, that they were 
 daunted, and did not venture to put their plan 
 into execution. 
 
 These occurrences are believed to have had 
 a good effect in accelerating the execution of 
 his projects of reform ; for those who had con- 
 nived in the plots against him, anxious to re- 
 instate themselves in his good esteem, and con- 
 scious that they had no better means of succeed- 
 ing than by warmly seconding the views which 
 they had hitherto opposed, were henceforward 
 among the foremost to assist him. 
 
 During the first years of his residence in the 
 Ban de la Roche, Oberlin found an enlightened 
 and experienced guide, and a wise and faithful 
 counsellor, in his predecessor, M. Stouber. 
 The following letter, addressed by the latter to 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH STOUBER. 
 
 41 
 
 his young friend, is full of excellent counsel and 
 advice ; and proves that he had himself felt the 
 responsibility attached to so peculiar a sit- 
 uation. 
 
 " Strasbourg, June 2d, 1768. 
 
 # # • # ■* * # 
 » * # * * # 
 
 " Do not, my dear friend, suppose that I 
 could have done any thing better than you have 
 done it. God alone can enable either of us to 
 do just so much as he pleases, and no more. The 
 little experience that it cost me long years of labor 
 and difficulty to obtain, you will acquire more 
 speedily. You possess it already in some degree, 
 though still insufficiently. When I was in your 
 situation, a single circumstance, or even a single 
 word, would sometimes discourage and discom- 
 pose me so much, that I did not know what to 
 do. I could not help perceiving almost every 
 day that I had ignorantly committed the great- 
 est mistakes — ignorantly escaped the greatest 
 dangers — ignorantly lost or acquired the great- 
 est advantages : — that what I sought was evil, 
 and what I shunned good ; — that what I hoped 
 for was nothing, and what I supposed nothing, 
 something. If it was God's purpose that any 
 
42 MEMOIRS OF OBERLTN. 
 
 scheme of mine should succeed, he caused the 
 heads of the parish to listen to me even when I 
 least expected it, and had made the least prep- 
 aration for it ; and, as frequently permitted the 
 plans upon which I had grounded my hopes of 
 success, and taken the most pains to carry into 
 effect, to become of no avail. 
 
 " In so deplorable a state are the people of 
 the unfortunate Steinthal, that one in your sit- 
 uation can do nothing but commend them to 
 God, and look for succour and assistance from 
 him alone. If he should see meet to let things 
 go on for a period in their present state, and 
 without any visible improvement, do not be dis- 
 couraged. He undoubtedly will, in his own 
 good time, effect such changes among some of 
 the members of your flock, as neither the folly 
 nor the taunts of the remainder, nor the craft 
 and malice of the enemy, shall be able to sub- 
 vert ; and whilst you trace his finger throughout 
 the whole, and thank him for having crowned 
 your exertions with even this partial success, 
 you will find increased cause for the exercise of 
 self-distrust, patience, and humility. God will, 
 I feel assured, bless your endeavours, if you con- 
 tinue to maintain that devotedness of spirit, 
 which your letter so sweetly and fervently 
 breathes. Only trust every thing to him ; and 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH STOUBER, 
 
 43 
 
 pray for the blessing which he alone can bestow. 
 You have more influence over others than I 
 have ; and this, provided you fear no one but 
 God, and guard against forming too many 
 schemes, will render you in truth more useful 
 than I have been. But I must remind you, 
 that, even when deeply engaged in good works, 
 it is possible to depart from spiritual Christian- 
 ity ; and I would, on this account, urge you to 
 maintain a constant guard over yourself. You 
 have been brought under the influence of relig- 
 ion, and, in the usual sense of the term, convert- 
 ed to God; but, without constant prayer to him, 
 and the most zealous watchfulness, there is a 
 danger lest you should rest satisfied with this, 
 and relapse into indifference. By being so in- 
 cessantly occupied in the prosecution of your 
 favorite schemes, and destitute of stimulating so- 
 ciety, you may become cold and lukewarm in 
 your religious duties, and less devoted in your 
 service to God, even though busily employed in 
 promoting the well-being of your fellow-crea- 
 tures. I would, therefore, earnestly exhort you, 
 my dear friend, to be always "fervent in spirit^ 
 serving the Lord," living only to, and for, Him. 
 Thus you will be enabled to overcome difficul- 
 ties ; you will find comfort and peace in believ- 
 ing, and He will protect, guide, and bless you. 
 
44 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 Your work will prosper, not perhaps in the man- 
 ner which you design, but in the way which God 
 has purposed. 
 
 " I have no other end in view in this exhor- 
 tation than your good. I wish you to under- 
 stand that this is, literally, my only object in 
 writing thus plainly. I speak frankly and sin- 
 cerely to you, because I know that our hearts 
 are closely allied, and because I have some- 
 times observed with deep concern the dangers 
 incident to young persons ; coldness and luke. 
 warmness after the first fervor of religious feel- 
 ing has subsided ; self-sufficiency in what they 
 have effected, and too great tendency to absorp- 
 tion of mind in even laudable and benevolent 
 pursuits. 
 
 " This is the motive that induces me, once 
 for all, to warn you on this point ; for the heart 
 of man is deceitful, and naturally tends to earth, 
 if it is not constantly drawn upwards. 
 
 "There are yet two things, to which I par- 
 ticularly wish to direct your attention ; — prayer 
 and the Holy Scriptures. I find it necessary, 
 in order to keep up habitual communion with 
 God, and to fan the spirit of Christianity in my 
 own bosom, to have constant recourse to them. 
 
 11 It is by reading the writings of the Apostles, 
 almost exclusively, that I am enabled to press 
 
oberlin's marriage. 45 
 
 onward in my spiritural course, and to encourage 
 myself to prayer. 
 
 # * » *■ * * * 
 
 "Yours, my dear friend, 
 
 In the bonds of Christian love, 
 
 G. Stouber." 
 
 Warned and encouraged by such powerful 
 exhortations, Oberlin went on his way rejoicing, 
 and eventually became established in Christian 
 faith and holiness. 
 
 But I have now to speak of an event which 
 materially contributed to enhance his temporal 
 happiness. This was his marriage with a very 
 pious and amiable young lady of Strasbourg, 
 named Madeline Salome Witter. 
 
 Previous to his settlement in the Ban de la 
 Roche, his mother had anxiously desired to see 
 him united to one who would participate in his 
 labors, relieve him from domestic cares, and 
 cheer and solace him in the remote and lonely 
 situation in which he was about to be placed. 
 He, however, was easy on the subject, but, out 
 of regard to his parents, agreed to accede to 
 their wishes, provided they could select a suit- 
 
46 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERL1N. 
 
 able companion for him. Mrs. Oberlin had been 
 told, in confidence, that her son would probably 
 meet with success by asking the hand of the 
 daughter of a rich brewer's widow. He was 
 persuaded to try his fortune in person ; but as 
 it had, from early youth, been a principle with 
 him to wait for some intimation from Providence 
 whenever his reason proved an insufficient guide, 
 he earnestly prayed that God would be pleased 
 to reveal his will to him, and to direct him in 
 his judgment, whether the marriage would be 
 likely to conduce to his happiness, by the man- 
 ner in which the mother should receive him. 
 If she should herself make the proposition, he 
 resolved to regard it as a sign of providential 
 approbation ; but, if not, to consider it his duty 
 to abstain from mentioning the subject. He 
 then proceeded towards the house, and rang the 
 bell. The mother gave him a courteous recep- 
 tion, and even called down her daughter, whose 
 appearance did not, however, particularly please 
 him. They sat down, talked of a pretended 
 cause of the visit, of the weather, and of the 
 news about the town, till at length, all topics 
 being exhausted, a silence succeeded ; the par- 
 ties looked at each other in some surprise, for 
 Oberlin was a novel visiter there, and then 
 looked down again. This scene of " silent state M 
 
oberlin's marriage. 47 
 
 lasted about two minutes, when the ktter, who 
 had decided in his own mind how to act, made 
 a polite bow, opened the door, shut it again, and 
 took his departure, leaving both mother and 
 daughter at a loss to conjecture the cause of 
 this singular visit, and the marriage was never 
 again thought of. The apprehensions of his fond 
 parents were, however, continued. They had 
 long maintained a friendly intercourse with the 
 family of Frederic's former schoolmaster, and he 
 was himself warmly attached to the person of 
 the latter. He had one daughter, a young wo- 
 man of an agreeable disposition, for whom Ober- 
 lin had long entertained a cordial esteem. With 
 his consent the parents drew up a preliminary 
 marriage contract between them ; but a more 
 wealthy suitor was finally preferred by the fam- 
 ily of the schoolmaster, and this circumstance 
 induced the young lady to withdraw from the 
 contract. A few weeks only had elapsed after 
 this circumstance, when Oberlin received a note 
 from her father expressing a wish to renew T the 
 connexion. Upon its receipt he immediately 
 repaired to the schoolmaster's house, with the 
 note in his hand, which' he returned, saying, 
 " My dear Sir, I am accustomed to follow the 
 intimations of Providence. I consider what has 
 recently occurred, as an intimation that a mar- 
 
48 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 riage between your daughter and myself would 
 neither tend to her happiness, nor to mine. 
 Let us, therefore, say no more about it, and for- 
 get all that has passed. Allow me again to 
 participate in your affection, as I can assure you 
 that mine has not been in the least diminished ; 
 nor have I lost a particle of the gratitude I owe 
 you, for all your instructions." 
 
 He then continued the conversation on gene- 
 ral subjects, and the intercourse between the two 
 families remained undisturbed. 
 
 These two plans having successively failed^ 
 Mrs. Oberlin yielded to the wishes of her son, 
 and allowed him to set out for his parish. She, 
 however, accompanied him to Waldbach, and 
 assisted in arranging his domestic establishment, 
 the care of which devolved on his younger sis- 
 ter, Sophia. About a year after his settlement 
 there, Miss Witter, who was a friend and rela- 
 tion of the family, came to pay a visit in the 
 Steinthal, and stopped some weeks at the par- 
 sonage. She had lost her father, who was a 
 professor in the University of Strasbourg, at a 
 very early age, and her mother died shortly 
 afterwards ; but, although deprived of the benefit 
 of parental instruction, she possessed a sound 
 understanding, and a highly cultivated mind, 
 deeply imbued with religious principles. 
 
HIS MARRIAGE. 49 
 
 She was, however, at this time, more expen- 
 sive and worldly in her habits than her cousin 
 Frederic, and their dispositions did not entirely 
 harmonize. 
 
 The time of her departure at length drew 
 near. Only two days hefore the period fixed 
 upon for her return to Strasbourg, Oberlin felt 
 as though a secret voice within whispered, 
 "Take her for thy partner! 1 ' He, however, 
 resisted the call. " It is impossible," said he 
 almost aloud ; — "our dispositions do not agree." 
 "Take her for thy partner!" the voice still 
 continued. He spent a sleepless night, and, in 
 his prayers the next morning solemnly declared 
 to God, that if he would give him a sign, by the 
 readiness with which Madeleine should accede 
 to the proposition, that the union was in accord- 
 ance with his will, he would cheerfully submit 
 to it, and consider the voice he had heard as a 
 leading of Providence. 
 
 After breakfast, the same morning, he found 
 the young lady sitting in a summer-house in the 
 garden. Placing himself beside her, he began the 
 conversation by saving, " You are about to leave 
 us, my dear friend; — I have had an inti- 
 mation that you are destined to be the partner 
 of my life. If you can resolve upon this step, 
 so important to us both, I expect you will give 
 4 
 
50 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 me your candid opinion about it before your de- 
 parture." 
 
 Upon this Miss Witter rose from her seat, 
 and, blushing as she approached him, placed 
 one hand before her eyes, and held the other 
 towards him. He clasped it in his own. The 
 decision was made : — a decision which he never 
 found cause to regret, for notwithstanding the 
 determination Madeleine had made not to be 
 allied to a minister, she became truly devoted to 
 his interests, and the most cordial attachment 
 ever after subsisted between them. 
 
 The marriage took place July 6th, 1768. 
 
 The following affecting prayer, written by 
 Oberlin at this period, will give some idea of 
 the feelings with which, in conjunction with 
 those of his affectionate partner, he entered into 
 the sacred engagement, and also of the spirit 
 which ever afterwards pervaded their peaceful 
 household. 
 
 Prayer of Oberlin and his Wife, for the 
 Blessing and Grace of God. 
 
 "Holy Spirit! descend into our hearts; 
 assist us to pray with fervour from our inmost 
 souls. Permit thy children, O gracious Father, 
 to present themselves before thee, in order to 
 ask of thee what is necessary for them. 
 
PRAYER ON HIS MARRIAGE. 51 
 
 "May we love each other only in thee, and 
 in our Saviour Jesus Christ, as being members 
 of his body. Enable us, at all times, to look 
 solely to thee, to walk before thee, and to be 
 united together in thee; that thus we may grow, 
 daily, in the spiritual life. 
 
 " Grant that we may be faithful in the exer- 
 cise of our duties, that we may stimulate each 
 other therein, warning each other of our faults, 
 and seeking together for pardon in the blood of 
 Jesus Christ. When we pray together, (and 
 may we pray much and frequently,) be thou, 
 O Lord Jesus, with us ; kindle our fervour, O 
 Heavenly Father, and grant us, for the sake of 
 Jesus Christ, whatever thy Holy Spirit shall 
 teach us to ask. 
 
 " Seeing that, in this life, thou hast placed 
 the members of our household under our au- 
 thority, give us wisdom and strength to guide 
 them in a manner conformable to thy will. May 
 we always set them a good example, following 
 that of Abraham, who commanded his children 
 and his household, after him, to keep the way 
 of the Lord, in doing what is right. If thou 
 givest us children, and preservest them to us, 
 O grant us grace to bring them up to thy ser- 
 vice, to teach them early to know, to fear, and 
 to love thee, and to pray to that God who has 
 
52 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 made a covenant with them, that, conformably 
 to the engagement which will be undertaken for 
 them at their baptism, they may remain faithful 
 from the cradle to the grave. O heavenly 
 Father, may we inculcate thy word, according 
 to thy will, all our lives, with gentleness, love, 
 and patience, both at their rising up and lying 
 down, at home and abroad, and under all other 
 possible circumstances ; and do thou render it 
 meet for the children to whom thou hast given 
 life only as a means of coming to thee. 
 
 " And when we go together to the Holy 
 Supper, O ever give us renewed grace, renew- 
 ed strength, and renewed courage, for continuing 
 to walk in the path to heaven ; and, as we can 
 only approach thy table four times in the year, 
 grant that in faith we may much more frequently 
 be there, yes, every day and every hour ; that 
 we may always keep death in view, and always 
 be prepared for it ; and, if we may be permitted 
 to solicit it of thee, O grant that we may not 
 long be separated from each other, but that the 
 death of the one may be speedily, and very 
 speedily, followed by that of the other.* 
 
 * The designs of the Lord were different, and this 
 prayer was not answered. Oberlin, for the happiness 
 of his fellow-creatures, lived forty-two years after the 
 death of his wife. " My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
 neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." Isa. lv. 8. 
 
PIETY OF HIS WIFE. 53 
 
 Hear us, O gracious Father, in the name of 
 Jesus Christ, thy well beloved Son. Amen. And, 
 O merciful Redeemer, may we both love thee 
 with ardent devotion, always walking and hold- 
 ing communion with thee, not placing our con- 
 fidence in our own righteousness and in our own 
 works, but only in thy blood and in thy merits. 
 Be with us ; preserve us faithful ; and grant, 
 Lord Jesus, that we may soon see thee. Holy 
 Spirit, dwell always in our hearts : teach us to 
 lift up our thoughts continually to our gracious 
 Father; impart to us thy strength, or thy conso- 
 lation, as our wants may be. And to thee, to 
 the Father, and to the Son, be praise, honor, 
 and glory, for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
 Mrs. Oberlin soon became an invaluable as- 
 sistant, to her husband in all his labors of love, 
 tempering his zeal with her prudence, and for- 
 warding his benevolent plans by her judicious 
 arrangements. In the prosecution of those 
 plans much Christian firmness was requisite, for 
 they had, as we have already seen, to encounter 
 the prejudices generally attendant on ignorance, 
 and such as the most unwearied patience and 
 self-denying virtue could alone have sur- 
 mounted.* 
 
 * See Appendix, No. I. 
 
54 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 Almost the first object of Oberlin's provident 
 activity was to repair and widen the roads. In a 
 country where rocks hanging on the steep de- 
 clivity of a chan of mountains, and rapid torrents 
 pouring from their summits, are perpetually 
 causing considerable falls of loosened earth, the 
 formation and preservation of roads involves an 
 expense far beyond the resources of a poor and 
 isolated parish ; and all the roads belonging to 
 the Ban de la Roche w T ere, consequently, during 
 the greater part of the year, absolutely impassa- 
 ble. 
 
 To rescue his parishioners from the half savage 
 state in which he found them, he judged it ne- 
 cessary, as a preliminary measure, to bring them 
 into contact with the inhabitants of other dis- 
 tricts, further advanced in civilization ; and for 
 this purpose to open a regular communication 
 with the high road to Strasbourg, by which 
 means the productions of the Ban de la Roche 
 might find a market, and materials be procured 
 for exercising their industry and ingenuity. 
 
 Having, therefore, assembled the people, he 
 proposed that they should blast the rocks, and 
 convey a sufficient quantity of enormous masses 
 to construct a wall to support a road, about a 
 mile and a half in length, along the banks of the 
 river Bruche, and build a bridge across it near 
 Rothau. 
 
IMPROVEMENT IN TIIK ROADS. 55 
 
 The peasants wore perfectly astonished at 
 the proposition. The project appeared to them 
 totally impracticable, and every one excused 
 himself, on the plea of private business, from 
 engaging in so stupendous an undertaking. 
 Oherlin, still intent on the prosecution of his 
 scheme, endeavoured to refute the objections 
 raised on all sides: "The produce of your 
 fields," said he, " will then meet with a ready 
 market abroad; for, instead of being imprisoned 
 in your villages nine months out of the twelve, 
 you will be enabled to keep up an intercourse 
 with the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts. 
 You will have the opportunity of procuring a 
 number of things of which you have long stood 
 in need, without the possibility of obtain- 
 ing them, and your happiness will be augmented 
 and increased by the additional means, thus af- 
 forded, of providing comforts for yourselves and 
 your children." But his arguments were con- 
 cluded with a more touching appeal. He offered 
 them his own example in the undertaking. 
 " Let all," he said, " who feel the importance 
 of my proposition, come and work with me." 
 
 Oberlin had already traced the plan, and no 
 sooner had he pronounced these words, than, 
 with a pick-axe on his shoulder, he proceeded 
 to the spot ; whilst the astonished peasants, 
 
56 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 animated by his example, forgot their former ex- 
 cuses, and hastened, with unanimous consent, to 
 fetch their tools and follow him. He presently- 
 assigned to each individual an allotted post, se- 
 lected for himself and a faithful servant the most 
 difficult and dengerous places ; and, regardless 
 of the thorns by which his hands were torn, and 
 of the loose stones by which they were occasion- 
 ally bruised, went to work with the greatest dil- 
 igence and enthusiasm. The emulation awaken- 
 ed by his conduct quickly spread through the 
 whole parish. The increased number of hands 
 rendered an increased number of implements 
 necessary ; he procured them from Strasbourg ; 
 expenses accumulated ; he interested his distant 
 friends, and, through their assistance, funds were 
 obtained ; walls were erected to support the 
 earth, which appeared ready to give way ; 
 mountain torrents, which had hitherto inundated 
 the meadows, were diverted into courses, or 
 received into beds sufficient to contain them ; 
 perseverence, in short, triumphed over difficul- 
 ties, and, at the commencement of the year 
 1770, a communication was opened with Stras- 
 bourg, by means of the new road, and a neat 
 wooden bridge thrown across the river. This 
 bridge still bears the name of " Le Pont de 
 Chariti." 
 
IMPROVEMENT IN THE ROADS. 57 
 
 The immediate advantages resulting from this 
 great undertaking increased the influence which 
 Ohcrlin was already beginning to acquire over 
 his parishioners, and rendered the adoption of his 
 successive plans, particularly that of a regular 
 communication between the five hitherto sepa- 
 rated villages, still more practicable. It seemed 
 as though nothing could daunt their ardor ; and 
 the pastor, who, on the Sabbath, had directed 
 their attention with that earnestness and warmth, 
 by which his own soul was animated, to " the 
 rest that remaineth for the people of God," and 
 to the " city which hath foundations," was seen 
 on the Monday, with a pick-axe on his shoulder, 
 marching at the head of two hundred of his 
 flock, with an energy that neither fatigue nor 
 danger could diminish. 
 
 One of the next wants that he found it ne- 
 cessary to supply, was a depot in the valley, for 
 agricultural tools and implements of husbandry ; 
 for whenever any of them happened to break, 
 or to get out of repair, two whole days' work 
 must be lost in going to Strasbourg to procure 
 more, and even then the poor peasants were 
 destitute of ready money to purchase them. 
 To remedy this inconvenience, he stocked a 
 large warehouse in Waldbach with the neces- 
 sary articles, and gave the purchasers credit till 
 
58 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 their payments came round. He also established 
 a sort of lending fund, under such strict regula- 
 tions, that those who did not punctually repay 
 the money they had borrowed on the prescribed 
 day, were deprived, for a certain time, of the 
 liberty of borrowing again. 
 
 Another measure, which he considered essen- 
 tial to the progress of civilization, was the in- 
 troduction of trades. There were neither ma- 
 sons, blacksmiths, nor cartwrights, in the country, 
 and the inhabitants were subjected to numerous 
 privations, and to great expenses, in fetching 
 from the neighbouring towns what was needful 
 for the supply of their wants. Oberlin, there- 
 fore, selected from among the elder boys some 
 of the readiest abilities, and sent them to Stras- 
 bourg, to learn the trades of a carpenter, a ma- 
 son, a glazier, a cartwright, and a blacksmith. 
 By this means he succeeded in procuring good 
 workmen, who, on their return, not only in- 
 structed others in their newly acquired arts, but 
 saved the people of the Ban de la Roche the 
 expense and loss of time they had formerly in- 
 curred ; nor w T as this the only advantage accru- 
 ing from so judicious a step, for the money 
 which had hitherto been sent to a distance was 
 now circulated among themselves. So scarce 
 had money previously been, that the gift of a 
 
 
LETTER FROM STOUBER. 59 
 
 single sou is said to have overwhelmed a poor 
 woman with joy, as it enabled her to procure a 
 Little salt to eat with her potatoes. 
 
 Finally, Oberlin's solicitude extended to their 
 dwellings. They were generally wretched cab- 
 ins hewn out of the rocks, or sunk into the sides 
 of the mountains: and without cellars sufficient- 
 ly deep to preserve the potatoes, which formed 
 their principal sustenance, from the frost. Un- 
 der his superintendence and direction, however, 
 cellars were constructed, and comfortable cot- 
 tages erected. 
 
 In the prosecution cf these plans, as well as 
 those introduced at a later period. Oberlin was 
 much indebted to the counsel and experience of 
 his paternal friend. M. Stouber, with whom he 
 maintained a regular correspondence. The fol- 
 lowing extract from one of his letters deserves 
 insertion in this memoir, because the advice it 
 contains may prove of utility to others, as well 
 as to the individual for whom it was originally 
 designed : — 
 
 " My dear friend, 
 
 VT TP TT 4P TT ^ W 
 
 " The best advice I can give you, is to care 
 chiefly for the souls of your flock. I would not 
 
60 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 have you too anxious to render them eager in 
 the pursuit of worldly good ; for, as they be- 
 come Christians, they will naturally become ac- 
 tive, industrious, and provident. You must not 
 allow them to be either idlers, or the slaves of 
 mammon. 
 
 " By endeavouring too much to induce them 
 to adopt your plans in preference to others, and 
 on account of some supposed superiority over 
 those to which they have been accustomed, you 
 will defeat your own purposes, and excite their 
 suspicion and disgust. I advise you, therefore, 
 to leave them, for the present at least, pretty 
 much to their own devices, and to labor, in char- 
 ity and love, for the salvation of their souls, 
 firmly believing that by so doing you will obtain 
 the greatest blessing. This is the last thing that 
 experience taught me, during my residence in 
 the Steinthal, or rather since I left it. I much 
 regret having occasionally induced the people to 
 do things against their will. If I were now there, 
 I would leave them much more to themselves ; 
 and 5 however indifferent might be the appear- 
 ance of their external affairs, the state of their 
 finances, or the conduct of their schools, I would 
 say little to them on the subject of economy or 
 management, but, by evincing a sincere inter- 
 est in their concerns, I would endeavour to gain 
 
AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS. 61 
 
 their confidence, and induce them to regard me 
 as their friend ; and then, having once obtained 
 this confidence, and a proportionate degree of 
 influence, I would exert it to the utmost of my 
 ability, to their advantage, both in the instruc- 
 tion of the young and the conversion of the old, 
 seeking to win their affections by my earnest 
 desire lo promote their spiritual interests. If 
 you adopt this method, my dear friend, God will 
 take care of the rest. Necessity will compel 
 your people to employ themselves, and they 
 will think a thousand times better of their own 
 schemes, than of any that you can propose to 
 them. 
 
 "I am far from wishing you to give up your 
 projects, (many of which have been already at- 
 tended with such admirable success,) but I ac- 
 knowledge that I have, for my own part, felt the 
 danger of bestowing too much attention upon such 
 things, rather than upon more essential and im- 
 portant duties. At the same time, I would not 
 have you by any means neglect a ready acquies- 
 cence in such practical schemes as may suggest 
 themselves to the minds of your people, or the 
 adoption of such as may occur to yourself: — 
 only do not make them your primary object." 
 
 Oberlin particularly felt the importance of the 
 latter part of this advice in his efforts for the 
 
62 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 improvement of agriculture ; a branch of rural 
 economy in which the mountaineers, however 
 readily they might acquiesce in his other plans, 
 evinced great reluctance to be instructed, sup- 
 posing that their own knowledge of the subject 
 must necessarily exceed that of their pastor, 
 whose life, previous to his arrival in the Ban de 
 la Roche, had been generally spent in a town. 
 He knew this so well, that he determined to 
 appeal to their eyes rather than their ears, be- 
 lieving that they would be more easily led to 
 coincide in his views when they had seen his 
 theories reduced to practice. Belonging to his 
 parsonage were two gardens, crossed by very 
 public foot-paths, and these he chose for the 
 scene of his labors. Assisted by a favorite and 
 intelligent servant, he dug trenches, four or five 
 feet deep, and surrounded the young trees, that 
 he planted in them, with such soil as he con- 
 sidered best adapted to promote their growth. 
 He also procured slips of apple, pear, plum, 
 cherry, and walnut trees, and made a large nursery 
 ground of one of the gardens, hitherto noted for 
 the poverty of its soil ; and then waited with 
 patience for the time when his parishioners, ob- 
 serving the success of his experiments, should 
 come of their own accord to express their aston- 
 ishment, and to ask his assistance in raising trees 
 for themselves. 
 
AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS. 63 
 
 His expectations were not disappointed ; the 
 trees grew and flourished ; and, as the peasants 
 had to pass through the gardens in going to their 
 daily work, they could not help stopping to ob- 
 serve the surprising contrast between the scan- 
 ty supply of their own, and the rich produce of 
 their pastor's land, and at length repaired to him, 
 anxiously inquiring how such very fine trees 
 could grow in such a soil. Oberlin, according 
 to his accustomed method of deriving instruction 
 from every incident, first directed their thoughts 
 to Him who "causeth the earth to bring forth 
 her bud," and who " crowneth the year with 
 his goodness," and then proceeded to explain 
 the mode of cultivation, by which, under his all- 
 superintending Providence, their exertions might 
 be followed by similar success. 
 
 The taste for planting trees was thus diffused, 
 and the art of grafting, in which he himself in- 
 structed those who wished to understand it, be- 
 came a favorite employment. The very face 
 of the country, in consequence, underwent a 
 complete change ; for the cottages, hitherto for 
 the most part bare and desolate, were surrounded 
 by neat little orchards and gardens ; and, in the 
 place of indigence and misery, the villages, and 
 their inhabitants, gradually assumed an air of 
 rural happiness. 
 
64 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 So barbarous, before Oberlin's time, had been 
 the state of the Ban de la Roche, with regard to 
 the most simple agricultural arts, that the old 
 men told him they remembered to have heard 
 from their fathers, that previous to the year 
 1709, the people of this canton subsisted chiefly 
 upon wild apples and pears. The dreadful fam- 
 ine, that took place that year, compelled them 
 to devise means for procuring some other suste- 
 nance ; and, with this view, they partially 
 cleared away an immense forest, which extended 
 nearly all over the country, and planted a sort 
 of potatoes, (qucmattes, or cruattes de tierre, in 
 the patois,) which were then first introduced. 
 Owing to the rigorous seasons, and to the soil 
 having been often swept away from the rocks 
 it covered, by the rain, this primitive potatoe 
 had so far degenerated, that, when Oberlin came 
 to the Ban de la Roche, in 1767, fields that had 
 formerly yielded from one hundred and twenty 
 to one hundred and fifty bushels, furnished 
 only between thirty and fifty. The people 
 imagined that the ground was in fault, but no 
 means of remedying the evil ever occurred to 
 them. Oberlin, attributing the circumstance to 
 its true cause, pointed out to them the means of 
 recovering the crops, made them acquainted 
 with Parmentier's useful work on the subject, 
 
AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS. 65 
 
 and procured some seed from Switzerland, Hol- 
 land, and Lorraine, to renew the species. The 
 sandy soil of the mountains being peculiarly fa- 
 vorable to their vegetation, abundance soon re- 
 turned ; and potatoes, of a superior quality and 
 flavor, soon became, and are to this day, cele- 
 brated as the groat production of the place, fur- 
 nishing not only a sufficient store for home con- 
 sumption, but also a profitable article of ex- 
 portation. 
 
 Believing that great advantages would accrue 
 from the cultivation of leguminous plants and 
 productive herbs,* before unknown in that part 
 
 * Having acquired, during his residence in M. Zie- 
 genhagen's family a thorough knowledge of botany, 
 Oberlin made his people acquainted with the properties 
 of their indigenous plants, particularly with such as wore 
 serviceahle for food, health, and the useful arts. The 
 names of some of them will excite surprise, accustomed 
 as we are to pass them by unnoticed. Among them 
 were the stripe-rlowereil cabbage, brassica oleracea ; 
 common chick-weed, stellaria media; water mouse-ear 
 chick-weed, ccrasiium aquaticum ; common goose-foot, 
 chenopodium bonus-henricus ; common dandelion, Icoiito- 
 don autumnalc ; mountain willow-herb, epilobium mon- 
 fatlttltl ; butter-cup, ranunculus Jicaria ; yellow dead 
 nettle, galeobdolon lutcum ; white dead nettle, lamiiun 
 album : common hop, humulus lupulus ; red pimpernel, 
 anagallis arvensis ; great plantain, pUmtogo major; up- 
 right rro\v-foot, ra?n//*n//t/,$ acris ; twisted snake-weed, 
 5 
 
66 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 of the country, Oberlin's next attempt was to 
 raise saint-foin ; but, as this plant strikes its root 
 perpendicularly, and the soil of the Ban de la 
 Roche is not deeper than two feet at most on 
 the rocks and sandstone, it did not succeed, 
 though the flax, which he raised from seed im- 
 ported from Riga, and the Dutch clover, which 
 he also introduced, answered perfectly well, and 
 considerably augmented the resources of the in- 
 habitants. 
 
 This success was probably owing in part to 
 the attention he paid to the management of ma- 
 nure, which constitutes a chief secret in agri- 
 culture. He not only directed his laborers to 
 the means of enriching it by fermentation, but 
 taught them also that all sorts of vegetable 
 substances, even the leaves of trees, the stalks 
 of rushes, moss and fir apples, might be convert- 
 ed into a useful compost. Acting upon his fa- 
 vorite maxim, " let nothing be lost," he also in- 
 
 polygonum bistorta ; common sorrel, rumcr acctosa ; lamb's 
 lettuce, Valeriana locusta ; bladder campion, cucubalus 
 behen ; water-cress, sisimibryium nasturtium; and corn 
 cockle, agrostemma githago. He taught them to mix the 
 seeds of the latter with corn in making* their black 
 bread; and to procure a sort of wine, called piqudte, 
 from the wild cherry, prunus ccrasus ; juniper, junipe- 
 erus communis ; dog rose, rosa canina, &c. ; to distil bran- 
 dy from elder berries, and to obtain oil from beech-nuts. 
 
AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS. 67 
 
 structed children to tear old woollen rags into 
 pieces, and to cut lipoid shoes for this purpose ; 
 and to facilitate their labors, he paid them six- 
 teen sous for a bushel, and one sou for the 
 smallest quantity they liked to collect. 
 
 These incidents may appear trifling and un- 
 worthy of record to some o( my readers; but 
 they are mentioned, together with others in the 
 course of the narrative, as characteristic proofs 
 of the real interest with which Oberlin entered 
 into every thing likely to conduce to the welfare 
 of his flock. As soon as he was fully convinced 
 that they began to recognise the utility of his 
 instructions, he endeavored to point out to 
 them the advantages that would arise from 
 converting the least productive pastures into 
 arable land, and feeding the cattle in their 
 stalls ; in order to increase the quantity of milk 
 and butter, which constituted not only so large 
 a part of their subsistence, but also an article of 
 commerce. 
 
 This conversion of grass into arable land, in 
 a country where rocks were piled upon rocks, 
 and where in some places large masses must be 
 blasted, and in others removed and covered with 
 good soil, before the plough could possibly be 
 employed, required of course a great deal of 
 time and labor ; but the industry and zeal with 
 
68 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 which Oberlin himself began to put in practice 
 every scheme that successively occurred to him, 
 had such an influence upon the minds of his pa- 
 rishioners, that, after the prejudices of the few 
 first years had entirely subsided, they seldom 
 failed to enter into his views, and to imitate his 
 example : the plan was tried, and answered his 
 most sanguine expectations. 
 
 In the year 1778, he formed, at the Ban de 
 la Roche, a little Agricultural Society, com- 
 posed of the more intelligent farmers and the 
 best informed inhabitants of his parish ; and, hav- 
 ing invited the pastors of the adjacent towns and 
 some of his friends to become members, he con- 
 nected it with that of Strasbourg, in order to se- 
 cure the communication of periodical works, and 
 assistance in the distribution of prizes ; and 
 the latter society, wishing to encourage its in- 
 teresting auxiliary, entrusted to its disposal the 
 sum of two hundred francs, to be distributed 
 among such peasants as should most distinguish 
 themselves in the planting of nursery grounds 
 and in the grafting of fruit trees. 
 
 The good effects resulting from this measure 
 induced Oberlin likewise to form a fund, sup- 
 ported by voluntary contributions, for the dis- 
 tribution of prizes to the farmers of each com- 
 mune, who should rear the finest ox. A short 
 
AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS. 69 
 
 time afterwards, with a view to prepare the 
 rising generation for continuing the works which 
 their lathers had begun, and to give an op- 
 portunity of acquiring useful information, he 
 commenced the plan of devoting two hours every 
 other Thursday morning to a familiar lecture on 
 the subjects of agriculture and of useful science. 
 Such, indeed, was his assiduity, that not a 
 year rolled away in which some astonishing im- 
 provement was not effected in the condition or 
 the morals of his people ; and the surrounding 
 districts beheld with admiration the rapid pro- 
 gress that civilization was continually making, in 
 the once neglected and apparently forsaken 
 Steinthal. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 While Oberlin was thus zealous in encour- 
 aging the progress of agriculture, and in forming 
 his people to habits of industry, he attended 
 with equal solicited to what related more imme- 
 diately to his pastoral functions, as the following 
 address to his parishioners, on the commence- 
 ment of the New Year, 1779, bears ample tes- 
 timony. 
 
70 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " January 1, 1779. 
 
 " And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, 1 make all 
 things new." — Rev. xxi. 5. 
 
 u Through the grace of God we have entered 
 upon a new year. Oh ! that it may be new with 
 respect to our sins, our sufferings, and the temp- 
 tations with which we may have to combat. 
 
 u As to sins, may their number diminish day 
 by day, and may we be more constantly animat- 
 ed, and governed, by the spirit of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ. As to sufferings and tribulations, 
 may they produce the effect which God designs 
 in sending them, namely, that of detaching our 
 affections from this transitory world, and of render- 
 ing us attentive to his will and Word. May they 
 quicken us to prayer, and induce us to strive more 
 earnestly to enter in at the strait gate, and to c press 
 toward the mark for the prize of our high calling.' 
 And, as to the temptations which may be placed in 
 our way, may we live entirely to Jesus Christ, and 
 maintain constant communion with him, in order 
 that we may receive, from time to time, fresh 
 supplies of grace and strength to resist them, 
 and be enabled to bring forth fruits of righteous- 
 ness, to the glory of God, and to the honor of 
 his Holy Gospel. O Lord, be thou pleased, 
 with the renewal of the year, to renew our 
 
ADDRESS TO HIS PARISHIONERS. 71 
 
 strength. O Lord Jesus Christ, thou hast said, 
 'I make all things new/ Oh, make our faith new 
 also. 
 
 " May this year be marked by a more lively, 
 more deep, and more serious repentance ; by 
 greater fervor in supplicating the influences of 
 God's Holy Spirit ; by renewed earnestness in 
 devoting ourselves to Him, and to his service. 
 May we look to Him, and employ all our 
 mental and bodily powers, our time, and our 
 property, to his glory, and to the purpose for 
 which Jesus quitted his throne, namely, the 
 conversion and happiness of mankind. Oh, may 
 we, this year, apply ourselves, with renewed 
 faithfulness, to obey all his commandments, and 
 all his precepts. 
 
 " May this year be distinguished by an in- 
 crease of the number of the children of God, and 
 of the followers of Jesus Christ ; by the weaken- 
 ing of the kingdom of Satan within us, and by the 
 coming of the kingdom of God. 
 
 "May we, not only during the present, but, 
 also, during each succeeding year which God 
 shall grant us in this probationary world, become 
 more and more prepared for a blessed eter- 
 nity — abound more in prayers of intercession 
 and supplication — shed more tears of penitence, 
 contrition, love, and pity — and perform more 
 
72 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 good works, in order that we may reap an abun- 
 dant harvest on that day, when God, through 
 Jesus Christ, shall c make all things new.' " 
 
 The instruction of the young also engaged, 
 in an especial manner, a large portion of Ober- 
 lin's care and attention. When he entered on 
 his charge, in 1767, the only regular school- 
 house in the five villages, was Stouber's hut, 
 which, having been constructed of unseasoned 
 wood, was in a most miserable and ruinous con- 
 dition. His parishioners were, however, very 
 averse to his proposition of erecting a more con- 
 venient one ; and, instead of feeling grateful for 
 the benefit he intended to confer on their chil- 
 dren, complained that, notwithstanding their ex- 
 treme poverty, he wished to burden them with 
 fresh expenses ; alleging, that as the old hut 
 had answered very well hitherto, they were sure 
 it would do for a long time to come. He had 
 no other way of silencing their objections, than 
 by entering into a formal engagement with the 
 overseers of the commune, that neither the ex- 
 pense of building, nor of repairing the projected 
 school-house, though erected for the public 
 good, should ever become chargeable on the 
 parish funds. Had he not made this stipulation, 
 he would have found in the parents themselves 
 the most obstinate enemies of his plans for the 
 happiness of their children. 
 
ERECTION OF A NEW SCHOOL-HOUSE. 73 
 
 He then applied to some of his benevolent 
 friends at Strasbourg, for assistance in defray- 
 ing the expenses of the erection. But though 
 the money, thus collected, was by no means suf- 
 ficient for the purpose, and his own little prop- 
 erty and narrow income (not exceeding two 
 hundred dollars) scarcely admitted of his pru- 
 dently embarking in any undertaking which in- 
 volved pecuniary responsibility, he resolved to 
 commence it ; for neither personal consider- 
 ations, nor the fear of being unable to meet con- 
 tingent expenses, ever deterred him from put- 
 ting into execution schemes of usefulness. He 
 had an unbounded confidence in the goodness 
 of his heavenly Father, and was convinced, as 
 he often said, that if he asked for any thing 
 with faith, and it was really right that the thing 
 should take place, it would infallibly be granted 
 to his prayers. — " When, indeed, are our plans 
 more likely to succeed, than when we enter 
 upon them in humble and simple dependence 
 upon God, whose blessing alone can render 
 them successful ? " 
 
 The event afforded a fresh evidence of this 
 truth. Not only was the projected building 
 completed without material injury to his own 
 slender finances, but, in the course of a few 
 years, a school-house was erected in each of the 
 
74 MEMOIRS OF OBERLtN. 
 
 other four villages ; and, such was the progress 
 of civilization, that the inhabitants came volun- 
 tarily forward, and seconded the projects of their 
 pastor, by offering to take upon themselves both 
 the trouble and the expense attending them. 
 During the construction of these necessary build- 
 ings, the preparation of masters continued ; but, 
 as Oberlin had observed with concern the disad- 
 vantages to which the younger children were 
 subjected, whilst their elder brothers and sisters 
 were at school, and their parents busily engaged 
 in their daily avocations, he laid down a plan 
 for the introduction of infant schools also ; prob- 
 ably the very first ever established, and the 
 model of those subsequently opened at Paris, 
 and still more recently in this country. Obser- 
 vation and experience had convinced him, that, 
 even from the very cradle, children are capable 
 of being taught to distinguish between right and 
 wrong, and of being trained to habits of subor- 
 dination and industry; and, in conjunction with 
 his wife, he therefore formed conductriccs for 
 each commune, engaged large rooms for them, 
 and salaried them at his own expense. Instruc 
 tion, in these schools, was mingled with amuse- 
 ment ; and whilst enough of discipline was 
 introduced to instil habits of subjection, a degree 
 of liberty was allowed, which left the infant 
 
INFANT SCHOOLS. 75 
 
 mind full power of expansion, and information 
 was conveyed which might turn to the most im- 
 portant use in after life. During school hours, 
 the children were, collected on forms in great 
 circles. Two women were employed, the one 
 to direct the handicraft, the other to instruct and 
 entertain them. Whilst the children of two or 
 three years old only, were made at intervals to 
 sit quietly by. those of five or six were taught 
 to knit. -pin. ami sew; and, when they were 
 beginning to be weary of this occupation, their 
 conductrice showed them colored pictures relat- 
 ing to Scripture subjects, or natural history, 
 making them recite alter her the explanations 
 she gave. She also explained geographical 
 maps of France, Europe, or the Ban de la Roche, 
 and its immediate environs, engraved in wood 
 for the purpose, by Oberlin's direction, and 
 mentioned the names of the different places 
 marked upon them ; - in addition to this, she 
 taught them to sing moral songs and hymns. 
 Thus she varied their employments as much as 
 possible, taking care to keep them continually 
 occupied, and never permitting them to speak 
 a word of jjatois.* 
 
 * By this means, correct French was introduced into 
 the Ban de la Roche, and the patois, which resembled 
 the old French of the twelfth century, partly abolished. 
 
76 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 With minds thus stored and trained by disci- 
 pline, the children, when arrived at a proper age, 
 entered what may be called the public schools, 
 and the masters were relieved and encouraged 
 in their duties (which, in such a situation, were 
 sufficiently arduous) by the progress they had 
 already made. Reading, writing, arithmetic, 
 geography, the principles of agriculture, astron- 
 omy, and sacred and profane history, were 
 regularly taught in the higher schools ; but 
 although Oberlin carefully superintended the 
 whole proceedings, he reserved for himself, 
 almost exclusively, the religious instruction of 
 his large family. Every Sunday the children of 
 each village, in rotation, assembled at the church, 
 to sing the hymns they had learned, to recite 
 the religious lessons which they had committed 
 to memory during the week, and to receive the 
 
 Mr. Wilks gives the following specimen of its vari- 
 ation from the modern French, taken from a letter 
 written in this patois. 
 
 " Biyet. Mis cichers pere et mere ! Dje so errive e 
 Chtrosebourgue e bouonne sante, si no que dj'ons bramon 
 evu Id piooue et que dj'ons etu bin nodes. Dj'ons errive 
 e chez-hounes do sa." 
 
 " Lettre. Mes chers pere et mere! Nous sommes 
 arrives a Strasbourg en bonne sante, si non que nous 
 avons eu beaucoup de pluie et que nous avons ete bien 
 fatigues. Nous sommes arrives a six heures du soir." 
 
PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 77 
 
 exhortations or admonitions of their common 
 father.* 
 
 Besides this Sabbath service, with a view to 
 excite a spirit of emulation between the several 
 schools, and to improve the modes of instruction 
 by comparing those of the several masters, 
 Oberlin established a weekly meeting of all the 
 scholars at Waldbach. This proved a means of 
 stimulating them to industry, for they knew that 
 the "Cher Papa" (good father,) as he was 
 designated by all his parishioners, attentively 
 watched their progress, and they were most 
 anxious to secure his approving smiles ; so uni- 
 versally was he beloved, that those smiles were 
 regarded by the children, as a sufficient reward 
 for all the labors of the past week. 
 
 The success that attended these benevolent 
 and interesting exertions, induced his friends at 
 Strasbourg to increase their subscriptions ; en- 
 dowments were even added, (which were lost at 
 the Revolution,) and Oberlin was thus enabled 
 to establish a library of valuable works for the 
 private use of the children ; and to have a num- 
 ber of school-books, such as the "Coup d'oeil 
 sur la nature," and " L'Ami des Enfans," printed 
 for the exclusive use of the Ban de la Roche ; 
 he also made a collection of indigenous plants, 
 
 * See Appendix, No. II. 
 
78 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 and procured an electrical machine, and other 
 philosophical and mathematical instruments. 
 Prizes were likewise awarded to both masters 
 and scholars ; and various works upon natural 
 history and other branches of science, some of 
 which he printed at his own expense, put in 
 circulation on the plan of a little book-society, 
 being retained for three months at a time, 
 first at one village and then at another, passing 
 successively from house to house, in order that 
 the younger members of the family might be 
 supplied with a continual fund of useful and 
 agreeable information. 
 
 Oberlin, about this time, drew up an almanac, 
 divested of all the falsehoods and superstitions 
 with which those in use were filled, thinking 
 that their tendency was to mislead and deceive 
 uneducated persons. I do not possess a copy of 
 this almanac, but it concludes with the following 
 passages, in reference to the purpose for which 
 it was written, which show that he thought 
 nothing beneath his notice that seemed likely 
 either to please, or instruct his parishioners. 
 
 "Advice to my Counti'ymen of the Ban de la Roche, 
 upon this Almanac. 
 
 " 1. The people of Germany have private 
 almanacs, divided by means of ruled lines, into 
 a number of partitions. In each partition the 
 
HIS ALMANAC. 79 
 
 names of the different individuals of the family 
 are written, with a little blank space below them, 
 in order that some notice may there be made of 
 the manner in which the day has been past, or 
 any necessary memoranda inserted. I have at 
 length prepared such an almanac for your use. 
 
 " 2. The Strasbourg children are accustomed 
 to find their baptismal names in their almanac, 
 and to celebrate the days on which they are re- 
 corded. You may also do the same with yours. 
 They will all be found in this almanac. 
 
 "3. The fathers and mothers of large and 
 numerous families are often puzzled to find pretty 
 baptismal names, to distinguish their children 
 from those who bear the same family name. 
 Henceforth, if they will consult this new alma- 
 nac, they will soon be enabled to decide. 
 
 "4. Tn your common almanacs you find, and 
 pay for, a number of incomprehensible things ; 
 for others absolutely useless ; and for others 
 contrary to the commands of God, such as 
 prognostics of the weather, nativities, predictions 
 from the planets according to birth-days, lucky 
 and unlucky days, or good or bad omens. This 
 new almanac is divested of such nonsense. 
 
 "5. The changes of the moon, eclipses, and 
 even some information respecting the course of 
 the planets ; the names and figures of the 
 
80 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERL1N. 
 
 twelve signs of the zodiac ; the time of the 
 sun's rising and setting ; and even the number 
 of the months, and that of the weeks, are, you 
 will find, nevertheless, inserted here. 
 
 " 6. I have been frequently asked the signi- 
 fication of names of a strange origin. By means 
 of this almanac, I am enabled to give a reply to 
 all my parishioners, for it contains the significa- 
 tion of every name, which can be ascertained 
 with certainty. 
 
 "7. What a pity, you will perhaps say, that 
 it is come so late. I say the same. It ought 
 to have been completed before the end of Jan- 
 uary. But what good do you possess, the ac- 
 quisition of which has not been retarded by 
 various delays and obstacles ? For my own part, 
 I am so accustomed to expect this, in every 
 thing I do for you, that I am heartily glad it is 
 accomplished, even at this late period. 
 
 " 8. What does it cost, you will inquire. 
 Dear friends ! this almanac is the fruit of my 
 long-cherished desires to promote your good. 
 Accept it as such. If it proves of any real bene- 
 fit to you, or affords you a moment's gratifica- 
 tion, look up to your heavenly Father, and say, 
 e Thy goodness, O Lord, has crowned me with 
 blessings. Permit me to thank thee for them ; 
 and do thou strengthen, by whatever means it 
 
STUDIES OF THE CHILDREN. 81 
 
 may please thee to employ, the feeble faith of 
 thy too feeble child.' " 
 
 Oberlin knew how to blend amusement with 
 instruction in the wisest and most judicious man- 
 ner ; and whilst his primary object ever was to 
 ground the young people in the principles of 
 our Christian faith, and to induce them to con- 
 sider religion as the guardian and inspirer of 
 their happiness, he had also the talent of diffus- 
 ing amongst them that taste for pastoral and 
 agricultural life, which their circumstances ren- 
 dered so peculiarly desirable. 
 
 In order to familiarize the children of twelve 
 or fifteen years of age with these pursuits, they 
 were accustomed to write, under the direction 
 of their teachers, short essays on agriculture 
 and the management of fruit trees, selected and 
 extracted from the best authors. These they 
 afterwards committed to memory; and, at the 
 annual examination, they were expected to give 
 answers to the questions proposed. 
 
 The Ban de la Roche presented a delightful 
 field for botany,* and they were, even at a still 
 
 * Of four thousand eight hundred and seventy-four spe- 
 cies of plants, which compose the French Flora, nearly 
 seven hundred are found growing naturally in the small 
 extent of uneven surface forming the Haut Champ. The 
 flora of these primitive mountains might be estimated at 
 6 
 
82 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 earlier period, initiated in the principles of that 
 pleasing science, being allowed to ramble in the 
 woods, in summer, in search of plants, of which 
 they had learned the names and properties du- 
 ring the winter, and to transplant them into little 
 gardens of their own, which their parents had 
 been induced to give them for the exercise of 
 their industry and skill. They were also taught 
 to draw the flowers; an art in which some of 
 them succeeded remarkably well.* 
 
 From what has been related, it will be sup- 
 posed, that the schoolmasters were, at this pe- 
 riod, persons of a somewhat different description 
 
 about one thousand, including the hypoxylons, and other 
 azotic plants. 
 
 The evergreens, such as the lichens, mosses, horse- 
 tails, brakes, hepaticse, coniferce, and the families which 
 delight in elevated or umbrageous situations, and little 
 vegetable mould, form the principal clothing of the 
 heights of the Ban de la Roche. — Wilks. 
 
 *The editor has seen several groups of flowers copied 
 from nature by Oberlin's scholars. She has in her pos- 
 session a garland of roses and heart's ease, upon which 
 the children of our charity schools would look with as- 
 tonishment, were they told it was painted by a poor little 
 boy in similar circumstances with themselves. The fol- 
 lowing text is neatly written, in French, in the cen- 
 tre : — " Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand 
 of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy 
 God." — Isaiah lxii. 3. And underneath are inscribed 
 
PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 83 
 
 from the shepherd schoolmasters in Stouber's 
 time. Individuals of the first distinction in the 
 village were generally fixed upon for the office, 
 now become a very important one ; and indeed 
 at Bellefosse the character of mayor and school- 
 master were at one time united in the same per- 
 son. They were still called " Regents/ 5 ac- 
 cording to M. Stouber's original suggestion, and 
 were paid on a plan fixed by law : widows, mas- 
 ters of families, and each particular child sent to 
 school, had a certain proportion to pay. 
 
 Among other things, the regents were re- 
 quired to impress upon the minds of their pupils, 
 that, from the peculiarity of their local circum- 
 stances, (their maintenance depending almost 
 entirely on the products of the valley,) it was a 
 duty incumbent upon the youth to contribute 
 their share towards the general prosperity ; and, 
 previously to receiving religious confirmation, 
 they were expected to bring a certificate from 
 their parents, that they had planted, in a spot 
 
 these words : — "Will you, Mr. Legrand, accept this 
 slight token of sincere gratitude, from your humble and 
 dutiful scholar, 
 
 GUSTAVUS SCHEIDECKER." 
 
 Thus were the little children of the Ban de la Roche 
 accustomed to acknowledge their obligations to those 
 who kindly took charge of their education. 
 
84 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 described, two young trees. * The day on which 
 the first fruit was presented to their beloved 
 pastor, was an interesting and useful festival. 
 
 Thus were the clouds of ignorance, which 
 had for a long period settled on the Ban de la 
 
 # It is the injunction of the Apostle that, " whether we 
 eat, or drink, or whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory 
 of God." 1 Cor. x. 31. The views of religion, which 
 Oberlin entertained, made him bring the greatest prin- 
 ciples to the minutest operation. He would take a stone 
 out of the road, if it were likely to incommode a travel- 
 ler, on the principle of love to his neighbour ; and, in 
 this manner, he argued respecting all the duties in 
 which mankind are engaged. Take, for instance, a di- 
 rection to his people on planting trees. This, with other 
 men, would be an affair of convenience ; with him, in 
 his circumstances, it was a religious duty. He thus ad- 
 dressed his parishioners : 
 
 "November 13, 1803. 
 
 " Dear Friends, 
 
 " Satan, the enemy of mankind, rejoices 
 when we demolish and destroy. Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 on the contrary, rejoices when we labor for the public 
 good. 
 
 " You all desire to be saved by him, and hope to be- 
 come partakers of his glory. Please Him, then, by 
 every possible means, during the remainder of the time 
 you may have to live in this world. 
 
 "He is pleased, when, from a principle of love, you 
 plant trees for the public benefit. Now is the season. 
 Be willing then to plant them. Plant them also in the 
 
PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 85 
 
 Roche, gradually dispelled by the enlightening 
 influence of Christian education ; and this at a 
 time when knowledge was considered unneces- 
 sary, and dangerous for the poorer classes ; and 
 when the modern systems of cheap and mechan- 
 ical instruction were almost entirely unknown. 
 The change, that was, in the course of a few 
 years, effected in this place, is the more extra- 
 ordinary, when we reflect upon the state of the 
 people previous to Oberlin's arrival ; and, in 
 contemplating it, we are involuntarily led to 
 unite with him, in ascribing the praise to that 
 great and glorious Being, to whom alone it is 
 due, and who had thus caused " the waters to 
 break out in the wilderness, and streams in the 
 desert." The total renunciation of any thing 
 like merit of his own, formed a remarkable and 
 striking feature in Oberlin's character ; he re- 
 garded himself merely as the instrument whom 
 it had pleased God to employ, and w r as fre- 
 quently heard to say, " I have* little merit in the 
 good I have done ; I have only that of obe- 
 dience to the will of God. He has been gra- 
 
 best possible manner. Remember you do it to please 
 Him. 
 
 " Put all your roads in good condition ; ornament 
 them; employ some of your trees for this purpose, and 
 attend to their growth." 
 
86 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 ciously pleased to manifest his intentions to me, 
 and has always given me the means of executing 
 them." 
 
 In the year 1782, Oberlin, in the hope of ad- 
 vancing the spiritual interests of his people, es- 
 tablished a society, which he denominated " The 
 Christian Society." The following is a summa- 
 ry of the Rules, translated from the original in 
 his own hand-writing. 
 
 Rubrics of the Christian Society, for assisting the Mem- 
 ory of the Members, and especially that of the Superinten- 
 dents, whose Duly it is to see that they are duly observed, 
 
 1. Regeneration. 
 
 2. Sanctification. 
 
 3. " We are all one in Christ Jesus." 
 
 4. " Abide in me." 
 
 5. " Christ is all, and in all." 
 
 6. " Bring forth much fruit." 
 
 7. u Love not the world, neither the things 
 that are in the world." 
 
 8. Nourish the inner man, by 
 
 (1.) The word of God. 
 (2.) Continual prayer. 
 (3.) The frequent use of the Holy Sac- 
 rament. 
 
CHRISTIAN SOCIETY. 
 
 87 
 
 9. The Superintendents are the Overseers, 
 whom the members choose from among them- 
 selves. 
 
 10. Not only the Superintendents, but also 
 all the members, ought to watch over each other 
 for good; to exhort, and to warn each other. 
 
 11. With sweetness, charity, humility, and 
 patience. 
 
 1*2. As to the incorrigible — follow the ex- 
 ample of Jesus Christ. .Matt, xviii. 15, 16. 
 
 13. Meet for prayer on this subject. 
 
 14. Be submissive to your superiors. All 
 the members are fellow-workers with their 
 pastor. 
 
 15. Good management. 
 
 16. Good education. 
 
 17. *• Wives, be in subjection to your own 
 husbands." 
 
 18. " Search the Scriptures" diligently. 
 
 19. Diligence. Diligence with application 
 and energy — that is to say, industry. 
 
 20. " Be careful for nothing." 
 
 21. Lose no time. 
 
 22. Allow of no idleness or negligence, on 
 the part of those confided to your care. 
 
 23. Honest and exact payment ; no artfulness 
 or cunning. — See Rom. xii. 17. 
 
 24. " Be kindly aftectioned one to another 
 with brotherly love." 
 
88 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 25. Endeavour to promote the happiness of 
 all. 
 
 26. " Provoke unto love and to good works." 
 
 27. Appropriate part of your earnings, at sta- 
 ted intervals, to the public good." 
 
 This Society seems, by the account which 
 is given of it, to have been established for the 
 purpose of prayer and religious conversation. 
 It appears to have been violently opposed, and 
 spoken against by some persons in the parish, 
 which induced Oberlin, in the supposition that the 
 scandal of the bad prevailed over the advantage of 
 the good, to put it down about a year and a half 
 after its formation. At its dissolution, he de- 
 livered an address on the subject, to his parish- 
 ioners. It alludes to the cause of its abrogation ; 
 and affords such complete evidence of his de- 
 votedness to God, and love to his Saviour, as 
 well as boldness in reproving sin, and prudence 
 in preventing any just cause for censure, that I 
 
 May J, 1783. 
 
 " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which 
 shall believe on me through their word. That they 
 all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I 
 in thee, that they also may be one in us ; that the 
 
ABROGATION OF THE SOCIETY. 89 
 
 world may believe that thou hast sent me. — John xvii. 
 20, 21. 
 
 " These verses contain the last desire, the 
 last prayer of our gracious Redeemer — his earn- 
 est prayer, since it was four times repeated — the 
 union of all his beloved disciples among them- 
 selves and with him, as he and the Father are 
 one. 
 
 " As the pastor of your parish, a minister of 
 the Gospel, and a servant of Jesus Christ, my 
 aim ought to be to do the will of Jesus Christ ; 
 to bring souls to him ; and to unite them togeth- 
 er in him. Such was my aim, in establishing, 
 two years since, the Christian Society. 
 
 " Every end requires means. I could have 
 wished that all my parishioners might by degrees 
 have associated themselves with it. I have of- 
 ten publicly invited them. Some have com- 
 plied. More than one hundred and thirty in- 
 dividuals have been friends to it, and have wil- 
 lingly kept company with us, to listen to what 
 was going forward. Some have declared them- 
 selves enemies. Some have calumniated it, 
 without even understanding its purport, or wish- 
 ing to understand it, although the doors of 
 the church were open, and they had, more than 
 two hundred times, the opportunity of remain- 
 ing to see what passed. Some amongst 'them 
 
90 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 have calumniated it against their conscience. 
 They have said that I placed sentinels at the 
 doors, to prevent those who were not members 
 from entering. This was a downright falsehood. 
 
 " By what means then did you come, you 
 from all the five villages, who were so often 
 auditors without being members ? 
 
 " The greater part of the members did not an- 
 nounce themselves to be such, till they knew 
 and understood the principles, by which the 
 Society was regulated. How were they able to 
 do this, if sentinels were posted to prevent 
 
 their approach ? How did Mr. , the elder 
 
 of Waldbach, and Mr. of Foudai, manage, 
 
 — who, without being members, have been pre- 
 sent so frequently ? How did Messrs. 
 
 manage ? — the family of Marechal, of Wald- 
 bach, the founders of Rothau, the wife of M. le 
 Regent, and many other persons, who were so 
 often with us, that we were never once alone ? 
 There have been many other individuals, who 
 were not members, present. 
 
 " If they have had the hardihood to invent 
 such falsehoods respecting us, as they now re- 
 fuse to acknowledge, how much greater may 
 they have invented ? 
 
 " Your gracious Lord earnestly desires that 
 you should all be true Christians — such as the 
 
ABROGATION OF THE SOCIETY. 91 
 
 Gospel portrays — and such as I have endeav- 
 oured to make you, whether through this Socie- 
 ty, or through any other means. 
 
 11 But, on account of some atrocious calumnies 
 respecting it, I am come to the resolution of ab- 
 rogating its name and external form ; — a thing 
 which I can do the more easily, because Chris- 
 tianity does not consist either in names, or in 
 external forms. 
 
 " I abrogate it then to-day ; and I abrogate it 
 as fully assured of God's direction in doing so, 
 as I was assured of his direction in its establish- 
 ment. And this partly for the following rea- 
 sons : 
 
 " 1st. I have, in a great measure, obtained the 
 end I had in view. 
 
 " 2d. Names and external forms are not es- 
 sential, but are subject to vicissitude. 
 
 " 3d. In the event of my death or removal, 
 this external form would have been liable to 
 change ; and the members, overtaken by sur- 
 prise, would have resembled, in some degree, 
 sheep without a shepherd, and would not have 
 known what to do. It is better that this should 
 happen during my life-time. 
 
 " I have said that I have, in a great measure, 
 obtained my end. 
 
 " First. With respect to those who have 
 been willing to become members. 
 
92 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " 1st. They have had the opportunity of de- 
 claring themselves on the side of their Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, and of acknowledging him, 
 which is a thing of no trivial importance, if we 
 recollect that passage in Matt. x. 32, c Who- 
 soever, therefore, shall confess me before men, 
 him will I also confess before my Father who is 
 in heaven. 5 
 
 "2d. They have learned to know more of 
 their spiritual wants ; and how necessary it is 
 for them to be found in Christ Jesus, ' without 
 spot and blameless/ c rooted and built up in 
 him, and established in the faith.' 
 
 " 3d. They have felt, more than ever, the 
 duty and necessity of prayer. Many, previous 
 to the formation of this society, had not even an 
 idea of that continual prayer of the heart, which 
 Jesus Christ recommends to his disciples, Luke 
 xviii. 
 
 " 4th. They have been led to feel that many 
 souls are anxious for their salvation. They 
 know, now, where to seek the friends of God, 
 and of Jesus Christ, in order to enjoy the edifi- 
 cation and benefit of Christian communion. 
 
 " 5th. They have learned < to be kind to 
 one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one anoth- 
 er, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath for- 
 given' them. 
 
ABROGATION OF THE SOCIETY. 93 
 
 " Secondly. With respect to those who 
 have not heen members. A number of precious 
 souls have been awakened from their sleep, and, 
 although they could not resolve to declare them- 
 selves members, yet they have been induced to 
 pay more attention to their spiritual neces- 
 sities — have been led to look upon themselves 
 as sinners — have learned to tremble for their 
 salvation — and have become also c instant in 
 prayer. 5 
 
 " 1st. I cannot sufficiently thank God, the 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for all the good 
 that he has, through this medium, been pleased 
 to effect in my dear parish ; and for the evident 
 blessing that has rested upon it. May he watch 
 over it, and grant that the good fruits brought 
 forth may be perfected, and rendered perma- 
 nent. May the kingdom of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ be promoted, and extended, by any other 
 means that he may see meet to appoint. 
 
 a 2d. May he sustain his church, according 
 to his promise, Mat. xvi. 18, so that 6 the gates of 
 hell shall not prevail against it.' May He, who 
 said to his disciples, c He that receiveth you, 
 receiveth me/ register all its members in his 
 Book of Life. May he abundantly shed his 
 Holy Spirit upon them, and f grave them upon 
 the palms of his hands/ so that no one may be 
 
94 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 able to draw them away, or to turn them from 
 him. May he protect them, sanctify them, pu- 
 rify them, and prepare them for their heavenly 
 inheritance. 
 
 " 3d. I thank God also, for all those who 
 have shown themselves friends to this society. 
 May He reward you for the joy which you have 
 thus imparted to your distressed and afflicted 
 pastor. 
 
 " May He bring you nearer and nearer to 
 Jesus. May you become of the number of 
 his own dear people — a people zealous of 
 good works — the sheep of his beloved little 
 flock. 
 
 " 4th. I thank those who have permitted 
 their wives and children to belong to it, and to 
 declare themselves openly. May God recom- 
 pense them for all that they have done ' unto 
 the least of my brethren. 5 May he recompense 
 them also richly and eternally, for the good 
 which they have done to their wives and chil- 
 dren, in permitting them to participate in the 
 contempt which Jesus Christ suffered ; to bear 
 his cross ; and to become partakers in the prom- 
 ise which our Lord has made to those who con- 
 fess his name before men. 
 
 " O my dear auditors ! leave, leave, I entreat 
 you, the ways of Belial. Devote yourselves to 
 
ARTICLES OF THE SOCIETY. 95 
 
 the Lord Jesus. He is able and willing to re- 
 ceive every soul that earnestly seeks him ; he 
 will cast out none that come unto him ; having 
 shed his blood for all, he desires to receive all 
 into his arms. Hasten then to be saved. Time 
 flies away ; death draws near. ' There is none 
 other name under heaven given among men 
 whereby we must be saved,' than Jesus Christ, 
 whom I preach unto you. Hasten to him. Fly 
 to him. Pray, mourn, weep ; seek after him 
 in the secret of your hearts, until you find him. 
 Amen." 
 
 In the course of the year 1784, Oberlin 
 had the following paper printed in French 
 and German, and placed in a conspicuous 
 station in every cottage throughout his ex- 
 tensive parish. It serves to prove at how 
 early a period the subject of missions occupied 
 his mind, and led him to form those monthly 
 prayer meetings to promote this object, which 
 are now carried forward by most of the denom- 
 inations of Christians throughout the world. 
 
 " Our Lord Jesus Christ desires his followers 
 to espouse his interests ; to aid him in his great 
 work ; and to pray in his name. To conduce 
 to this end, he has himself furnished them with 
 one common prayer. 
 
96 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 u For the satisfaction and assistance of some 
 individuals amongst us, a sort of Spiritual As- 
 sociation was established a few years ago ; and 
 by means of printed sheets, the following arti- 
 cles were agreed upon, and circulated : — 
 
 " First. Every member of this society shall 
 pray, on the first Monday of every month, that 
 the Missionaries employed in the conversion of 
 savage and idolatrous nations in all parts of the 
 world, may be supported and sustained, ' against 
 the wiles of the devil.' 
 
 " Secondly. Besides habitual ' watching 
 unto prayer,' every individual, if he be able, 
 shall prostrate himself in mind and body, every 
 Sunday and Wednesday, at five o'clock in the 
 evening, to ask of God, in the name of Jesus 
 Christ — 
 
 " 1st. That every member of this society 
 may be saved, with all his household, and be- 
 long to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 " 2d. Every member shall add to the list, all 
 the friends of God of his acquaintance, and pray 
 for them. 
 
 " 3d. Every member shall include in his 
 prayer all the children of God, in general, upon 
 all the earth, of whatever religion they may be, 
 supplicating that they may be united more and 
 more in Christ Jesus. 
 
ARTICLES OF THE SOCIETY. 97 
 
 11 4th. Every member shall pray that the 
 kingdom of Satan may be at length destroyed, 
 and that the kingdom of God, and of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, may be fully and generally estab- 
 lished among the innumerable Pagans, Turks, 
 Jews, and nominal Christians. 
 
 " 5th. Every member shall pray for school- 
 masters, superiors, and pious magistrates, of 
 whatever name or rank they may be. 
 
 "6th. For faithful pastors, and male and fe- 
 male laborers in the vineyard of the Lord Jesus, 
 who, being themselves devoted to his service, 
 desire, above all things, to bring many other 
 souls to him. 
 
 " 7th. For the youth, that God may preserve 
 them from the seducing influence of bad exam- 
 ple, and lead them to the knowledge of our 
 gracious Redeemer. 
 
 " Thirdly. Every Saturday evening all the 
 members shall ask God to bless the preaching 
 of his holy word on the morrow." 
 
98 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 CHAPTER V * 
 
 Animated by desires of usefulness, habitually 
 relying on the goodness of their heavenly 
 Father, and stimulating each other to active 
 exertion in the performance of every Christian 
 duty, Oberlin and his beloved Madeleine passed 
 sixteen years in a union cemented by the ties 
 of the strongest affection. Their family now con- 
 sisted of seven children, Frederic, Fidelite Caro- 
 line, Charles Conserve, Henry Gottfried, Louisa 
 Charite, Henrietta, and Frederica Bienvenue, 
 
 * The editor regrets that she has not been able to 
 procure any particular documents relative to Oberlin's 
 proceedings, in the interval between the death of his 
 wife, in 1784, and that of his son Frederic, in 1793. 
 That bis exertions for the good of his flock were, how- 
 ever, carried forward with unrelaxed energy, the im- 
 proved appearance of the Ban de la Roche, and the 
 extraordinary change effected amongst the young people 
 here, during that period, bear ample testimony. 
 
 Since writing the above lines, the editor has had the 
 gratification of receiving a corroboration of her statement, 
 from Mr. Heisch. " It was during this period," he writes? 
 * that I mostly visited the Ban de la Roche once a year 
 for a few weeks. I found the different intellectual, re- 
 ligious, and moral engines always at work, with more or 
 less energy ; and practical alterations and improvements 
 always going forwards." 
 
DEATH OF MRS. OBERLIN. 99 
 
 all of whom were brought up under the pater- 
 nal roof.* 
 
 On the 18th of January, t7o4 3 it pleased 
 God that an event should take place, which had 
 a most powerful influence both upon the cast of 
 his mind and the whole of his future life. This 
 was the loss of his wife. She died rather sud- 
 denly, about ten weeks after her last confine- 
 ment. No unfavorable symptoms, no incipient 
 disease had prepared Oberlin for this distressing 
 separation. When first informed of it, he was 
 so much overpowered as to remain for some 
 moments plunged in the deepest silence, and 
 unable to give utterance to his feelings. At 
 length, after this interval of melancholy stupor, 
 he was observed suddenly to fall on his knees 
 and return thanks to God, that the object of his 
 tenderest solicitude was now beyond the reach 
 or the need of prayer, and that He had crowned 
 
 *"I knew Oberlin," says Mr. Heisch, " as the play- 
 fellow and instructer of his cluldren when they were 
 young", and as their friend and counsellor when they 
 arrived at years of maturity. In the character of 
 instructer, he so well knew how to mingle affection 
 with earnestness, and even with severity when re- 
 quisite, that his children both loved and respected him ; 
 and in that of a friend, there was an endearing tender- 
 ness that not only constituted their happiness, but form- 
 ed also a constant stimulus to their exertions. n 
 
100 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 the abundance of his mercies towards her, by 
 giving her so easy and gentle a dismissal. He 
 has himself commemorated, in a written fragment, 
 which will be inserted in a future part of this 
 memoir, the emotions by which he was agitated 
 in these moments of bitter suffering. " Upon 
 this occasion," he says, " as upon a thousand 
 others in the course of my life, notwithstanding 
 my overwhelming affliction, I was upheld by 
 God's gracious assistance, in a remarkable man- 
 ner." ■ 
 
 From that time the passive graces shone as 
 conspicuously in his character as the active vir- 
 tues had hitherto done. Neither complaint nor 
 murmur escaped his lips. It might be said that 
 he had not ceased to live in the society of the 
 Christian wife whom he had lost. Every day 
 he devoted whole hours to holding communion 
 with her in those abstracted frames of mind, 
 which make us almost imagine ourselves in the 
 presence of those whom we love. A speedy 
 reunion in the mansions of our Father's house, 
 was, nevertheless, one of his most cherished 
 desires. " I hope," he would often say, " that 
 the world in which God will reunite me to my 
 beloved wife will soon open to me." 
 
 This desire had nothing of a transitory cha- 
 racter ; it was not the mere result of acute grief, 
 
HIS STATE OF MIND. 101 
 
 nor the effect of any habitual melancholy. 
 Although his sorrows might have contributed to 
 strengthen it, it had its origin in a religious 
 feeling. Like St. Paul, he desired to depart to 
 be with Christ, which to him was far better. 
 He longed to be able to unite his voice with 
 hers he had lost, in singing the song of the Lamb, 
 and to participate in that " fulness of joy," 
 which " God hath prepared for those who love 
 him." "I have had all my life," he says, in 
 the paper to which allusion has been already 
 made, and which was written the very year he 
 lost his wife, " a desire, occasionally a very 
 strong one, to die, owing in some degree, to the 
 consciousness of my moral infirmities, and of my 
 frequent derelictions. My affection for my wife 
 and children, and my attachment to my parish, 
 have sometimes checked this desire, though for 
 short intervals only," 
 
 These few words seem to lay open the very 
 secret of his soul. While he was blasting rocks, 
 levelling roads, building bridges, fertilizing fields, 
 improving the morals and promoting the happi- 
 ness of his flock, the expressions just cited, 
 prove what was the moving principle by which 
 he was actuated. That which induced him to 
 become the benefactor of these districts — 
 that which led him to devote so much time to 
 
102 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 the prosecution of his plans, was the ever- 
 present thought of death and eternity ; and 
 the habitual remembrance of the responsibility- 
 attached to talents, and to opportunities of use- 
 fulness. He knew that his soul would be required 
 of him ; he desired that it might be so speedily ; 
 and, in order that he might hear the joyful 
 sound, "Well done, good and faithful servant," 
 he dedicated every faculty he possessed to the 
 interests of others, living himself by faith in the 
 Son of God, and resting entirely on his pro- 
 pitiation. 
 
 His patience and resignation, not only under 
 this, but under every other affliction that it 
 pleased God to award to him during the whole 
 couse of his life, was striking and exemplary. 
 After the first bitterness of grief was over, his 
 soul always seemed " to be girding itself up, ' J 
 and, as it were, "stretching its wings" in ex- 
 pectation of that joyful period when it should 
 leave mortality behind, and soar to the regions of 
 everlasting blessedness — to join "the innume- 
 rable company of angels, and the general assem- 
 bly and church of the first born." "Millions 
 of times," he continues, in the paper mentioned 
 above, "have I besought God to enable me to 
 surrender myself with entire and filial submis- 
 sion to his will, either to live or to die : — and 
 
LETTER TO A LADY. 103 
 
 to bring me into such a state of resignation, as 
 neither to wish, nor to say, nor to do, nor to 
 undertake any thing, but what He, who only is 
 wise and good, sees to be best." 
 
 The following extract from a letter which he 
 wrote to a lady, who had been tried by many 
 successive bereavements, in the hope of con- 
 vincing her that such dispensations are permit- 
 ted, to strengthen our graces, and to promote 
 our spiritual refinement, will illustrate his lively 
 faith and fervent piety, as well as the simple 
 and original mode in which he was accustomed 
 to pour out the language of his heart in epistolary 
 converse. :i I have before me two stones, which 
 are in imitation of precious stones. They are 
 both perfectly alike in color ; they are of the 
 same water, clear, pure, and clean; yet there is 
 a marked difference between them, as to their 
 lustre and brilliancy. One has a dazzling bright- 
 ness, while the other is dull, so that the eye 
 passes over it, and derives no pleasure from the 
 sight. What can be the reason of such a dif- 
 ference ? It is this. The one is cut but in a 
 few faccis ; the other has ten times as many. 
 These facets are produced by a very violent 
 operation ; it is requisite to cut, to smooth, and 
 polish. Had these stones been endued with 
 life, so as to have been capable of feeling what 
 
104 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 they underwent, the one which has receiv- 
 ed eighty facets would have thought itself very 
 unhappy, and would have envied the fate of 
 the other, which, having received but eight, had 
 undergone but a tenth part of its sufferings. 
 Nevertheless, the operation being over, it is 
 done for ever : the difference between the two 
 stones always remains strongly marked ; that 
 which has suffered but little, is entirely eclipsed 
 by the other, which alone is held in estimation, 
 and attracts attention. May not this serve to 
 explain the saying of our Saviour, whose words 
 always bear some reference to eternity : ' Bles- 
 sed are they that mourn, for they shall be com- 
 forted.' — Blessed, whether we contemplate them 
 apart, or in comparison with those who have not 
 passed through so many trials. Oh ! that we 
 were always able to cast ourselves into his arms, 
 like little children — to draw near unto him, like 
 helpless lambs — and ever to ask of him, pa- 
 tience, resignation, an entire surrender to his 
 will, faith, trust, and a heartfelt obedience to 
 the commands which he gives to those who are 
 willing to be his disciples. i The Lord God 
 will wipe away tears from off all faces.' Isaiah 
 xxv. 8." 
 
 Mrs. Oberlin's death was deeply felt among 
 the poor people of the Ban de la Roche ; for, 
 
LOUISA SCHEPLER. 105 
 
 although less active and energetic than her 
 husband, she had always evinced the liveliest 
 interest in their concerns, sought to administer 
 to their wants, both secular and spiritual, and to 
 assuage their griefs. 
 
 Her loss was in some degree supplied to her 
 own family by a pious orphan, named Louisa 
 Schepler, who had already lived eight years in 
 Oberlin's service, and who now undertook the 
 management of his household and the care of 
 his children. 
 
 She was at this time twenty-three years of 
 age ; a sensible, pleasing-looking young woman, 
 of mild and gentle manners, habited in the cos- 
 tume of the peasants of the country. She had 
 been a kind of helper in the village of Wald- 
 bach, and long one of its most active and zealous 
 conductrices ; but her health was beginning to be 
 impaired by the severe colds she took in the 
 snows. This circumstance did not, however, 
 lessen her usefulness ; and no sooner had she 
 accepted the station of housekeeper to the 
 "Cher Papa ," than, refusing offers of marriage, 
 she took the resolution of devoting herself to 
 his service, and would never accept any salary, 
 but lived in his family rather as a friend than a 
 servant. What her few wants required she 
 asked for — nothing more; and on some occa- 
 
106 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 sions, when Oberlin endeavoured, through in- 
 direct channels, to put money into her hands, 
 she conjecturing the source from whence it came 
 uniformly returned it. 
 
 The following note, dated "Waldbach, First 
 of the New Year, 1793," addressed by Louisa 
 to her benefactor, is a sweet little proof of her 
 disinterested and grateful affection. 
 
 " Dear and beloved Papa, 
 
 "Permit me, at the commencement of the 
 new year, to request a favor which I have long 
 desired. As I am now really independent, that 
 is to say, as I have no longer my father nor his 
 debts to attend to, I beseech you, dear papa, 
 not to refuse me the favor of making me your 
 adopted daughter. Do not, I entreat you, give 
 me any more wages ; for as you treat me like 
 your child in every other respect, I earnestly 
 wish you to do so in this particular also. Little 
 is needful for the support of my body. My 
 shoes, and stockings, and sabots, (wooden shoes,) 
 will cost something, but when I want them I can 
 ask you for them, as a child applies to its 
 father. 
 
 " Oh ! I entreat you, dear papa, grant me 
 this favor, and condescend to regard me as your 
 most tenderly attached daughter. 
 
 "Louisa Schepler." 
 
 
LETTER IN THE GERMAN MAGAZINE. 107 
 
 The humble request was acceded to, and 
 Louisa was ever afterwards considered as one of 
 Oberlin's own children. 
 
 I shall here introduce the following interesting 
 letter, 5 * because it presents so lively a picture of 
 the domestic happiness enjoyed under the good 
 pastor's roof at Waldbach, and of the mode of 
 proceeding there, at this period. It is dated 
 March 11, 1793. 
 
 " During the space of nearly thirty years, in 
 which M. Oberlin has been Christian pastor of 
 this canton, he has completely changed it. The 
 language is, from an unintelligible jpatois, altered 
 into pure French ; the manners of the people, 
 without degenerating, are civilized ; and ignor- 
 ance is banished without injuring the simplicity 
 of their character. Many of the women belong- 
 ing to his parishes, trained for the purpose under 
 his paternal care and instruction, (and called 
 conductrices,) assist him in his occupations. 
 They teach reading/ writing, and the elements 
 of geography, in the different villages where 
 they reside ; and through their medium the 
 children are instructed in many necessary things 
 
 * Translated from the journal of a French gentleman 
 (or clergyman), who was so much pleased with a visit he 
 made to the Ban de la Roche, in 1793, as to publish an 
 account of it in a German Magazine, printed at Tubingen. 
 
108 MEMOIRS OF OBERL1N. 
 
 but above all, have the seeds of religion and 
 morality sown in their hearts. The excellence 
 of these schools is so well established and ap- 
 preciated, that girls of the middle ranks are 
 sent to him from distant parts, and the title of 
 a scholar of Pastor Oberlin, is no less than 
 a testimonial of piety, cleverness, and gentle 
 manners. His countenance is open, affection- 
 ate, and friendly, and bears a strong impress 
 of benevolence. His conversation is easy, 
 flowing, and full of imagination, * yet always 
 adapted to the capacity of those to whom he 
 is speaking. In the evening we accompa- 
 nied him a league on his way back to Wald- 
 bach. We had a wooded hill to ascend ; the 
 sun was just setting, and it was a beautiful even- 
 ing. * What sweet thoughts and pious senti- 
 ments you have uttered, during this interesting 
 w r alk,' said M. Oberlin, in a tone of confidence ; 
 for he considered us as friends to religion, and 
 servants of God. Our hearts were indeed in 
 unison ; and he related to us the circumstances 
 of his past life, and spoke of his views and ideas, 
 
 # "Although Oberlin narrated with the vivacity of a 
 painter," says Mr. Heisch, who knew him intimately, 
 u he was extremely strict as to facts, and in all his in- 
 vestigations paid the utmost regard to integrity and 
 truth." 
 
LETTER IN THE GERMAN MAGAZINE. 109 
 
 and the fear and love of God, in a most touch- 
 ing manner. Sometimes we stood still to admire 
 the beauties of nature, and at others to listen 
 with earnest attention to his impressive discourse. 
 One moment was particularly effecting ; when, 
 stopping about halfway up the hill, he answered 
 in the softest tone to our question — \ Ja ich bin 
 glucklich,' (Yes, I am happy). These w r ords 
 are seldom uttered by an inhabitant of this 
 world, and they were so delightful from the 
 mouth of one who is a stranger to all the favors 
 of fortune — to all the allurements of luxury — 
 and who knows no other joys than those which 
 religion and benevolence impart, that we longed 
 to live like him, that we might also participate 
 in the same happiness. 
 
 "The moon rose in all her majesty, and night 
 drew on, before we recollected that the time to 
 return was approaching ; when pastor Oberlin 
 exclaimed, c If five years are necessary to bring 
 a ray of light from Sirius to this world, though 
 travelling at the rate of twelve millions of miles 
 in a minute, how much swifter must the com- 
 munications of Spirits be! (Dan. ix. 21.) 
 What is so swift as thought? ' and he then im- 
 aged to us the facility with which he apprehend- 
 ed we should approach one another in a future 
 state. 
 
110 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " The following morning we set off to return 
 the visit which he had paid us on the preced- 
 ing day. We found the worthy pastor in his 
 morning gown ; it was plain, but whole and 
 clean. He was just on the point of concluding 
 a lecture ; his pupils had, like their master, 
 something soft, indeed almost heavenly, in their 
 look. 
 
 " The house stands well, and has, from the 
 garden side, a romantic view ; in every part of 
 it that kind of elegance, which is the result of 
 order and cleanliness, prevails. The fur- 
 niture is simple ; yet it suggests to you that 
 you are in the residence of no ordinary 
 man ; the walls are covered with maps, 
 drawings, and vignettes, and texts of Scripture 
 are written over all the doors. That above the 
 dining room door is, l Blessed are they who do 
 hunger and thirst after righteousness ; for they 
 shall be filled.' And over the others, are texts 
 enjoining love to God and our neighbour. The 
 good man implicitly follows the divine command 
 to write them over the door-posts.* On our 
 first entrance he gave us, each, as a welcome, 
 a printed text, c Abide in me, and I in you/ 
 'Seek those things which are above/ &c. His 
 
 * See Deut. vi. 6, 7, 8, 9. and xi. 18, 19, 20. 
 
LETTER IN THE GERMAN MAGAZINE. Ill 
 
 study is a peculiar room, and contains rather a 
 well-chosen, than numerous, selection of books 
 in French and German, chiefly for youth. The 
 walls are covered with engravings, portraits of 
 eminent characters, plates of insects and ani- 
 mals, and colored drawings of minerals and pre- 
 cious stones ; it is, in short, literally papered 
 with useful pictures relative to natural history 
 and other interesting subjects. 
 
 u The dinner commenced with a blessing. 
 His childrej, two maids, and a girl who receives 
 her instruction there, were at the table ; there 
 was a remarkable expression of softness in all 
 their countenances. 
 
 "Oberlinhas a peculiarly happy method of 
 improving occurrences, under the form of sim- 
 ilies ; and we are mistaken in supposing him a 
 mystic. — ' The Gospel,' said he, ^ is my stan- 
 dard. I should be afraid of trusting myself 
 alone without it.' He then related to us many 
 of the difficulties he had to encounter, and the 
 sacrifices he had to make, at the commence- 
 ment of his career in the Ban de la Roche. 
 6 But now,' continued he, checking himself, c let 
 me observe, it is as great a fault to talk of our 
 own virtues as of the faults of others.' 
 
 " It is surprising to witness the sound sense, 
 refinement, and superiority of mind evinced by 
 
112 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 these simple peasants ; the very servants are 
 well-educated, and are clothed with that child- 
 like spirit, which is one of the truest tests of 
 real religion. One of them, who is a widow, 
 made many good remarks to us on the duties 
 of married life. c In order to introduce and pre- 
 serve domestic peace,' said she, ' let us turn to 
 Him who is peace. 5 
 
 " I am writing this at his table, whilst he is 
 busy preparing leather gloves for his peasant 
 children. His family are around him, engaged 
 in their different avocations ; his eldest son* 
 Frederic, is giving a lesson to some of the little 
 ones, in which amusement and instruction are 
 judiciously blended ; and the Cher Papa, with- 
 out desisting from his employment, frequently 
 puts in a word. He took me this morning into 
 his work-shop, where there is a turner's lathe, 
 a press, a complete set of carpenter's tools, also 
 a printing-press, and one for book-binding. I 
 assisted him in coloring a quire of paper, 
 which is intended for covers of school-books. 
 He gives scarcely any thing 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 — i No,' said 
 he, < I have been ten years learning every head 
 
LETTER IN THE GERMAN MAGAZINE. 
 
 113 
 
 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.' 
 
 u Pastor Oberlin is too modest and generous 
 not to bear testimony to the worth of his predeces- 
 sor, who had begun to clear this wilderness, and 
 to raise the superstructure, which he has so 
 beautifully completed. 
 
 " Yesterday, I found him encircled by four or 
 five families who had been burnt out of their 
 houses; he was dividing amongst them articles 
 of clothing, meat, assignats, books, knives, thim- 
 bles, and colored pictures for the children, 
 whom he placed in a row according to their 
 ages, and then left them to take what they pre- 
 ferred. The most perfect equality reigns in 
 his house ; — children, 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 house-keeper, 
 who of course presides, and his two maids, who 
 sit at the bottom of the table. As it is his custom 
 to salute every member of his family, night and 
 morning, these two little maids come very re- 
 spectfully courtesying to him, and he always 
 gives them his hand and inquires after their 
 8 
 
114 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 health, or wishes them good night. All are hap- 
 py, and appear to owe much of their happiness 
 to him. They seem to be ready to sacrifice 
 their lives to save his. The following reply 
 was made by one of his domestics, on his ques- 
 tioning her about her downcast looks during 
 some trivial indisposition : ' I fear, dear papa, 
 there will be no servants in heaven, and that I 
 shall lose the happiness of waiting upon you.' 
 
 " Oberlin appears to be looking forward to 
 his eternal home with holy confidence and joy- 
 ful hope. 5 ' 
 
 The following are specimens of the texts re- 
 ferred to in the preceding letter. They were 
 printed by Oberlin himself. He always kept 
 a large sup pi j of them, and distributed thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands of them to his 
 friends and visitors, often writing a few appro- 
 priate words on the back of the paper, or some 
 short sentence expressive of his affectionate 
 remembrance. 
 
 My mother and my brethren 
 
 are these 
 
 which hear the word of God, 
 
 and do it. 
 
 Luke viii. 21. 
 
SPECIMEN OF TEXTS. 
 
 115 
 
 And let us 
 
 consider one another, 
 
 to provoke unto love and to 
 
 good works. 
 
 Hebrews x. 24. 
 
 Sometimes, instead of a text, a few verses 
 were inscribed on the cards. 
 
 Mon Dieu ! pour etre heureux 
 Tu me mis sur la terre. 
 Tu sais bien mieux que moi, 
 Quels sont mes vrais besoins ; 
 Le coeur de ton enfant 
 S'en rapporte a tes soins ; 
 Donne moi les vertus, 
 Qu'il me faut pour te plaire. 
 
 Oberlin's house was, as the writer of the 
 preceding letter remarks, literally papered 
 with pictures, inscriptions, verses from the 
 Bible, and directions for missionary and other 
 prayers ; and on the door of one of them the 
 Moravian text-book was fastened. The in- 
 scription placed on that of another will give 
 some idea of the cordial and warm reception 
 with which he always greeted his visitors, and 
 formed, indeed, throughout the law by which 
 they were governed : — 
 
116 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " Constant kindness. 
 Firm mildness. 
 Strong and never-failing charity." 
 
 Towards the latter end of the year 1793, 
 Oberlin's eldest son Frederic, to whom he was 
 most tenderly attached, entered the army as a 
 volunteer, and was one of the first who were 
 killed, being at this time in the twenty-fourth 
 year of his age. 
 
 His father's patient resignation, and submis- 
 sion to the will of God, shone forth in as re- 
 markable a manner on this afflicting occasion, as 
 they had done on the death of his wife. 
 
 " I went soon afterwards," writes Mr Heisch, 
 "to Waldbach, and naturally expected to 
 find a tinge of melancholy spread over the 
 family at the parsonage ; but instead of that, 
 I observed only an air of quiet seriousness, 
 and the usual tone of reciprocal communication 
 was uninterrupted among them. They spoke 
 of Frederic not as of the dead, but as one gone 
 before them to heaven, where they confidently 
 hoped, sooner or later, to meet him again. 
 Every thing proceeded as usual, except in 
 rather a more serious manner, whilst they thus 
 conversed about him, and it was evident to all 
 around them that they placed the most unlim- 
 ited confidence in God's unerring goodness." 
 
DEATH OF HIS ELDEST SON. 117 
 
 The firm belief that every event of our lives 
 is under the guidance and direction of a super- 
 intending Providence, and that Infinite Wis- 
 dom can, from a variety of dispensations, pro- 
 duce a uniformity of good and an uninterrupted 
 series of benefits, formed, indeed, a leading 
 trait in Oberlin's character ; in proportion as 
 he suffered under affliction, his mind seemed 
 to open to the consolations of faith ; and it is 
 not surprising that the influence and example 
 of one so much beloved and respected, should 
 induce other individuals, and especially those 
 of his domestic circle, to adopt the same senti- 
 ments, to utter the same language, and to act 
 upon the same principles. — Happy are those 
 who can thus trace the hand of God in every 
 circumstance, prosperous or adverse — who can 
 regard even the heaviest trials as an intended 
 means of sanctification, and of drawing us 
 nearer to Jesus : — and hence, learning to u glo- 
 ry in tribulation," can anticipate with joyful 
 hope that period " when sorrow and sighing 
 shall flee away." 
 
118 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 During the period of the Revolution, which 
 was at this time agitating the country, and 
 plunging the people into misery and distress, 
 Oberlin was, like the rest of the clergy, de- 
 prived of his scanty income. Soon after its 
 commencement, indeed, it had been agreed 
 by the heads of the parish, that a collection of 
 fourteen hundred francs should be made for him, 
 by persons going about from house to house for 
 the purpose ; but although their benevolent ef- 
 forts were exerted to the utmost, they could not 
 raise, during the year 1789, more than one thou- 
 sand one hundred and thirty-three francs, and 
 in the following one, not so many as four hundred. 
 This sum therefore, for two successive years, 
 constituted nearly his sole revenue ; for no 
 fees were admitted. " My people," he used to 
 say, " are born, married, and buried, free of ex- 
 pense, at least as far as their clergyman is 
 concerned." 
 
 At length the reign of terror, which had for 
 the last four years been preparing, by the 
 gradual breaking down of every religious and 
 social tie, raged in all its horror — spreading, 
 like the sirocco of the desert, devastation, fam- 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION. 119 
 
 ine, and dismay. The Ban de la Roche alone 
 seemed to be an asylum of peace in the midst 
 of war and carnage. Though every kind of 
 worship was interdicted throughout France, 
 and almost all the clergy of Alsace, men of 
 learning, (among whom was his elder brother, 
 Professor Oberlin,) talents, and property, were 
 imprisoned — Pastor Oberlin was allowed to 
 continue his work of benevolence and instruc- 
 tion unmolested. # His house, in fact, became 
 the retreat of many individuals of different re- 
 ligious persuasions, and of distinguished rank? 
 who fled thither, under the influence of terror, 
 from Strasbourg and its environs, and who al- 
 ways received the most open-hearted and cor- 
 dial reception, though it endangered his own 
 situation. iC I once," says a gentleman', who 
 was then residing at Waldbach, ' ; saw a chief 
 
 *Once, indeed, in the year 1769, he was cited before 
 the Supreme Council of Alsace, and had to clear him- 
 self from the accusation of having induced his parish- 
 ioners to enrol themselves under the banners of Joseph 
 the Second. He was not merely acquitted, but the 
 court, informed by means of this proceeding of his vir- 
 tues, and of the good that he had effected, after pro- 
 nouncing judgment in his favor, expressed regret that so 
 estimable an individual should have been drawn from 
 his solitude, to the interruption of the exercise of his 
 charitable labors. 
 
120 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 actor of the Revolution in Oberlin's house, 
 and in that atmosphere he seemed to have lost 
 his sanguinary disposition, and to have ex- 
 changed the fierceness of the tiger for the gen- 
 tleness of the lamb." 
 
 It is pleasing to see how a Christian minis- 
 ter could meet the difficulties of times like 
 these, and how one of Oberlin's courage and 
 aptitude could make the circumstances of so 
 alarming a period, bend to his aim of profiting 
 those committed to his charge. I will here in- 
 sert a paper which he addressed to the younger 
 members of his flock, in 1794, and wherein he 
 took advantage of the actual state of the gov- 
 ernment to teach them what true republicans 
 should really be : — 
 
 " Young people are precious in the sight of 
 God and of good men, when they are truly 
 what they ought to be, — noble-minded, coura- 
 geous, diligent, modest, pious, humble, do- 
 cile, willing to employ all their energies for 
 the welfare of their families, full of respect to- 
 wards their superiors, and desirous of keeping 
 the commandments. 
 
 "I desire that the numerous members of the 
 French Republic should be animated by truly 
 republican sentiments. I wish them to under- 
 stand that public happiness constitutes private 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION. 121 
 
 happiness, and that every individual ought 
 therefore to endeavour to love for the public 
 good ; and to remember that his actions will 
 only secure the favor and love of God, according 
 to the motives from which they are performed. 
 
 " We are Republicans, when we neither 
 live, nor act, nor undertake any thing, nor 
 choose a profession or situation, nor settle in 
 life, except for the public good. 
 
 " We are Republicans, when from love to 
 the public we endeavour, by precept as well as 
 by example, to stimulate our children to active 
 beneficence ; and seek to render them useful 
 to others, by turning their attention to such 
 pursuits as are likely to increase the public 
 prosperity. 
 
 " We are Republicans, when we endeavour 
 to imbue the minds of our children with the 
 love of science, and with such knowledge as 
 may be likely, in maturer life, to make them 
 useful in the stations they are called to occu- 
 py ; and when we teach them to ' love their 
 neighbours as themselves. 5 
 
 " Lastly, we are Republicans, when we pre- 
 serve our children from that self-interested 
 spirit, which, at the present day, seems to have 
 gained more ascendancy than ever over a na- 
 tion, whose people have, notwithstanding, 
 
122 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERL1N. 
 
 sworn to regard each other, and to love each 
 other as brethren, but the greater part of whom 
 care only for themselves, and labor only for 
 the public good, when they are compelled to do 
 so. Ah ! far from us be this infernal spirit, as 
 anti-republican as it is anti-christian. 
 
 "Oh, may you, my young friends, be count- 
 ed henceforth among the active benefactors of 
 your country. 
 
 "'Oh, may you render yourselves worthy of 
 this honorable title, by endeavouring to devote 
 to the public good, and to the general happi- 
 ness, your strength, your abilities, your leisure, 
 and your talents ; and by dedicating to this 
 purpose all your attainments in knowledge, 
 philosophy, and science. 
 
 " You will then become precious in the sight 
 of all good men, and God will protect and love 
 yorf; and cause your undertakings to prosper. 
 He will also one day recompense your faith- 
 fulness, by loading you with honor, and glory, 
 and power, and riches, and happiness, and by 
 saying to you, in the presence of the assembled 
 universe, i Well done, good and faithful ser- 
 vant ; thou hast been faithful over a few things, 
 I will make thee ruler over many things : enter 
 thou into the joy of thy Lord.' Matt. xxv. 23. 
 O God, grant that the Republic, and all true 
 republicans, may prosper. Amen." 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION. 123 
 
 Upon the re-opening of the churches, in 
 1795, that benevolent renunciation of his own 
 interests for the good of his flock, which, as I 
 have frequently had occasion to observe, form- 
 ed so distinguished a feature in Oberlin's char- 
 acter, was strikingly displayed ; for he declared 
 that in consequence of their reduced means he 
 was willing henceforth, as long as God should 
 grant him strength to do so, to serve them with- 
 out any given salary, and that he wanted no 
 annual collections; adding, that as every one 
 knew how to find his way to the parsonage, he 
 might bring his share, to whatever amount, and 
 at whatever time he pleased ; for he considered 
 it unjust that the poor, who were at times un- 
 able to procure either salt or bread, and who 
 formed the greater part of the community, 
 should pay as much as those who were in more 
 affluent circumstances. Nor had they, lm as- 
 sured them, any reason to fear his displeasure, 
 even if they brought nothing at all, since he 
 should consider that it was only for want of 
 ability to do so ; and it always afforded him 
 more gratification to relieve than to oppress 
 them. With respect to the payment of the 
 schoolmasters also, they were to adopt the 
 same plan, that is, to contribute according 
 to their means, and to bring whatever they 
 
124 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 could afford, either for this, or other charitable 
 purposes, to him, in the form of goods, pro- 
 visions, or cash. This they regularly did ; and 
 his faithful Louisa was accustomed to assist 
 him in the judicious distribution of the articles 
 or money thus collected.* In return for these 
 gifts, he always presented the donors with a 
 few words of acknowledgment on the back of 
 one of the papers on which his texts were 
 printed, and of which specimens have been 
 given. He always kept the most strict account 
 of every expenditure, and was never known 
 to owe even so much as a single sou to any 
 person. One of the maxims which, among 
 many others, he used to endeavour to impress 
 upon the minds of his people was, that they 
 "ought to avoid debts as they would do the 
 evil spirit." 
 
 *"In spite of the smallness of his resources, he knew 
 how to make them sufficient for every thing; and had, 
 by his own example, made his parishioners contract the 
 precious habit of putting aside, each week, a portion 
 of their savings for pious purposes ; and by this means, 
 they found themselves able to encourage, and to assist 
 in sustaining, many institutions established in the true 
 spirit of the gospel." Noticesur le Pasteur Oberlin. 
 
HIS DISINTERESTEDNESS. 1*25 
 
 Notwithstanding the poverty of its inhab- 
 itants, scarcely a mendicant was ever seen in 
 the valley, unless indeed some pauper from 
 the neighbouring communes, attracted by the 
 well known disposition of the pastor and his 
 people, might have wandered thither to implore 
 that assistance, which, if deserving, he never 
 failed to receive. "Why do you not work ? " 
 was Oberlin's usual interrogation. " Because 
 no one will employ me," was the general re- 
 ply. "'•Well then, I will employ you. There 
 — carry these planks — break those stones — 
 fill that bucket with water — and I will repay 
 you for your trouble." 
 
 Such was his usual mode of proceeding; and 
 idle beggars were taught to come there no 
 more. 
 
 But how, it will naturally be asked, were 
 Oberlin and his family supported, and even 
 enabled to assist others, when deprived not 
 only of their little income, but also of the an- 
 nual contributions of their parishioners ? 
 
 It appears, indeed, to have been owing to 
 the extraordinary interposition of Providence, 
 that they were watched over and cared for in so 
 peculiar a manner, at a time when many in- 
 dividuals were reduced to the most forlorn 
 situation, and compelled to forsake their home 
 
126 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 and their country. The gospel reduces to 
 very little the sufficiency of the Christian ; and 
 as in the days of greater prosperity, they had 
 accustomed themselves to habits of the strictest 
 economy and the most rigorous self-denial, in 
 order to facilitate their power of assisting 
 others, so now, in the season of adversity, God 
 did " not leave them comfortless," but sup- 
 plied all their necessary wants, and supported, 
 strengthened, and blessed them. The princi- 
 pal circumstance that gave Oberlin any unea- 
 siness, was the diminution in his means of 
 doing good : and in the year 1794, with the 
 hope of increasing it, he announced his inten- 
 tion of undertaking the charge of ten or twelve 
 pupils whose education should devolve almost 
 entirely upon himself, although he had to pro- 
 vide for his own family of six children, the 
 youngest of whom was now ten years of age, 
 and to superintend their instruction. 
 
 The children of several foreigners of dis- 
 tinction were soon committed to his charge : 
 and, in the true spirit of philanthropy, he ap- 
 propriated a considerable part of the emolu- 
 ments which he received for their education 
 to the improvements and insttiutions of his 
 parish. 
 
HIS SENTIMENTS AS TO TITHES. 127 
 
 The duty of devoting a certain portion of 
 his property to charitable purposes, was a sub- 
 ject that bad weighed heavily on his mind for 
 sonic years previous to the Revolution. He 
 had happened to read one day, with more at- 
 tention than usual, the accounts of the tithes 
 in the Books of Moses, and had been so struck 
 with some of them as to resolve from that mo- 
 ment to devote three tithes of all he possessed 
 to the service of God and the poor. The res- 
 olution was no sooner made than put into exe- 
 cution, for whatever Oberlin conceived it to be 
 his duly to do, he conscientiously, and without 
 delay, set about it. From that period till the 
 end of his life, even during the most calami- 
 tous seasons of the Revolution, he always scru- 
 pulously adhered to the plan, and often said 
 that he "abounded in wealth." 
 
 The following letter contains an account of 
 the passages that struck him so particularly, 
 and of the manner in which he set about the 
 dedication of the tithes : 
 
 " My dear friend, 
 
 " You ask me for some explanation re- 
 specting the different tithes which God has 
 commanded us to pay. I will tell you how I 
 
128 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 manage. I endeavour to devote three tithes 
 of all that I earn, of all that I receive, and of 
 all my revenue, of whatever name or nature it 
 may be, to his service, or to useful objects. 
 
 " For this purpose I keep three boxes ; the 
 first for the first tithe ; the second for the se- 
 cond ; and the third box for the third tithe. 
 
 " When I cannot pay ready money all at 
 once, I mark how much I owe upon a bit of 
 paper, which I put into the box ; and when, on 
 the contrary, a demand occurs which ought to 
 be defrayed by one of the three allotments, 
 and there is not sufficient money deposited, I 
 advance the sum, and make the box my debt- 
 or, by marking upon it how much it owes me. 
 
 " By this means I am always able to assist 
 in any public or charitable undertaking ; and 
 as God has himself declared, that ' it is more 
 blessed to give than to receive,' I look upon 
 this regular disbursement of part of my prop- 
 erty rather in the light of a privilege than a 
 burden. 
 
 " The first of the afore-mentioned boxes con- 
 tains a deposit for the worship of God. 
 
 " I put a paper, with the following verses 
 from the Old Testament written upon it, into 
 this box : — 
 
DISBURSEMENT OF TITHES. 129 
 
 1 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed 
 of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: 
 it is holy unto the Lord.' — Lev. xxvii. 30. 
 
 'Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that 
 there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now 
 herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you 
 the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, 
 that there shall not be room enough to receive it.' — 
 Mai. iii. 10. 
 
 "I devote tlic contents of this box to the 
 building and repairing of churches and school- 
 rooms ; the support of conductrices, and the 
 purchase of bibles and pious books ; in short, 
 to any thing connected with divine worship, or 
 the extension of the knowledge of our Redeem- 
 er's kingdom. 
 
 "My parishioners are at liberty to recall from 
 this tithe any present that either generosity, or 
 the supposition that I expected it, may have 
 induced them to make me. 
 
 "The second box contains Tithes for useful 
 Piloses. 
 
 " I have written the following passages in it : 
 
 ' Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, 
 that the field bringeth forth year by year. And' thou 
 shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which 
 he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy 
 corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of 
 9 
 
130 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 thy herds, and of thy flocks ; that thou mayest learn to 
 fear the Lord thy God always. And if the way be too 
 long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it ; or if 
 the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God 
 shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy 
 God hath blessed thee : then shalt thou turn it into 
 money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt 
 go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall 
 choose : and thou shalt bestow that money for whatso- 
 ever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, for 
 wine, or for strong" drink, or for whatsoever thy soul 
 desireth : and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy 
 God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine household, 
 and the Levite that is within thy gates ; thou shalt not 
 forsake him ; for he hath no part nor inheritance with 
 thee.' — Deut.xiv. 22-27. 
 
 ' Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before 
 the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose ; in 
 the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, 
 and in the feast of tabernacles : and they shall not ap- 
 pear before the Lord empty.' — Deut. xvi. 16. 
 
 " I employ this tithe for a variety of pur- 
 poses : — 
 
 " 1. For the improvement of the roads to 
 the churches and schools. 
 
 u 2. For the schoolmasters' salaries. 
 
 "3. For all works of public utility. 
 
 11 4. For the little expenses incurred by my 
 becoming godfather. 
 
 " 5. For Sunday dinners to my poor people 
 of the other villages. [My parishioners might 
 add to this catalogue.] 
 
DISBURSEMENT OF TITHES. 131 
 
 "0. For the churchwardens. \ For whether 
 
 they do their duty voluntarily from love to Qod, 
 or make a claim upon me, I always pay them 
 well.] 
 
 " 7. For expenses incurred among the pea- 
 santry of Belmont, Foudai, and Zolbach. 
 
 "8. For what the poor of Waldbach spend, 
 by inviting the poor of the other villages to 
 come and see them. 
 
 u 9. For the repairing o( injuries. 
 
 "The third box contains tithes for the poor. 
 [That is, it contains the third tithe every three 
 years, or the thirtieth every year.] 
 
 " I have written there the following * texts : — 
 
 k At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all 
 the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it 
 up within thy gates. And the Levite (because he hath 
 no part nor inheritance with thee), and the stranger and 
 the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy 
 gates, shall come, and shall eat and he satisfied ; that 
 the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine 
 hand which thou docst.' — Dent. xiv. 28, 29, 
 
 { And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou 
 shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither 
 shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And 
 thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou 
 gather every grape of thy vineyard ; thou shalt leave 
 them for the poor and stranger : I am the Lord your 
 God.' — Levit. xix. 9, 10. 
 
132 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 "I devote the contents of this box to the 
 service of the poor ; to the compensation of 
 losses occasioned by fire ; * to wood, flannel, 
 and bread, for those who stand in need, &c. 
 &c." 
 
 It must not be supposed from this statement 
 that Oberlin's benevolence was, however, con- 
 fined to the Ban de la Roche, for the knowledge 
 of several pious and excellent institutions had 
 reached the secluded valley before it spread to 
 the rest of France. One of the first that attracted 
 his attention, as I have observed in a previous 
 chapter, was the Missionary Society. No sooner 
 had he learned that there were pious Christians 
 who left their homes to convey to the benighted 
 heathen the promises of the Gospel, than he 
 parted with all his plate, with the exception of 
 one silver spoon, f and contributed the proceeds 
 of the sale to that noble undertaking, as he 
 rightly designated it, only regretting that he was 
 unable to send more. 
 
 * Oberlin one year devoted part of the contents of 
 this box to the purchase of a large fire engine, as well 
 as of a small one that could be easily transported to the 
 mountainous districts. 
 
 f Oberlin bequeathed this silver spoon to the Mis- 
 sionary Institution at Basle? 
 
HIS FEELING FOR HIS FLOCK. 133 
 
 He was indeed himself actuated by the gen- 
 uine missionary spirit; and, in the early part of 
 his ministry, he for some time hesitated whether 
 he should not accept an invitation to undertake 
 a station in Pennsylvania. For two years a 
 pastor had in vain been sought to fill the vacant 
 post. When informed of this circumstance, 
 Oberlin, considering it to be the duty of a min- 
 ister of Christ to repair whither others were 
 unable to go, and thinking that the Ban de la 
 Roche might be more easily provided for, than 
 so distant a charge, expressed his readiness to 
 set off. His wife participated in his sentiments, 
 but whilst they were waiting for more specific 
 directions, the war broke out between England 
 and America, and prevented their departure. 
 From that time he rejected every station that 
 offered, showing himself to be proof against 
 repeated and urgent solicitations. " Some per- 
 sons," said he one day, " think it a merit in me 
 to have refused more considerable cures than 
 this ; but you," continued he, addressing him- 
 self to a military gentleman, who had been ex- 
 pressing his surprise that he had not accepted 
 the charge of larger parishes, " if your general 
 had given you a post to defend, would you quit 
 it without positive orders ? " On being answered 
 in the negative — " Well," said he, " God has 
 
134 MEMOIRS OF OBEitLIN. 
 
 confided this flock to my care ; and why should 
 I abandon it ? Where could I find better pa- 
 rishioners, or more grateful hearts ? " # 
 
 His imagination had been powerfully affected 
 also by a description of the wretched condition of 
 the negro slaves in the West Indies, employed 
 in the cultivation of sugar and coffee, which 
 induced him to form the resolution of never 
 again tasting either the one or the other, a 
 resolution to which he strictly adhered, al- 
 though, having been accustomed to them from 
 his earliest infancy, it cost him some little self- 
 denial to submit to the deprivation. 
 
 Another proof of Oberlin's benevolence, and 
 perhaps a more extraordinary one, considering 
 his very narrow resources, than any that has 
 yet been adduced, was the point he made of 
 buying up assignats, (the paper money of the 
 Revolution which was never redeemed,) when- 
 ever they were introduced into the Ban de la 
 Roche. 
 
 " His fidelity in great and little things in- 
 discriminately," says Mr. Legrand, in a letter 
 to Mr. Heisch, " was so scrupulous, that he 
 would have believed it displeasing to God, in 
 the remembrance of whose presence he habit- 
 
 * See Promenades Alsaciennes, par M. Merlin. 
 
HIS PURCHASE OF ASSIGNATS. 513 
 
 ually lived, to have written a word, or even a 
 single letter without care. Er glaubte cs scy 
 Pfticht, jcclcm Buchstaben seine Ekre zugcben.* 
 " When the assignats lost their value, he 
 feared that this would bring a curse upon 
 France, and diminish the confidence that the 
 people ought to have in the government. f 
 Convinced that it behooved every individual to 
 use his utmost endeavours, as far as his influ- 
 ence or means extended, to prevent such a 
 
 * He thought it his duty to give every letter its due 
 honor. 
 
 f " The Directory, which succeeded the convention 
 of 1794, tried to renew the system of paper-money in 
 France in the shape of territorial notes (mandats ter- 
 ritoriaux), by means of which it was intended to with- 
 draw the assignats from circulation at the rate of 
 thirty for one, and they were to circulate as money. 
 An issue of territorial notes to the amount of 2,400,000,000 
 of francs, was decreed by the councils. They pos- 
 sessed this advantage, that they might be changed 
 immediately on presentation for the national domains 
 which they represented, and a great portion of which 
 were by this means sold. In this manner was completed 
 the revolutionary cycle of assignats, of which they form- 
 ed the second period. They procured the Directory a 
 momentary supply, but they in turn also lost their credit? 
 and insensibly led the way to bankruptcy, which was 
 the transition from paper to cash payments." — MigneVs 
 History of the French Revolution, 
 
136 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 calamity, (leaving it to God to bless the exam- 
 ple,) he made a public sale every year of agri- 
 cultural implements and other useful articles 
 amongst his parishioners, or rather offered 
 them in exchange for assignats. By this 
 means he managed to redeem, in the space of 
 twenty-five years, all the assignats of the Ban 
 de la Roche, and of some of its environs. 
 
 " Thus the formation of a single letter was 
 not too small an object to claim the attention 
 of this true servant of God ; nor the redemp- 
 tion of thousands of assignats too great an ob- 
 ject to be conceived and begun by the poor 
 pastor of the Ban de la Roche." 
 
 I possess one of these assignats purchased 
 by Oberlin. It is dated Waldbach, May 9, 
 1798, and has this superscription upon it in 
 his own handwriting. 
 
 " Thus, thanks to God, my nation is dis- 
 charged in an honest manner from this obliga- 
 tion of one hundred and twenty-five francs." 
 
 He gave texts of scripture, as a receipt for 
 the assignats, and generally wrote on the back 
 
 of the card : " Assignat of received of M. 
 
 the minister O." with the date. 
 
 Such extreme devotedness to the interests 
 of his flock, combined with his peculiarly en- 
 dearing and affectionate manners, necessarily 
 
HIS INFLUENCE AMONG THE PEOPLE. 137 
 
 caused Obeiiin to be loved and revered as a 
 lather. Every lip became eloquent in his 
 praise — every voice pronounced his name with 
 grateful benedictions — and the stranger who 
 
 visited the pine-covered hills and verdant vales 
 of the once wild and forsaken Ran de la Roche, 
 found there, in the place of a set of rude and 
 ignorant savages, an industrious, decent, order- 
 ly, and well-informed peasantry, many o( whom 
 had been so far initiated into both the doc- 
 trines and the spirit of the New Testament, as 
 to live in the constant exercise of that love 
 which is said to be the " fulfilling of the law," 
 and which the Apostle inculcates as a neces- 
 sary mark of true religion when he says, " He 
 who loyeth Cod must love his brother also." 
 
 The exemplary conduct and sincere piety 
 of some of these individuals, indeed, proved 
 that they had not received C( the grace of God 
 in vain." Among other fruits of faith, their 
 charity to orphans was particularly striking. 
 When a poor father or mother died, leaving 
 a numerous family, it was a thing of course 
 for some poor person to offer to take upon 
 himself the charge and care of the orphans- 
 so that many o( the households contained one 
 or two of these adopted children, and they 
 seldom thought of mentioning that they were 
 not their own. 
 
138 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 Three individuals more particularly noted in 
 the annals of the Ban de la Roche for their 
 disinterested benevolence, were Sophia Ber- 
 nard and Catherine Scheidecker, of Foudai, 
 and Maria Schepler, of the hamlet La Hutte, 
 near Belmont, whose names will appear again, 
 in a subsequent part of this memoir. 
 
 The former, Sophia Bernard, although de- 
 pending for subsistence on her own labor and 
 the scanty produce of a morsel of land, resolv- 
 ed in early life to devote herself entirely to 
 the care of orphans, and with this view col- 
 lected, first under her father's roof, and after- 
 wards in the old parsonage, several children, 
 whose parents were of different denominations, 
 and taught them to spin cotton in order to as- 
 sist in their maintenance, which would other- 
 wise have devolved entirely on herself. Be- 
 fore she married, and when her little family 
 already consisted of seven children, she and 
 her sister Madeleine * received a letter from a 
 poor tailor, named Thomas, who lived in the 
 neighbouring Roman Catholic village, entreat- 
 ing them, from what he had heard of their 
 charitable deeds, to take charge of his three 
 
 * Now Madeleine Bernard,' the regent of Belmont's 
 wife, and a truly exemplary character. She and So- 
 phia married two brothers. 
 
SOPHIA BERNARD. 139 
 
 little children, all of whom were under four 
 years old, as his wife was near her confine- 
 ment, and he was utterly unable to provide for 
 them. 
 
 Following the benevolent impulse of the 
 moment, or rather the dictates of that benev- 
 olence by which they were habitually actuated, 
 the two sisters immediately set out, although 
 the evening was already far advanced, and they 
 had dangerous roads to traverse, with their 
 baskets on their backs. At length, regardless 
 of fatigue and exertion, they reached the sum- 
 mit of the mountain upon which Thomas's 
 cottage was situated. Softly approaching it, 
 they peeped in at the window, and were con- 
 firmed in the truth of the statement they had 
 received, by the evident marks of wretched- 
 ness and poverty that the little apartment ex- 
 hibited. Upon entering it, they found the 
 little creatures in as forlorn a condition as the 
 poor man had described, miserably nursed, 
 and weak and diseased from neglect. They, 
 therefore, without farther deliberation, wrap- 
 ped them up in flannel, packed them in the 
 baskets at their backs, and trudged home with 
 them. But, as their father's house would not 
 accommodate so large an accession to the fam- 
 ily, Sophia hired a servant girl, and an addi- 
 
140 
 
 MEMOIttS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 tional room, where she fed, clothed, nourished, 
 and educated them, so that they became 
 strong, healthy, and industrious. On some of 
 his neighbours afterwards asking the tailor how 
 he could allow his children to be brought up 
 by Protestants, — " Oh," he replied, "if they 
 make such good Protestants of them as they 
 are themselves, I shall thank them for it." 
 
 Such are the delightful fruits of genuine 
 Christian benevolence ! and how strikingly 
 does this fact speak for the admonition of ma- 
 ny in another rank of life from that in which 
 these poor women shone so brightly. 
 
 While the good effects of Oberlin's instruc- 
 tions and example were thus shedding their 
 benign influence upon the more immediate 
 scene of his pastoral labors, his name and zeal 
 became known in England ; and in the year 
 1804, on the first establishment of the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society in this country, 
 it was judged expedient to open a correspon- 
 dence with him, for the sake of forming a cen- 
 tral point for the distribution of Bibles in 
 France. 
 
 Being firmly assured that the Scriptures are 
 indeed " the power of God unto salvation to 
 every one that believeth," he had long and 
 ardently desired their general circulation. 
 
CORRESPONDENT OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY. HI 
 
 He therefore gladly hailed the proposition, 
 and became the first foreign correspondent 
 of that Society. The large principle on which 
 this Institution was established, admirably 
 suited the mind of Oberlin, and having for the 
 course of twenty years prayed expressly for 
 Missionaries, as well as for a still longer peri- 
 od, "Thy kingdom come," it would have been 
 extremely unnatural if he had not supported 
 a Society, whose express object it is to open 
 channels for conveying the streams of the 
 " waters of life" to those parched and deso- 
 late portions of the earth which they have not 
 yet pervaded, and to hold out the invitation — 
 " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
 waters." 
 
 In conjunction with his youngest son, Henry 
 Gottfried,* a young man of truly eminent piety 
 and much evangelical zeal, Oberlin, under the 
 direction of the London Committee, shortly 
 afterwards organized a little society at Wald- 
 
 *The author of the Propositions Geologiques, &c« 
 referred to in a preceding note. He took the degree 
 of Doctor in Medicine at Strasbourg in 1806, and was 
 afterwards ordained. At the time the Archives du 
 Christianisme were announced, he had formed the 
 plan of a religious magazine, and prepared the prospec- 
 tus of the work. 
 
142 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 bach ; and, through its medium, depositories 
 were established in different parts of France, 
 and more than ten thousand copies of the New- 
 Testament put into circulation. This was some 
 years before the Paris Bible Society was insti- 
 tuted. The Ban de la Roche became also in 
 a manner the cradle of Ladies' Bible Associa- 
 tions, in consequence of a letter addressed by 
 the late venerable pastor to the Committee of 
 the Parent Society, in which he made mention 
 of the three humble but admirable women, 
 whose names, and especially that of Sophia 
 Bernard, have already appeared in this chapter, 
 as suitable persons for taking an active part 
 in this work of love, either by reading the 
 Bible to their neighbours, or by adopting the 
 simple and ingenious plan of lending them the 
 Sacred Volume. The Rev. John Owen, in 
 his History of the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society, adverts to this circumstance, acknowl- 
 edging the obligations we are under to that 
 extraordinary man, whom he describes as " unit- 
 ing the simplicity of a patriarch with the zeal 
 of an Apostle." 
 
 The letter referred to is so interesting, that 
 no apology appears necessary for inserting it. 
 It is dated, Waldbach, Nov. 3, 1804.* 
 
 * This letter is printed in the Appendix to the First 
 Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 
 
HIS LETTER TO THE BIBLE SOCIETY. 143 
 
 11 Accept, my dearest friend, our most un- 
 feigned thanks for the sum of thirty pounds, 
 which you have transmitted to us as a kind present 
 from some English friends, for the purpose of 
 purchasing French and German Bibles to distrib- 
 ute among the poor inhabitants of the Ban de 
 la Roche and its neighbouring villages, in which 
 there are people of four different religious de- 
 nominations, namely, Roman Catholics, Luther- 
 ans, Reformed, and Anabaptists. May God, 
 for Christ's sake, impart his blessing to this act 
 of Christian benevolence, in order that his name 
 may be glorified, and his kingdom come. 
 
 " You will be glad to learn some particulars 
 respecting the use which I intend to make of 
 this money. 
 
 " I have ordered, and expect soon to receive, 
 fifty copies of the French Protestant Bible 
 printed at Basle. Though the type is ra- 
 ther too small for country people, yet we have 
 great reason to bless God for having enabled 
 us to procure even these. In the mean time, 
 I have made a list of such persons as I consid- 
 er most deserving of so valuable a present. 
 Among the large number of individuals and 
 families to whom a Bible is a most welcome 
 gift, I first put down such characters as are 
 most active in promoting the coming of the 
 
144 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 Redeemer's kingdom, and in doing good to the 
 bodies and souls of their fellow-creatures. 
 
 " 1. The first Bible shall be given as a 
 present to Sophia Bernard, who is one of the 
 most excellent women I know, and, indeed, 
 an ornament to my parish. While unmarried, 
 she undertook, with the consent of her parents, 
 the support and education of three helpless 
 boys, whom their inhuman father had often 
 trampled under his feet, and treated in a man- 
 ner too shocking to relate, when, nearly starv- 
 ing with hunger, they ventured to cry out for 
 food. Soon afterwards she proved the happy 
 means of saving the lives of three Roman 
 Catholic children, who, without her assistance, 
 would have fallen a prey to want and famine. 
 Thus she had the management of six chil- 
 dren, to whom several more were added, be- 
 longing to parents of three several denomina- 
 tions. She then hired a house and a servant 
 girl, and supported the whole of the family 
 entirely by her own work, and the little money 
 acquired by the industry of the children, whom 
 she taught to spin cotton. At the same time 
 she proved the greatest blessing to the whole 
 village where she lived ; for it would be impos- 
 sible for any one to be more industrious, fru- 
 gal, clean, cheerful, and edifying by her whole 
 
LETTERS TO THE BIBLE SOCIETY. 145 
 
 walk and conversation ; more ready for every 
 good word and work ; more mild and affection- 
 ate, and more firm and resolute in dangers, 
 than she was. Satan once so enraged some of 
 her enemies, that they threatened to destroy 
 her old tottering cottage, but God was gra- 
 ciously pleased to preserve her. A fine youth, 
 of a generous disposition, made her an oiler of 
 marriage, and as she appeared unwilling to 
 accept him, he declared that if necessary he 
 would wait ten years to gain her hand. She 
 then acknowledged that her motive for refusing 
 him was the grief it would occasion her to part 
 from her little orphans. " He who takes the 
 mother takes the children also," replied the 
 young man. On this condition the marriage 
 took place, and all the children were brought 
 up under their mutual care in the most excellent 
 manner. They have lately taken in some other 
 orphans, whom they are training up in the fear 
 and love of God. Though these excellent 
 people pass for rather rich, yet their income is 
 so limited, and their benevolence so extensive, 
 that they sometimes hardly know how to furnish 
 themselves with a new suit of necessary clothes. 
 I intend to give them a Bible, because their own 
 is very often lent out in different Roman Cath- 
 olic villages. 
 
 10 
 
146 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " 2. A second Bible I intend to give to an 
 excellent woman, named Maria Schepler, who 
 lives at the opposite end of my extensive par- 
 ish, where the cold is more severe, and the 
 ground unfruitful, so that nearly all the house- 
 holders are poor people, who must lend their 
 clothes to each other when they intend to go to 
 the Lord's supper. This poor woman is also a 
 very remarkable character ; and I could say 
 much in her praise were I to enter into particu- 
 lars. Though distressed and afflicted in her 
 own person and circumstances, yet she is a 
 mother, benefactress, and teacher, to the whole 
 village in which she lives, and to some neigh- 
 bouring districts too. She takes the most lively 
 interest in all that relates to the Redeemer's 
 kingdom upon earth, and often groans under a 
 sense of the grievous inroads made by the 
 powers of darkness. She, also, has brought up 
 several orphans without receiving the smallest 
 recompense ; keeps a free school for females, 
 and makes it a practice to lend her Bible to such 
 as are entirely deprived of it. 
 
 "3. A third Bible present I intend to make 
 to an excellent widow woman, Catherine Schei- 
 decker, who is, like the former, a mother to 
 orphans, and keeps a free school; so also does 
 another young woman, who instructs little chil- 
 
 
LETTERS TO THE BIBLE SOCIETY. 147 
 
 dren, in a neighbouring village, in such knowl- 
 edge as may render them useful members of 
 society.* 
 
 " I might easily enumerate many more char- 
 acters of a similar description, whose eyes will 
 overflow with grateful tears, if they are favored 
 with the present of a Bible. I will make one 
 observation as to the Bibles which you may 
 send us. It is necessary in our parts, to have a 
 number of copies in readiness to lend out to the 
 people of the neighbouring districts, most of 
 whom are Roman Catholics ; for if they possess 
 a Bible of their own, they are in danger of having 
 it taken away by some blind Popish priests ; 
 whereas if it is only lent to them, they are gen- 
 erally permitted to return to it. 
 
 " Finally, farewell! may God be with you, 
 with your congregation, and with all those kind 
 friends who have so nobly come forward to our 
 assistance. 
 
 " John Frederic Oberlin. ? ' 
 
 I shall also insert the following letter,! ad- 
 dressed by Oberlin to a friend in England, 
 
 * Catherine Banzet, who voluntarily attended to all 
 the knitting schools. 
 
 f Taken from the Appendix to the Second Report of 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
 
148 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 about six months after the last. It alludes to 
 the exertions of his predecessor, M. Stouber, 
 and relates some anecdotes, to which reference 
 was made at the commencement of this work, 
 respecting the avidity with which the Scriptures 
 were seized upon at their first introduction into 
 the Ban de la Roche : — an avidity which greatly 
 increased in Oberlin's time, more especially 
 when it became know that he possessed, through 
 the medium of the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society, an ample supply of copies for distri- 
 bution. 
 
 "Waldbach, June 17, 1805. 
 
 "What shall I say, dearest friend ; how 
 shall I thank the honorable Bible Society for 
 the gift of 20/. for the spread of the kingdom 
 of Jesus Christ ? I will entreat God for a rich 
 blessing upon the Institution, and for wisdom to 
 enable me to dispose of its gift in the most 
 effectual manner. 
 
 "You ask if there is a desire for Bibles in the 
 interior of France. I have various reasons for 
 believing that there is ; though my personal 
 observation and knowledge extend to our own 
 neighbourhood only.* I must, however, refer 
 
 * Oberlin never went far from home. He had never 
 seen Paris, nor made any journies except to Fribourg, 
 and to St. Dizier. 
 
LETTERS TO THE BIBLE SOCIETY. 149 
 
 to what happened a few years ago. The little 
 Steinthal was formerly the only Protestant spot 
 throughout the whole kingdom of France which 
 enjoyed perfect freedom of religious worship. 
 This the Roman Catholic clergy could hardly 
 bear, nor comprehend how God could permit 
 it ; and envy and displeasure were but too visible 
 in the countenances of some of them when they 
 happened to converse with any of our Protes- 
 tant clergy on the subject. About fifty years 
 ago, God sent my excellent predecessor, the 
 Rev. Mr. Stouber, here ; a truly apostolic man, 
 who obtained considerable reputation throughout 
 all the Catholic neighbourhood. Many Roman 
 Catholics openly declared of him — c This is a 
 man of God ; ' and the Lord so blessfed his 
 labors, that the Steinthal villages began to be 
 distinguished from all the Roman Catholic vil- 
 lages in the vicinity. He sent for fifty French 
 Protestant Bibles from Basle, and lent them 
 in the schools, even with permission to the 
 scholars to take them home. It must be ob- 
 served that he had them divided into three parts, 
 bound in strong parchment, making one hundred 
 and fifty volumes. 
 
 " He also distributed many other good French 
 books. The result of this measure was, that 
 the neighbours were made attentive to the Bible. 
 
150 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 A Roman Catholic one day entered a house in 
 this place, and after some desultory talk, during 
 which time he had carefully cast his eye round 
 the apartment, he espied in the window a thick 
 book with a lock ; having heard that Bibles had 
 this appearance, he took it up, looked at the 
 title, and asked, whether one could have such 
 a Bible for a crown. On receiving an answer 
 in the affirmative, he threw down a crown upon 
 the table, and ran hastily out of the cottage and 
 away to his own village, with the Bible under 
 his arm, to the astonishment of every one. From 
 that time the demand continually increased ; sev- 
 eral hundred small Bibles from Basle and Biela 
 were partly sold, partly given, and partly lent ; 
 and all the Biela Bibles in folio, as well as many 
 in quarto, were procured from Switzerland, and 
 dispersed among the Roman Catholics. Yet 
 many copies were taken by the Romish priests 
 from their people and burnt ; sometimes a vio- 
 lent contention took place about it. 
 
 "A priest once surprised one of his people 
 over the Bible, snatched it from him with bitter 
 reproaches, and was going off with it ; when the 
 man, who possessed some spirit, and had often 
 heard from his neighbours of the priest's taking 
 away their Bibles, jumped up, snatched his 
 hanger, placed himself before the door, and cried 
 
LETTERS TO THE BIBLE SOCIETY. 151 
 
 out : c Reverend Sir, replace the Bible on the 
 table. I respect your character ; but a thief is 
 no pastor. I will certainly cut you in pieces, 
 rather than suffer you to steal a Bible which 
 has been kindly lent me.' The priest restored 
 the Bible, but ordered the man to return it to 
 the owner ; and thus many were returned to us. 
 " Before the Revolution, f never gave any 
 Bibles to the Roman Catholics with my own 
 hands, but always through those of my pa- 
 rishioners ; since the Revolution, I have had 
 more freedom, so that I may even let the Ro- 
 man Catholics take the sacrament in our church, 
 a circumstance that has often happened.* Now, 
 the priests excite a suspicion about the Swiss 
 Bibles, so that many of their people do not 
 know what to do respecting them. I am, how- 
 ever, in hopes of soon procuring some of the 
 Protestant Bibles, which are now printing at 
 Paris. About a fortnight ago, I had the unex- 
 
 * " Oberlin's tolerance," says the Rev. F. Cunning, 
 ham, " was almost unbounded. He administered the 
 Sacrament to Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists, at 
 the same time, and because they would not eat the 
 same bread, he had on the plate bread of different 
 kinds, wafer, leavened, and unleavened. In every thing 
 the same spirit appeared ; and it extended not only to 
 his Catholic, but also to his Jewish neighbours, and 
 made him many friends among them all." 
 
152 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 pected pleasure of receiving the thanks of an 
 emigrant ex-priest for a Parisian New Testa- 
 ment. I wrote him that 1 should readily offer 
 him a whole Bible, had I any other than" a Swiss 
 edition, which might appear to him suspicious, 
 though it was so to none who examined it by 
 the original. He replied he would thankfully 
 accept it. At last he came to me in person, and 
 also took a German Bible, and some other Ger- 
 man books, having learnt German during his em- 
 igration. I beg leave to add, that many French 
 gentlemen of respectability have accepted Bibles 
 from me with, apparently, sincere joy ; and 
 lately a lady came several leagues on horse- 
 back in order to request one of me." 
 
 Although through Oberlin's agency the Holy 
 Scriptures were not only circulated abroad, but 
 also among all the Protestants in his extensive 
 parishes, and in the surrounding Roman Cath- 
 olic villages, there was not at this time any reg- 
 ularly constituted Bible Society in the Ban de 
 la Roche. 
 
 " The inhabitants of the different villages," 
 says Mrs. Rauscher,* " seem to be actuated by 
 some secret and spontaneous movement. They 
 
 # Frederica Bienvenue, Oberlin's youngest daugh- 
 ter, who was married, in the year 1806, to the Rev. 
 Mr. Rauscher, of Barr. 
 
COLLECTION OF SUBSCRIPTIONS. 153 
 
 assemble together in the evening of certain days, 
 when, after reading a few chapters of the Bible, 
 they all kneel down and join in imploring the 
 divine blessing upon the whole village, as well 
 as upon the parish at large, and upon every insti- 
 tution designed to circulate the truths of the 
 Gospel and to bring people nearer to God. They 
 then make a collection, which is deposited in a 
 box kept for the purpose, and reserved there till 
 the time arrives for transmitting it to those Bible 
 and Missionary Societies whose annual reports 
 show that they stand in the greatest need." 
 
 A reference to those reports will prove that 
 the collections made on some of these occasions, 
 amounted to very considerable sums.* 
 
 Having been themselves refreshed, and cheer- 
 ed, and comforted, by the perusal of the sacred 
 Volume, Oberlin's parishioners contributed their 
 little donations in aid of the great cause, with a 
 liberality and readiness that proved they were 
 influenced in doing so, by that spirit of love 
 which the blessed gospel inculcates. — Their 
 own moral wilderness had been made to " rejoice 
 and blossom as the rose," by the vivifying rays 
 
 * See the third, fifth, sixth, and seventh Annual 
 Reports of the Protestant Paris Bible Society, &c. 
 
154 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 of the Sun of Righteousness, and they naturally 
 and earnestly desired, that other " waste places 
 might break forth into joy and sing together," and 
 that the " Word of the Lord might have free 
 course and be glorified." 
 
 I will conclude this chapter with the following 
 sweet little letter, addressed by Pastor Oberlin 
 to his scholars, on their having presented him 
 with some garlands in remembrance of the seven- 
 tieth anniversarv of his birth. 
 j 
 
 '" Waldbach September 16, 1S10. 
 " My dear Scholars, 
 
 " I am very sensible of the honor you have 
 intended me, in sending your garlands as a 
 token of your remembrance of my seventieth 
 birthday, completed the 31st of last August. You 
 seem, however, to have forgotten that an honor 
 which one is conscious of not deserving, is in 
 itself humiliating and abasing. If, by my 
 feeble exertions, I have been enabled to be 
 of some utility to you, all the honor belongs to 
 God, who has kindled in my heart the love I 
 bear you, and who has given and preserved my 
 strength till this period to carry forward my 
 heart's desire, which is your good. 
 
 " The beautiful flowers with which your 
 great Creator adorned our country, gave you 
 
LETTER TO HIS SCHOLARS. 155 
 
 the means of presenting me with this testimony 
 of your united love. These flowers will very 
 soon lade, but the impression they have made 
 on my heart will never die, and I earnestly 
 pray that you may beeome unfading flowers in 
 the Paradise of God. 
 
 " May he bless you, and may he bless the 
 persons who labor for your instruction, with 
 perseverance and faithfulness, that you may 
 prosper, and become useful in the service of our 
 dear and beloved Saviour. 
 
 " But I have still one wish : — a wish that, 
 though I am old in years, is always fresh in my 
 heart : — a wish that reigns predominant in my 
 thoughts, and never forsakes me. It is that my 
 parish might make one solemn feast before 
 God, a general and universal dedication, and 
 one in which all persons without distinction 
 might partake, every one according to his 
 respective ability. That is, a dedication of the 
 heart, in honor and remembrance of, and in 
 faith in Him, who shed his blood for us in 
 Gethsemane, and permitted himself to be 
 smitten, scourged, ' and spit upon, crowned 
 w r ith thorns, and nailed to the cross, that we 
 might receive the heaven which our sins had 
 forfeited. — This is the dedication that I so 
 
156 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 much desire every soul in my parish might join 
 together to make, — even the surrender of him- 
 self to Jesus, each one as he is, with all his 
 faults, with all his sins, in order to find in 
 Him, pardon, righteousness, sanctification, and 
 redemption. 
 
 " Your affectionate Papa, 
 
 John Frederic Oberlin." 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 In the year 1808, Henry Gottfried Oberlin, 
 who has been already mentioned as his father's 
 active coadjutor in the distribution of Bibles, 
 left the Protestant theological school at Stras- 
 bourg, of which he had for the last two years 
 been superintendent, and went to reside as pri- 
 vate tutor in the family of Count Richter, at 
 Riga. 
 
 His sister Henrietta likewise removed into 
 Russia during the same year, having married 
 the Rev. Mr Graff, a missionary on the banks of 
 the Wolga. 
 
 Oberlin's advancing age, and increasing in- 
 ability for that very active exertion which the 
 peculiar situation of his parish required, and 
 
LETTER TO J. HEISCH, ESQ,. 157 
 
 which he had been accustomed to use, induced 
 the former, however, in the year 1813, and 
 Mr. and Mrs. Graff, with their family of young 
 children, in the subsequent one, to come and 
 take up their residence again under the pater- 
 nal roof at Waldbach. 
 
 The following note, addressed by Oberlin to 
 P. J. Heisch, Esq., speaks of his own increas- 
 ing weakness, and alludes, with grateful pleas- 
 ure, to Henry's return. 
 
 " Dear, not to be forgotten, friend ! 
 
 " On the 5th of December, God restored to 
 me my son Henry Gottfried from Russia, who 
 now relieves me from part of my labor, though 
 there is still so much left to be done that six of 
 us could find ample employment. Your re- 
 membrance and letter have given me exceed- 
 ing joy, and I only regret the impossibility of 
 having answered you before. My situation is 
 unique in its way ; and my labor seems to in- 
 crease as my strength decreases, especially the 
 strength of my eyes. For these several years 
 past I have been repeatedly threatened with 
 sudden death. * Now, thank God, I am very well. 
 
 * Oberlin had a most extraordinary and serious ill- 
 ness during the period of the Revolution, in 1794, sup- 
 
158 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " May God be with you, dear ' and not 
 to be forgotten friend, and with your dear 
 family. It gives me no concern to think that 
 we shall not see each other again in this world ; 
 — in the next our intercourse will be more 
 frequent, more easy, and more delightful. 
 Adieu. 
 
 " Your aged friend of seventy-three, 
 
 J. F. Oberlin. 
 
 " My sincere respects to the Rev. Dr. Stein- 
 kopff." 
 
 Henry also wrote to Mr. Heisch about the 
 same time, and as his letter contains some 
 particulars of his truly interesting family, and 
 of various circumstances to which I shall after- 
 wards have to refer, I insert it. 
 
 posed to be brought on by over exertion, and he never 
 appeared to have entirely overcome the shock that his 
 constitution underwent. The prevailing disposition of 
 the mind sometimes displays itself during the inter- 
 vals of delirium, and, whilst his fever lasted, he often 
 distressed poor Louisa, by perpetually calling upon 
 her to bring him thousands and thousands for the fur- 
 therance of his plans. He used often to speak after- 
 wards of the state of his mind during this illness, and 
 of the distinct ideas he had been enabled to form of 
 the difference between the natural and spiritual man. 
 
LETTER FROM HENRY OBERLIN. 159 
 
 " Waldbachj December 11, 1813. 
 " Highly honored Sir, my valued friend, and 
 
 former teacher, 
 
 11 My father received your friendly letter 
 on the 10th of April, and he allows me the 
 pleasure of replying to part of it. 
 
 " The Steinlhal has, during the last few 
 years, witnessed many melancholy, but also 
 many cheering events. Conflagrations, for- 
 merly so rare, have destroyed many houses in 
 most of the villages ; even the beautiful par- 
 sonage of Roth.au fell, a few years ago, a prey 
 to the flames. We have also lost since that 
 period several of the most worthy inhabitants 
 of our valley, who, both in word and deed, 
 were bright and shining examples to their 
 contemporaries ; — such wc \ for instance, 
 Catherine Gagniere, and Catherine Banzet. 
 We must likewise include among our apparent 
 adversities the circumstance of cotton-spinning 
 having been on the decline for several years, 
 and as a similar circumstance occurs with re- 
 gard to weaving, many families have been 
 thrown into great distress. But God, who has 
 always had an open eye upon the Steinthal, and 
 extended a helping hand towards it, has also 
 manifested himself in the present juncture. 
 
160 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 Besides the excellent magistrates (maires) with 
 whom the whole of my dear father's pansh is 
 blessed, God has given us, in the person of 
 the Count Lezay Marnesia, a prefect, who 
 entertains an extraordinary affection for the 
 people of the Steinthal. Through his means 
 in particular, and the striking interposition of 
 Providence, the long-pending law-suit about 
 the forests, which had been so oppressive to 
 the inhabitants, has been brought to an amica- 
 ble conclusion this year. It also pleased God 
 to send, a short time since, a gentleman into 
 this country, who formerly kept a ribbon man- 
 ufactory in Alsace, and who takes a great 
 interest in effectually assisting the inhabitants 
 of the Steinthal. Our good and excellent 
 Louisa Schepler is still alive, and always, in 
 conjunction with my dear father, observing the 
 same fidelity and self-devotion in the perform- 
 ance of her duties. We, his children, .have 
 been very much dispersed, but we were much 
 more so a little time ago than we are now. It 
 is, indeed, remarkable how we are concen- 
 trated in th# Steinthal. My brother Charles 
 has been for some years past clergyman of 
 Rothau.* My sister Frederica, who married 
 
 * Charles Conserve, Oberlin's second son, was born 
 in 1776. In the year 1803, he married Sophia Cath- 
 
LETTER FROM HENRY OBERLIN. 161 
 
 the Rev. Mr. Rauscher, now resides at Barr, 
 where Mr. Rauscher keeps a school, and also 
 exercises his ministerial functions. I am my- 
 self, id fine, come to the Steinthal from Russia, 
 or Livonia, though not hy the shortest way. I 
 wrote to you, respected friend, from Riga, 
 under the date of August 2, 1811. I wrote 
 also, at a later period, to Dr. Stein kopfT, but 
 I never received an answer from your country. 
 I ought to have mentioned above, that the 
 gentleman who is introducing the ribbon man- 
 ufactory into the Steinthal is a native of Basle ; 
 perhaps he is not unknown to you. It is Mr. 
 Legrand, who was formerly a member of the 
 Directory in Switzerland. My dear sister 
 Louisa Charite is married to a good worthy 
 man, the Rev. Peter Witz, of Colmar. She, 
 as well as dear Frederica, has several children, 
 and so also has sister Henrietta, in Russia. 
 Our beloved sister Fidelite has been for several 
 years lost to us in this world, which grieves 
 me, in particular, even now. — The good Fide- 
 
 erine Franck, of Strasbourg, the widow of an officer 
 named Berard. On account of his father's advancing 
 age, he was induced, in 180G, to relieve him of part 
 of his pastoral duties, by accepting the living of Rothau, 
 at which place he still resides. 
 11 
 
162 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 lite — what a faithtul sister she was ! — as faith- 
 ful a sister as she was a mother and wife.* 
 
 " I shall now conclude, as it is possible that 
 my dear father and Louisa may wish to add a 
 word themselves. 
 
 11 I remain ever, your grateful old pupil and 
 friend, 
 
 u Henry Gottfried Oberlin." 
 
 * Fidelite Caroline Oberlin was married in 1795, to 
 the Rev. James Wolff, of Mittelbergheim. She died 
 May 9, 1809, leaving two little girls, who soon fol- 
 lowed their mother to the grave. Her death was a 
 great affliction to her near connexions, but es- 
 pecially to Henry, to whom she was remarkably 
 endeared, and to her father. In speaking of this 
 circumstance, Mr. Heisch, the long and intimate 
 friend of the family, says, " I particularly recollect 
 the warm attachment that subsisted between Oberlin's 
 daughter Fidelite, his son Henry, and himself. Oh, 
 he did love his children most tenderly ! If I am not 
 mistaken, I saw him weep but once, and that was when 
 he married his daughter Fidelite to Mr. Wolff. Tears 
 of joy, in the prospect of her happiness, were then min- 
 gled with those tears of grief, which a separation from 
 this beloved child could not but occasion. Some time 
 after he repeatedly visited her at Mittelbergheim, and 
 I had once or twice the pleasure of accompanying him. 
 It is scarcely possible for any one, who was not an 
 eye-witness to this scene, to form an idea of the tender 
 affection that subsisted between father and daughter." 
 
COTTON-SPINNING. 1 63 
 
 Although on Oberlin's first arrival in the 
 Ban de la Roche, the population consisted of 
 eighty or a hundred families only, it increased 
 in the course of a few years to five or six hun- 
 dred, constituting altogether three thousand 
 souls. 
 
 To provide employment for so great a 
 number of persons, even supposing that five 
 hundred could be employed during four or five 
 months of the year in the cultivation of land, 
 and that one third were infants and infirm 
 persons incapable of work, became a most 
 important object, and gave rise to the intro- 
 duction of various branches of mechanical 
 industry, adapted to local circumstances ; such, 
 for instance, as straw-platting, knitting, and 
 dyeing with the plants of the country. The 
 former was introduced by an invalid captain, 
 whose gratitude for the kind reception he met 
 with on soliciting the hospitality of the gen- 
 erous pastor of Waldbach, induced him to 
 proffer his services in furthering the views of 
 his benefactor, by instructing the young per- 
 sons in an art with which necessity had pre- 
 viously made him acquainted. 
 
 Besides these employments, Oberlin had 
 succeeded in introducing the spinning of cot- 
 ton by the hand ; and, as he gave prizes to the 
 
164 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 best spinners, in addition to their wages, this 
 branch of industry for a time succeeded so well 
 that it once gained for the Ban de la Roche, 
 in the course of a single year, and from one 
 manufacturer, the emolument of thirty-two 
 thousand francs — an enormous sum, consider- 
 ing the extreme poverty and indigence to which 
 the inhabitants had but just before been subject- 
 ed. Weaving followed, and notwithstanding 
 numerous obstacles, promised a large increase 
 of pecuniary means ; but, unfortunately, the in- 
 troduction of machinery at Schirmeck and some 
 of the surrounding villages, produced an entire 
 revolution about the time the preceding letter 
 was written, deprived them of this source of 
 maintenance, and seemed likely to reduce them 
 to their former state of necessity and want. 
 
 During this emergency, Mr. Legrand of Basle, 
 formerly one of the Directors of the Hel- 
 vetic Republic, and of whom Henry makes 
 grateful mention, attracted to the Ban de la 
 Roche by regard and affection for its pastor, 
 and the simplicity, intelligence, and integrity 
 of his parishioners, persuaded his two sons, to 
 whom he had relinquished business, to remove 
 their manufactory of silk ribbons from the 
 department of the Upper Rhine to Foudai, 
 believing that its introduction into the Steinthal, 
 
SILK MANUFACTORY. 165 
 
 by giving employ to a great number of hands, 
 would become not only an advantage but a 
 real blessing to the peasantry there, who were 
 at this period sadly in need of work. The first 
 invasion of the allies, who took possession of 
 ther workshops, induced Mr. Daniel and Mr. 
 Joseph Legrand to accede, without hesitation, 
 to the wishes of their father, and indeed proved 
 a means of hastening their removal.* 
 
 In the course of a short time, through the 
 exertions of this benevolent and highly respec- 
 table family, industry and happiness again 
 smiled in the valley : — for whilst the introduc- 
 tion of the silk manufactory caused trade to 
 be carried on with renewed vigor, and gave 
 employment to several hundred hands, it was 
 attended with another great advantage, too 
 seldom experienced in manufacturing districts ; 
 this was. that the ribbon looms were distributed 
 about the houses in the different villages, so 
 
 *The name of Daniel Legrand is well known in 
 connexion with the Paris Bible Society, to which he 
 has long been a warm and zealous friend. Having 
 himself experienced, in a striking manner, the reno- 
 vating influence of religion, he now takes every op- 
 portunity of inducing others, as far as lies in his power, 
 to become " followers of Jesus," and to embrace those 
 truths which form the ground of his own faith and 
 practice. 
 
166 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 that, contrary to the usual custom, the children 
 could remain whilst at work under the eye of 
 their parents, instead of being exposed to the 
 contaminating influence of bad example. 
 
 u Conducted by Providence," says Mr. Le- 
 grand, in a letter addressed to the Baron de 
 Gerando,* " into this remote valley, I was the 
 more struck with the sterility of its soil, its 
 straw-thatched cottages, the apparent poverty 
 of its inhabitants, and the simplicity of their 
 fare, (chiefly consisting of potatoes,) from the 
 contrast which these external appearances 
 formed to the cultivated conversation which I 
 enjoyed with almost every individual I met 
 whilst traversing its five villages, and the frank- 
 ness and naivete of the children, who extended 
 to me their little hands. I had often heard 
 of Pastor Oberlin, and eagerly sought his ac- 
 quaintance. He gave me the most hospitable 
 reception, and anticipated my desire to know 
 more of the history of the little colony whose 
 manners had surprised me so greatly, by pla- 
 cing in my hands the annals of his parish. f I 
 
 * See Rapport fait a la Societe Royale et Centrale 
 d'Agriculture. Par M. le Comte Francois de Neufcha- 
 teau, sur Pagriculture et la civilisation du Ban de la 
 Roche, &c. 
 
 | The Annals of the Ban de la Roche were commenc- 
 ed by Oberlin in 1770. 
 
TERMINATION OF A LAW-SUIT, 1 67 
 
 there found an unconnected, but detailed his- 
 tory o( the institutions for general instruction 
 
 founded by bis predecessor, and continued by 
 himself. 
 
 u It is now lour years since I removed here 
 with my family ; and the pleasure of residing 
 in the midst of a people, whose manners are 
 softened and whose minds are enlightened by 
 the instructions which they receive from their 
 earliest infancy, more than reconciles us to the 
 privations which we must necessarily experi- 
 ence in a valley separated from the rest of the 
 world by a chain of surrounding mountains."* 
 
 With regard to the long impending law-suit, 
 mentioned in the preceding letter from Henry 
 Oberlin to Mr. Heisch, it seems necessary to 
 give some explanation, more especially as it 
 will afford another proof, in addition to the 
 many already adduced, that the almost un- 
 bounded influence which Oberlin had acquired 
 
 * M. Legrand soon became a most useful auxiliary 
 to Oberlin, devoting his leisure hours to benevolent pur- 
 poses. The superintendence and direction of the 
 schools, which lie managed in a very superior manner? 
 particularly claimed bis attention ; and so great was bis 
 ardor in the work, that be was once about to take up 
 his residence for the seven winter months in Belmont 
 school, had not his health prevented it. 
 
168 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 over his people, was always exerted for purpo- 
 ses of beneficence. The litigation, to which 
 that letter refers, had been carried on for up- 
 wards of eighty years, between the peasantry 
 of the Ban and the seigneurs of the territory, 
 with respect to the right of the forests which 
 covered the greater part of the mountains. 
 This ruinous contest, which impoverished both 
 parties by an enormous expense, and discour- 
 aged improvement, had survived even the 
 French Revolution, which swept away in a 
 moment so many absurd remnants of ancient 
 feudalism. M. de Lezay Marnesia,* Prefect 
 of the Lower Rhine, who deeply lamented the 
 disgraceful contention, and earnestly desired 
 to see it terminated, at length opened his mind 
 to Oberlin on the subject, and entreated him 
 to use every effort in his power for the res- 
 toration of peace, declaring that he knew no 
 other person so capable of effecting it. The 
 latter readily acceded to his wishes, for it was 
 
 * M. de Lezay Marnesia entertained a peculiar af- 
 fection and respect for Oberlin, although differing from 
 him in his religious tenets. He would sometimes con- 
 sult him on the sceptical objections to revealed religion 
 which presented themselves to his mind, and appear as 
 well pleased to yield as Oberlin was to gain the victory 
 in argument. 
 
TERMINATION OF A LAW-SUIT. 
 
 169 
 
 what he himself had long and ardently desired, 
 though the impossibility of accomplishing it, 
 until sanctioned by the authority of the magis- 
 trate, had hitherto prevented his taking an ac- 
 tive part in the business.* No sooner had he 
 received this intimation, than he began to take 
 every opportunity of convincing his parishion- 
 ers, in private conversation, that this litiga- 
 tion was the scourge of the country ; assuring 
 them that a voluntary sacrifice on their part, 
 for the sake of peace, would be far preferable 
 to the uncertainties of a prolonged law-suit, 
 and that the end they wished to gain could 
 only be obtained by a succession of the most 
 wearisome debates. Nor was it in private 
 conversation only that he urged his plea, for 
 in the pulpit also he frequently insisted on the 
 duty of avoiding subjects of dispute, and on the 
 characteristics of that charity "which suf- 
 fered! long and is kind, seeketh not her own, 
 beareth all things." 
 
 Having, in this manner, prepared his pa- 
 rishioners to listen to his proposal, and when 
 
 * Oberlin had had for several years this motto affixed 
 to one of his doors. " O Gott, erbarme Dich des Stein- 
 thals, und mache dem Prozess ein Ende." (" O God, 
 have mercy on the Steinthal, and put an end to the law- 
 suit ! ") 
 
170 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 he saw that they were ready to receive it, he 
 frankly declared his conviction that they were 
 bound as much by their interest as their duty to 
 consent to an accommodation. 
 
 His advice was followed. The parties ac- 
 ceded to an agreement advantageous to both 
 sides. What so many years had not been able 
 to effect, Oberlin — the mild and gentle Ober- 
 lin — brought about by a few conciliatory 
 words. The prefect was desirous that the in- 
 habitants should not be allowed to forget to 
 w r hom they were indebted for the restoration 
 of peace. At his suggestion, the mayors in 
 deputation presented to their pastor the pen 
 with which M. de Lezay had signed the solemn 
 engagement, entreating him to suspend it in his 
 study as a trophy of the victory which his ha- 
 bitual benelicence of character had, under the 
 divine blessing, enabled him to gain over long 
 continued animosity and bad feeling. He mod- 
 estly complied with their request, and was often 
 heard to say that the day on which that pen 
 was used, June 6, 1813, was one of the happiest 
 of his life.* 
 
 I must now advert to an affecting event, 
 which happened in Oberlin's family in the 
 
 *For several years this memorable pen retained its 
 station in his study ; but it at length disappeared, with- 
 out any one being able to tell what had become of it. 
 
DEATH OF HENRY OBERL1N. 171 
 
 winter of 1817. This was the death of his 
 son Henry Gottfried, who had only resided 
 under the paternal roof for about three years 
 after his return from Russia, before he was 
 summoned hence, to taste, as we have every 
 reason to believe, of the joys of heaven. 
 
 " God's ways are not our ways, neither are 
 his thoughts our thoughts:" and it sometimes 
 pleases him to remove to a better country, and 
 to a higher state of existence, those whom we 
 had fondly imagined would become as shining 
 lights in the world, and instruments devoted to 
 his service; as though 1o remind us that he 
 can effect his own purposes in what way, and 
 in what manner he sees best, without the aid 
 of short-sighted, and, at the best, fallible crea- 
 tures like ourselves. 
 
 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 
 broken out in the night in a town on his route, 
 as he was making, in 1816, a circuit of eigh- 
 teen hundred miles in the south of France, 
 with a view to inspect the state of the Protes- 
 tant churches, and to ascertain the means of 
 supplying them more generally with the Holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
172 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 The fatigue attending the remainder of the 
 journey, added to the seeds of incipient dis- 
 ease, had so shattered his constitution, that, 
 soon after arriving in his native valley, he was 
 induced to remove to Rothau, instead of re- 
 maining at Waldbach, 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, however, that 
 the complaint rapidly gained ground, he de- 
 sired with the greatest resignation and com- 
 posure, to be conveyed home again to his fa- 
 ther's house, that he might die there. 
 
 So universally was Oberlin beloved, that his 
 parishioners seized every opportunity of prov- 
 ing their attachment to him and to his family ; 
 and on this occasion a truly affecting scene 
 presented itself. No sooner was Henry's re- 
 quest 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, 
 however, 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 walk- 
 ed before it, carefully removing every stone, 
 
HENRY OBERLIN's DEATH. 173 
 
 that the beloved invalid might experience as 
 
 little inconvenience as possible from jolting 
 over the rough roads. 
 
 A few weeks after his arrival under the pa- 
 ternal roof, his life, which had promised such 
 extensive usefulness, drew near its close. 
 Faith, mingled with pious resignation to the 
 will of his heavenly Father, who was thus early 
 pleased to call him to himself, was strikingly 
 exhibited in his last moments, and on the Kith 
 of November, 1817, without a struggle or a sigh. 
 he sweetly " slept in Jesus.''* 
 
 A few particulars of his close are given in 
 the notes of the sermon which his dear father 
 preached on the occasion of his death. I shall 
 here insert a translation of them, from the orig- 
 inal MSS. 
 
 "My son Henry Gottfried, in the midst of 
 distressing bodily anguish, (for as to his mental 
 powers, he enjoyed the full and clear use of 
 them till the last moment of his life.) and under 
 
 * His premature and lamented death is thus record- 
 ed in the Fourteenth Report of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society: "Your committee think it due to the 
 late Rev. Henry Oherlin, of YValdhach, in Alsace, to 
 bear their testimony to that zeal by which he was 
 urged to sacrifice his valuable life in exertions for 
 distributing the Holy Scriptures among his country- 
 men." 
 
174 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 the pressure of acute and lingering sufferings, 
 often said, 6 Oh mercy ! mercy ! Oh God ! hast 
 thou then ceased to be merciful ? — Oh, it is a 
 hard, hard, hard thing to die ! ' 
 
 " Half, or a quarter of an hour before expir- 
 ing, his countenance exhibited less suffering, and 
 he said, (although with considerable difficulty,) 
 'Now a little repose — a little consolation — a 
 little joy.' Then he often repeated, f from death 
 unto life ' — < From death unto life.' 
 
 " At length he presented his trembling hand 
 to place it in mine ; he pressed mine very 
 sensibly ; and retained it in his own, i from 
 death unto life,' for without our perceiving it .he 
 ceased to breathe. Twice, believing him gone, 
 Louisa Schepler closed his eyes, but they open- 
 ed again and were raised on high." 
 
 Henry Oberlin was buried in the church- 
 yard of Foudai, where a monument of wood, 
 surrounded by willows, is erected to his mem- 
 ory. 
 
 His venerable father was graciously supported 
 under this heavy stroke, and in his discourse 
 over the grave of his son, spoke tenderly and 
 familiarly of the departed, as having only pre- 
 ceded them a little way in their pilgrimage, 
 soon to be overtaken, and for ever re-united to 
 those whom he had left behind. The following 
 
HIS LETTER TO MR. HEISCH. 175 
 
 letter to his friend Mr. Heisch, exhibits the 
 disinterested manner in which he contemplated 
 his own irreparable loss, when dwelling upon 
 his son's removal to eternal glory. 
 
 c: JVahlbach, in the SteinlhaJ, Jan. 8, 1818. 
 
 " Accept, my dear, not to be forgotten friend, 
 my sincere and heartfelt thanks for the many 
 proofs of your continued affectionate remem- 
 brance. Your name is inscribed on my heart ; 
 and yet I find it difficult to give you any assu- 
 rance of it, being extremely engaged with la- 
 bors that are continually increasing, whilst the 
 use of my bodily powers is greatly diminished. 
 I particularly suffer in my eyes, which some- 
 times altogether refuse me their service, not- 
 withstanding the excellent spectacles you pre- 
 sented to me, and one pair of which Louisa 
 gratefully uses. 
 
 " We all sincerely rejoiced at the departure 
 of our Henry from this world ; for besides hav- 
 ing been subjected during his whole life to a 
 chain of complicated sufferings, he had suffered 
 for some months past (ever since his missionary 
 journey to France) with peculiar severity, so 
 that his emaciated appearance awakened every 
 one's sympathy, and neither medicines nor any 
 thing else could procure him any real allevia- 
 
176 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 tion or respite from pain. In consequence of 
 the warm recommendations of our friends, we 
 were induced to call in Dr. Stiickalberger, a 
 very clever physician of Basle , a few weeks 
 before our Henry's decease ; but no sooner had 
 he seen him, and become acquainted with his 
 symptoms, than he said, 'I shall not touch dear 
 Mr. Oberlin with any medicine or remedy, nay, 
 not even with medical advice, being perfectly 
 convinced that if, on the one hand, I may hope 
 to effect any good, or even may effect it, I shall 
 on the other hand, do more harm than it may 
 again be in my power to remedy.' This w r as 
 both kind and judicious ; and I had been en- 
 deavouring to persuade the other physicians to 
 adopt the same plan, though in vain ; for, with 
 the utmost kindness, they were resolved to do 
 all in their power to assist him. God had, in this 
 case, reserved to himself the exclusive preroga- 
 tive of affording effectual help. Henry, in 
 addition to that spirit of universal benevolence 
 by which he was animated, felt a peculiar inter- 
 est for tw T o nations, Livonia, together with the 
 whole of Russia, and France. No doubt our 
 and his good Lord now assigns to him some 
 more extensive sphere of activity than he could 
 have had here, not only, perhaps, for the benefit 
 of these two nations, but even for that of other 
 
HIS LETTER TO MR. HEISCH. 177 
 
 nations and other individuals. May we be his 
 servants ; no matter whether here or there, if 
 we can but be faithful in his service, and of 
 some utility to others. 
 
 " Henry received your letter of the 17th of 
 October, as well as the elegant silver pencil 
 cases, and commissioned me to return you his 
 sincerest thanks. He gave them as a remem- 
 brance of you to his brother Charles Conserve, 
 clergyman of Rothau, who has shown him ex- 
 traordinary kindness both as a physician and a 
 brother. 
 
 11 Louisa Schepler, and all our dear friends 
 here, thank you cordially for your remembrance, 
 and assure you of their uninterrupted affection 
 and recollection. 
 
 " God grant that you may become useful in 
 his service. 
 
 " Adieu, my long endeared friend ! 
 " Your obliged and faithful, &c. 
 
 " John Frederic Oberlin. 
 
 12 
 
178 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Notwithstanding Oberlin's advancing age, 
 and the loss he had experienced in the death 
 of his son, the Ban de la Roche still witnessed 
 a succession of useful improvements, and >a 
 progress in civilization and prosperity. So 
 much delighted were his friends at Strasbourg 
 and at Paris with witnessing the success of his 
 indefatigable exertions, that, in the year 1818, 
 they agreed to collect, without his knowledge, 
 documents of the good which he had achieved, 
 and to submit them to the Royal and Central 
 Agricultural Society of Paris. 
 
 M. le Compte Francois de Neufchateau, who 
 had repeatedly visited the Steinthal, was de- 
 puted to this office, and requested to propose 
 the vote of a gold medal to the pastor of Wald- 
 bach, in acknowledgment of the services which 
 he had rendered, during more than half a cen- 
 tury, to agriculture in particular, and to man- 
 kind in general. 
 
 " If you would behold an instance of what 
 may be effected in any country for the advance- 
 ment of agriculture and the interests of human- 
 ity," said he, when addressing the Society upon 
 this occasion, " quit for a moment the banks of 
 
MEDAL VOTED TO HIM. 179 
 
 the Seine, and ascend one of the steepest sum- 
 mits of the Vosges mountains. Friends of the 
 plough, and of human happiness, come and 
 behold the Ban de la Roche ! Climb with me 
 the rocks so sublimely piled upon each other, 
 which separate this canton from the rest of the 
 world, and though the country and the climate 
 may at first sight appear forbidding, I will ven- 
 ture to promise you an ample recompense for 
 the fatigue of your excursion. 
 
 " As for myself, after having formed the 
 administration of the department of the Vosges, 
 in 1790, and presided over it, in 1791, I had, in 
 1793, to travel over those mountains as a com- 
 missioner of the government, at the very period 
 when the parishes of Rothau and Waldbach, 
 before that time dependant on the principality 
 of Salm, were united to the department. I have, 
 therefore, been long acquainted with the valua- 
 ble services rendered, for more than fifty years, 
 to the Ban de la Roche, by John Frederic 
 Oberlin. Ever since that time, and to the ad- 
 vanced age of seventy-eight, he has persevered 
 in carrying forward the interesting reformation 
 first suggested and commenced by his virtue, 
 piety, and zeal. He has refused invitations to 
 more important and more lucrative situations, 
 lest the Ban de la Roche should relapse into its 
 
180 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 former desolate state ; and by his extraordinary 
 efforts and unabated exertions, he averted from 
 his parishioners, in the years 1812, 1816, and 
 1817, the horrors of approaching famine.* 
 
 " Such a benefactor of mankind deserves 
 the veneration and the gratitude of all good 
 men ; and it gives me peculiar pleasure to pre- 
 sent you with the opportunity of acknowledg- 
 ing, in the person of M. Oberlin, not a single 
 act, but a whole life, devoted to agricultural 
 improvements, and to the diffusion of useful 
 knowledge amongst the inhabitants of a wild and 
 uncultivated district. 
 
 * The new crop of potatoes that Oberlin had intro- 
 duced, formed the principal subsistence of the people 
 during those disastrous years, when the season was so 
 cold and rainy that they could not get in two-thirds of 
 the corn at all ; and the scarcity so great that poor 
 little children, exhausted with hunger, were seen to 
 drop down in the streets. A sack of wheat during that 
 time of distress rose to one hundred and forty-five francs, 
 and the potatoes to nearly one sou apiece. 
 
 The precise acquaintance which the inhabitants of 
 the Ban de la Roche had acquired, through Oberlin's 
 assistance, with the vegetable productions of their 
 canton, was believed to be the means of preventing the 
 most distressing diseases. 
 
HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER. 181 
 
 " We have already ascertained that there is 
 in France uncultivated land sufficient for the 
 formation of five thousand villages. When we 
 wish to organize these colonies. Waldbach will 
 present a perfect model ; and in the thirty or 
 forty rural hamlets which already exist, there is 
 not one, even amongst the most flourishing, in 
 which social economy is carried to a higher de- 
 gree of perfection, or in which the annals of the 
 Ban de la Roche may not be studied with ad- 
 vantage." * 
 
 On the conclusion of this report, the proposed 
 tribute of affectionate gratitude, was, by unan- 
 mous consent, awarded to M. Oberlin ; upon 
 which the Baron de Gerando, Counsellor of 
 State, to whose care it was consigned, ex- 
 pressed the gratification he should have in pre- 
 senting it to the venerable pastor, not only 
 because he regarded it as an act of justice due 
 to his extraordinary services, but also because 
 it would afford such great pleasure to the 
 inhabitants of the Vosges valleys, to find their 
 beloved benefactor, guide, counsellor, and friend, 
 regarded as an individual deserving of this token 
 of public admiration and gratitude. 
 
 But whilst Oberlin was thus gaining the meed 
 of universal applause by his acts of public 
 
 * See Rapport fait a la Society &c. &c. 
 
182 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 beneficence, his domestic virtues were endearing 
 him more and more to his family circle, where 
 they always displayed themselves in the most 
 truly amiable light. I shall, therefore, now 
 reverse the picture, and present my readers 
 with a view of Oberlin in his personal and more 
 private, as well as in his ministerial character. 
 In this he will be found to shine as brightly as 
 in his public capacity ; thereby manifesting the 
 pureness and the extent of that Christian prin- 
 ciple, which constrained not only the great 
 movements of his life, but his minutest actions. 
 
 Oberlin, in his person, was handsome, rather 
 under the usual height, but remarkably dignified 
 in his appearance. There was, however, nothing 
 affected in his manner of carrying himself. His 
 outward garb was evidently the mark of the 
 master mind within him. Dressed, as he usually 
 was when out of doors, in a cocked hat* and 
 with a red ribbon at his chest, the decoration of 
 the Legion of Honor,* his air was so imposing 
 as to call forth the attention and respect of every 
 
 * This decoration was awarded to Oberlin by Louis 
 the Eighteenth in acknowledgment of the services he 
 had rendered to an extensive population. " The king," 
 he used to say, "has had the goodness to send me this 
 decoration ; but what have I done to merit it ? Who, in 
 my situation, would not have acted as I have done, and 
 perhaps better still ? " 
 
HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER. 183 
 
 one who saw him. His manner was grave, but 
 affectionate ; condescending, but in the highest 
 degree gentlemanly. His courtesy towards his 
 parishioners was constantly testified. He did 
 not pass those amongst them who were grown 
 up, without pulling off his hat and speaking a 
 few words of kindness : nor any of the children 
 without shaking them by the hand, or showing 
 them some little act of attention. " Jesus," he 
 often said, " loved children. It is to such as 
 resemble them that he promises the kingdom of 
 heaven.*' He was always extremely anxious, 
 in every part of his conduct, to prevent the 
 possibility of misconstruction on the part of 
 those over whom he watched. " On one occa- 
 sion," says one of my friends who visited the 
 Ban de la Roche a few years ago, " as we were 
 walking up a hill, he had the arm of his son-in- 
 law, whilst my wife was walking alone. Fearing 
 this might be considered self-indulgent or dis- 
 respectful by some of his younger parishioners, 
 whom he happened to pass, he stopped to make 
 an apology to them for this apparent disregard 
 of the law of civility and kindness. "* 
 
 His manner of accosting his inferiors was 
 perfectly unique. "When our postilion, who 
 
 * It must be remembered that Oberlin was then in his 
 eightieth year. 
 
184 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 appeared to have some previous acquaint- 
 ance with the Ban de la Roche, met him," 
 continues the same friend, " he and the 
 old man were instantly with their hats low- 
 ered to the ground, whilst Oberlin stepped 
 forward to shake him by the hand, and to make 
 some inquiry about his friends at Strasbourg. 
 This was done with all the sweetness of Chris- 
 tian feeling, whilst there was no departure from 
 the dignity with which his situation and cir- 
 cumstances naturally invested him. Good man- 
 ners prevailed in these valleys to an extent 
 that is rarely witnessed. The practice of 
 the pastor produced the happiest effects upon 
 the mass of the population. The habitual po- 
 liteness of the French character might have 
 assisted in this work, but I have never wit- 
 nessed in any other poor people such remark- 
 able and universal suavity: — such complete 
 refinement as in these hard mountaineers. 
 
 " As the Cher Papa had the highest regard 
 for his people, so he had the best opinion of 
 their skill, and wondered that any one should 
 doubt about it. I happened one day, when 
 we were driven by a man who seemed to go 
 on in a hazardous manner, to say < Prenez gar- 
 de/ (take care). The old man appeared hurt 
 at this admonition, both on my account and 
 
HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER. 185 
 
 on that of the driver. He assured me that all 
 was safe, and at the end of our drive, took the 
 greatest pains to prevent any feeling of vexa- 
 tion which might arise in the mind of his pa- 
 rishioner." 
 
 Oberlin's habits were very orderly. Every 
 thing seemed to have its place in his house. 
 There was a box to deposit every morsel of 
 litter, and which could only be of service in 
 the stove. His books, a great number of which 
 were in manuscript, were perfectly arranged, 
 and written in a beautiful hand, for it was a 
 point of duty with him, as before stated by 
 Mr. Legrand, to give every letter its perfect for- 
 mation. His Bible was marked throughout with 
 different colored ink, according to the appli- 
 cation which he, in the course of his reading, 
 had made of different passages. 
 
 In conversation he was fluent and very un- 
 reserved : willing to communicate all he knew, 
 and, on the other hand, inquisitive as to every 
 thing which he saw, and from which it appear- 
 ed likely he could derive information. 
 
 His activity was as astonishing as his zeal ; 
 he never rode on horseback if he could help it, 
 still less in the inside of a carriage ; and was 
 accustomed, till prevented by increasing infirm- 
 ity, to climb the steepest summits of the Vos- 
 
186 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 ges, or penetrate through pathless snows, re- 
 gardless of cold or danger, in order to visit the 
 sick, and administer religious consolation to 
 the dying ; often too, after all the varied and 
 arduous duties of the day, would he travel to 
 Strasbourg in the night to procure medicines, 
 or to obtain assistance or information from his 
 friends in that city, that not a day might be 
 lost to the interests of his beloved Steinthal.* 
 
 The superiority of his intellectual powers 
 appeared in all he said and in all he did ; and 
 he possessed great influence over others, every 
 body loving and obeying him absolutely, 
 though without servility. His mind was of a 
 most kind, yet of a very energetic and decided 
 order ; though as he seldom, if ever, went from 
 home, he had seen little of the world, and, 
 except in his younger years, read little but his 
 Bible. His conversation was never more elo- 
 
 * Oberlin was, at one time, not only minister, 
 schoolmaster, farmer, and mechanic ; but also general 
 physician to his parish. The knowledge which he 
 had acquired of medicine during his residence in Mr. 
 Ziegenhagen's family having qualified him for the 
 post. He also learned to open veins, and established 
 a dispensary ; and when his ministerial functions 
 would no longer allow of his devoting so much time 
 to the purpose as it required, he delegated the office to 
 his son Charles, and to a young man of talent whom 
 he had sent to study at Strasbourg. 
 
HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER. 187 
 
 quent, nor his views more expanded, than 
 when he talked on the suhject of the extension 
 of the kingdom of God, and when he narrated 
 to his boys, as he would frequently do, partic- 
 ulars of the life and adventures of Dr. Vander- 
 kemp, the missionary, Vincent de Paul, and 
 others, by which means he riveted their at- 
 tention, and excited the w r armest feelings of 
 their hearts. His views of religion were of a 
 very simple and elevated cast: " no cloud of 
 doubt crossed the serene atmosphere of his 
 tranquil joys :" — he continually looked at God 
 as his " Papa Celeste" present with him, r and 
 rested all his hopes in Jesus, " the Author and 
 Finisher of our faith." 
 
 His dependance upon his Heavenly Father 
 made him order all the events of his life, in 
 which he felt any difficulty in deciding, by lot ; 
 for this purpose he kept two little tickets, with 
 yes and no upon them, in his pocket, and these, 
 with prayer, he was continually in the habit of 
 using.* 
 
 Oberlin, as it may perhaps be supposed, was 
 a great physiognomist as well as a phrenologist, 
 and the system of Gall had in him a zealous 
 partisan ; he was also a warm admirer and dis- 
 
 * Oberlin bequeathed his l yes and rco' box, the token of 
 hispeculiar faith, to the Rev. Mr. Blumhardt, of the 
 Missionary Institution at Basle. 
 
188 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 ciple of his friedn Lavater,* and had collected 
 a great number of silhouettes (profiles), both of 
 friends and strangers, under which he wrote his 
 opinion, always an indulgent one, of the talents 
 and general character of the individual. 
 
 *In the year 1795, Henry Oberlin paid a visit at 
 Zurich, and became acquainted with Lavater, in whose 
 family he was received with more than ordinary af- 
 fection. This acquaintance laid the foundation of the 
 tenderest and most intimate friendship between Ober- 
 lin and that distinguished individual, which terminat- 
 ed only with the life of the latter. He died at Zurich 
 where he had resided the greater part of his life, Jan- 
 uary 2, 1801, in consequence of a wound which he 
 received from a French soldier, whom, at the time 
 of the siege, he ran out to separate from another 
 with whom he was scuffling. After lingering in 
 agony for more than a twelvemonth, during which 
 time he evinced, by his patience and cheerfulness, the 
 power of that principle which in life had made him so 
 active, he resigned his soul into the hands of his 
 Creator. 
 
 Lavater was a man of extraordinary powers, and 
 universally beloved by all classes of people. He was 
 as much known in his own country as a zealous and 
 devoted Christian minister, as he is in this country 
 by his study of physiognomy. This latter study, he 
 used to say, was taken up for little more than amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 The following note, written during the period of 
 his illness, to Henry Oberlin, who was at that time 
 
HIS DESCRIPTION OF HIMSELF. 189 
 
 There was a striking simplicity and artless- 
 ness in his character, which occasionally led him 
 to speak of himself, and of his own actions, in a 
 manner that some might attribute to egotism ; 
 but this was far from being the case, for few 
 individuals could be more truly humble, or 
 disclaim all merits of their own more sincere- 
 ly than he did. The profile that stands opposite 
 the title page of this work is considered a remark- 
 ably good likeness of Oberlin. It is the more 
 interesting from the circumstance of having been 
 cut out and highly approved by himself. He 
 wrote the following description of his own char- 
 acter to place beneath it.* It will account for 
 the preceding remarks. 
 
 also suffering from indisposition, is a proof of the sweet 
 and resigned state of his mind : 
 
 " Erlenbach, Feb. 1, 1800. 
 " Dear Oberlin, 
 
 " We must both humble ourselves under the chas- 
 tising and fatherly hand of God. It will be good for 
 us both to be led in this way, and no other. Let us 
 look forward with hope, and expect the best, nor doubt 
 his goodness one single moment. We cannot be better 
 led than we are. If we possess health, God of his love 
 bestows it ; if sickness, he ordains that it should be so. 
 We have nothing to fear. His love will never forsake 
 us ; but will contiue to direct us to one goal — even to 
 himself." 
 
 * Oberlin presented this profile to the Rev. Francis 
 Cunningham, during his visit at Waklbach, in 1820. 
 
190 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " A strange compound of contradictory qual- 
 ities. I do not yet exactly know what I am 
 to make of myself. I am intelligent ; and yet 
 possessed of very limited powers : — prudent and 
 more politic than my fellow-clergymen ; but also 
 very apt to blunder, especially when in the least 
 excited. I am firm, yet of a yielding disposi- 
 tion ; and both of these, in certain cases, to a 
 great degree. I am not only daring, but ac- 
 tually courageous ; whilst, at the same time, I 
 am often in secret very cowardly. I am very 
 upright and sincere, yet also very complaisant 
 to men, and in a degree, therefore, insincere. 
 I am a German and a Frenchman \ noble, gene- 
 rous, ready to render service, faithful, very 
 grateful, — deeply affected by the least benefit 
 or kindness, which is ever after engraven on 
 my heart ; and yet again flighty and indiffer- 
 ent. I am irritable to a formidable degree. 
 He who treats me generously soon gains the 
 ascendancy over me ; but opposition creates 
 in me an astonishing degree of firmness, es- 
 pecially in matters of conscience. I have a 
 lively imagination, but no memory, properly 
 speaking. The histories which I have taken 
 pains to impress on my mind remain with me, 
 but dates and the names of persons I often for- 
 get the next day, notwithstanding all the pains 
 
HIS DESCRIPTION OF HIMSELF. 191 
 
 I have taken to remember them. I used to 
 speak Latin fluently and even elegantly, but 
 now I cannot utter three or four words togeth- 
 er. I make selections from books, and in- 
 struct others in some branch of science for a 
 long time ; but a few years after, my scholars, 
 even if they know nothing more than what I 
 taught them, may in their turn become my 
 teachers, and the books from which I made ex- 
 tracts (with the exception of those of a certain 
 description) appear wholly new to me. 
 
 " I habitually work my way through my stud- 
 ies till I obtain clear ideas ; but if I wish to 
 penetrate deeper, every thing vanishes before 
 me. I have a great talent for removing diffi- 
 culties in order to render every thing smooth 
 and easy to myself, and to every body else. I 
 am so extremely sensitive, tender, and com- 
 passionate, that I can find neither words nor 
 expressions corresponding to my feelings, so 
 that the latter almost overpower me, and occa- 
 sion me acute pain. I am always busy and 
 industrious, but also fond of ease and indo- 
 lence. I am generally quick in resolving, and 
 equally so in executing. I have a peculiar es- 
 teem for the female sex. I am a very great ad- 
 mirer of painting, music, and poetry, and yet I 
 
192 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 have no skill in any of them. Mechanics, nat- 
 ural history, and so forth, constitute my favorite 
 studies. I am very fond of regularity, and of 
 arranging and classifying, but my weak memory, 
 added to constant employment, renders it difficult 
 to me. I am given to planning and scheming, 
 and yet endeavour, in my peculiar way, to do 
 things in the best manner. 
 
 "lama genuine soldier, but I was more so 
 before my bodily powers were so much weakened ; 
 I was formerly anxious to be the foremost in 
 danger, and the firmest in pain, but have now 
 lost that desire. From my childhood I have felt 
 a longing and preponderating desire for a higher 
 state of existence, and therefore a wish for death. 
 I am the greatest admirer of military order and* 
 subordination, not however in a spirit of slavery, 
 but of that noble, affectionate attachment, which 
 compels the coward to show courage, and the 
 disorderly to be punctual. I feel no obstinacy or 
 disinclination to yield to a strong internal convic- 
 tion, but on the other hand a fervent heart-felt 
 joy in yielding to both great and small, high and 
 low, gentlemen and peasants, children and ser- 
 vants, and thence a willingness to listen and an 
 inclination to suffer myself, if possible, to be 
 convinced. But when I feel no conviction, I can 
 never think of yielding. I am humorous and a 
 
 1 
 
mr. owen's letter. 193 
 
 little witty or satirical, but without intentional 
 malice." 
 
 As the villages of Oberlin's little district were 
 too far apart to allow of his preaching every 
 week in all of them, he took each of the three 
 churches in rotation, and the peasants made an 
 arrangement to come in turns with a horse every 
 Sunday morning to fetch him, and to take him 
 home to partake of their dinner after the sermon. 
 It was always a festival for every family who 
 could thus entertain the "Cher Papa" and 
 afforded him an opportunity of conversing about 
 their temporal and spiritual wants. He made a 
 point, when the little repast was ended, of seeing 
 the children of the house one by one in succes- 
 sion, according to their age, and talking to them 
 like an affectionate father, in language adapted to 
 their respective capacities, as well as of making a 
 present to each. 
 
 I cannot here refrain from inserting the lively 
 picture which Mr. Owen has drawn, in his own 
 admirable manner, of a Ban de la Roche Sabbath, 
 and in which he also makes an allusion to those 
 three excellent women, whose names well de- 
 serve to be put upon record with that of their 
 pastor. 
 
 13 
 
194 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 "Basle, Sept. 16, 1818. 
 
 "The place from which my last was dated, 
 Waldbach, has completely rilled my mind, and 
 laid such hold on my warmest affections, that I 
 can scarcely bring myself to think, or speak, or 
 write, on any thing but Pastor Oberlin, and his 
 Ban de la Roche. You will remember that the 
 first foreign letter which awakened an interest in 
 our minds, — the letter which made its way most 
 directly to our hearts, and which, at the celebra- 
 tion of our First Anniversary, produced the 
 strongest, and, if I may judge of others by my- 
 self, the most lasting impression upon us all, was 
 that wherein this venerable pastor reported the 
 distribution he proposed to make of the Bibles 
 assigned to him, and drew, with the hand of a 
 master, the characters of those women who la- 
 bored with him in the Gospel, and to whom, as the 
 highest remuneration he could bestow, and their 
 ambition coveted, a Bible was to be presented.* 
 
 " I cannot describe the sensations with which 
 I entered the mountainous parish, containing five 
 villages and three churches, in which this primi- 
 tive evangelist, who for more than half a century 
 has occupied this station, exercises his functions; 
 and still less those with which I entered his resi- 
 
 * See Chap. 6. 
 
mr, owen's letter. 195 
 
 dence, and approached his venerable person. 
 The reception he gave me was such as, from the 
 profound humility of his character, might have 
 been anticipated. My visit to him and his flock 
 was wholly unexpected ; and when I announced 
 to him, in my introduction, that I appeared before 
 him as the Secretary of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society, to testify, on their part, the respect 
 and affection with which they regarded him, as 
 one of the earliest and most interesting of their 
 foreign correspondents, the good man took me by 
 the hand, and drew me gently towards the seat 
 which he usually occupies, exclaiming, but with- 
 out any turbulence of either voice or manner, — 
 'Sir, this is too great an honor: — how shall I 
 answer words like these ? ' After the first emo- 
 tions had subsided, our conversation became 
 familiar ; and as it never ceased, from that time 
 to the moment of our separation, to turn more or 
 less upon the things pertaining to the kingdom of 
 God, as they appeared in the small scale of his 
 own, or the great scale of the Bible Society's 
 labors, it never ceased to be deeply interesting, 
 and pregnant with edification. 
 
 " The Sunday exhibited this venerable man 
 in the pastoral character, under which it had been 
 so much my desire, might it but be permitted me, 
 to see him. As he makes the circuit of his 
 
196 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 churches, the turn on this Sunday belonged to 
 Belmont, distant about half a league from the 
 parsonage of Waldbach. At ten o'clock we 
 began to move. Mr. Oberlin took the lead in 
 his ministerial attire, a large beaver and flowing 
 wig, mounted on a horse brought for that purpose, 
 according to custom, by one of the bourgeois of 
 the village, whose turn it was to have the honor 
 of fetching his pastor, and receiving him to dinner 
 at his table. I rode as nearly beside him as the 
 narrow track would allow. Mr. Ronnenberg, 
 accompanied by Mr, Daniel Legrand, followed. 
 The rear was brought up by the bourgeois before 
 mentioned, carrying a leathern bag, slung across 
 his shoulders, which contained the other part of 
 the minister's dress, his books, &c. ; and a 
 respectable peasant as an attendant on the general 
 cavalcade. I will not detain you by particulars, 
 which, however interesting, would draw me too 
 far from the main object of my attention. I will 
 only say, that the appearance of the congregation, 
 their neat and becoming costume, their order, and 
 their seriousness, together with the fervor, tender- 
 ness, and simplicity, with which the good minister 
 addressed them, both in his sermon in the morn- 
 ing, and his catechetical lecture in the afternoon, 
 conveyed to my mind the most delightful impres- 
 sion — that of a sincere and elevated devotion. 
 
MR. OWENS LETTER. 
 
 197 
 
 The interval between the services was passed, 
 partly in dining at the house of the happy bour- 
 geois, (for the duty of fetching and entertaining 
 their pastor, is, in the estimation of these simple 
 people, a privilege of the highest order,) and 
 partly in visiting some of the excellent individu- 
 als, both men and women, particularly the latter, 
 in which this part of the parish abounds. The 
 affability and graceful condescension with which 
 the pastor saluted every member of his flock, 
 wherever he met them, and the affectionate 
 reverence with which young and old returned the 
 salutation, were peculiarly pleasing : it was, on 
 both sides, if a ceremony at all, the ceremony of 
 the heart. On our return to the parsonage, the 
 evening was passed in edifying conversation, and 
 concluded by a French hymn, in which all the 
 household united. On the ensuing morning, I 
 had the honor of conveying my venerable host, 
 amidst the bowings of his parishioners, who gazed 
 with wonder at the unusual sight of their sta- 
 tionary pastor seated in a travelling carriage, to 
 the house of Messrs. Legrand, at Foudai, another 
 of the villages in this extensive parish. Here 
 we breakfasted ; and, after much pleasing con- 
 versation with this amiable, benevolent, and well- 
 informed family, I had the high honor of being 
 introduced to Sophia Bernard and Catherine 
 
198 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 Scheidecker ! Maria Schepler, the second on the 
 list of this memorable trio, had, I found, been 
 removed to her rest : the two whom I have men- 
 tioned, and who now stood before me, remained 
 to fill up the measure of their usefulness in the 
 work of their Lord. Never shall I forget the 
 manner in which these interesting peasants re- 
 ceived me, when, addressing them by name, I said 
 that I had known them nearly fourteen years, and 
 that the account of their services, communicated 
 to us by the pastor whom they so greatly assisted, 
 had been instrumental in stirring up the zeal of 
 many to labor after their example. ' Oh, Sir,' 
 said Sophia Bernard, the tears filling her eyes at 
 the time, ' this does indeed humble us ; ' adding 
 many pious remarks in relation to their obscurity, 
 the imperfection of their works, and the honor 
 they considered it to labor for Him who had 
 done so much, yea, every thing, for the:n. The 
 scene was truly affecting. It was not without 
 many an effort that I tore myself from it, and 
 hurried from the Ban de la Roche, that seat of 
 simplicity, piety, and true Christian refinement, 
 to resume my journey along the beaten road, 
 and to pursue my object among scenes, which, 
 whatever pleasures I had to expect, would suf- 
 fer in the comparison with those which I had 
 left behind me." 
 
HIS MINISTRY. 199 
 
 In most of his religious tenets, Oberlin was 
 strictly orthodox and evangelical. The main 
 doctrine that seemed to occupy his whole mind 
 was, that God was his Father. u Oar Father," 
 as he would not unfrequently say, " and thus 
 we may always feel Him." The doctrine of 
 sanctification also held a high place in his creed, 
 though, in his discourses, he principally dwelt 
 upon the freeness of the Gospel, the willingness 
 of Christ to receive all who come to him in 
 sincerity of heart, the blessed efficacy of prayer, 
 and the absolute necessity of divine grace. 
 
 It may here be considered necessary, for the 
 sake of biographical faithfulness, to observe, 
 that upon some points he certainly held very 
 fanciful and unwarranted notions, more partic- 
 ularly upon those relative to a future state. 
 In the interpretation of John xiv. 2, for exam- 
 ple, (" In my Father's house are many man- 
 sions,") he considered that there was an exact 
 relation between our state here and the very 
 mansion we should enter hereafter ; and this 
 relation, or proportion of happiness, he seemed 
 to himself to have so accurately ascertained, 
 by the help of types drawn from the different 
 parts of the Temple, beginning with the outer 
 court of the sanctuary and ending with the 
 
200 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 Holy of Holies, and from the expressions denoting 
 the state of the redeemed in the Book of Rev- 
 elations, as to be able to draw a map of the 
 other world ; and this map be printed and hung 
 up in his church. He also held the doctrine 
 of an intermediate state, which he supposed 
 to be one of continual improvement, and like- 
 wise believed that we shall become progres- 
 sively holy in heaven. He seemed to hope that 
 the passage, 1 Cor. xv. 28, where it is said that 
 " all things " shall be subjected unto the 
 Almighty, and the Son also himself shall be 
 subjected, " that God may be all in all," might 
 include not only the little flock of Christ's 
 immediate followers, but, ultimately, at some 
 almost indefinite period, through the boundless 
 mercy of God, and the blood of Jesus, which 
 was shed for the sins of the whole world, all 
 the race of mankind. And he was strengthen- 
 ed in this belief by understanding in another 
 than the ordinary sense, that as in Adam all 
 die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 
 It is needless to say of these doctrines that they 
 are fanciful and mistaken, and not to be de- 
 fended by an accurate application of Scripture. 
 But, whatever hold they had upon Oberlin's 
 mind, they appeared very little in his preach- 
 ing, and did not at all interfere with the 
 
HIS MINISTRY. 201 
 
 plainest statement of the doctrine of justifica- 
 tion by faith in the merits of our Redeemer, 
 and sanctification by his Spirit, and of the 
 absolute necessity of both the one and the other 
 to meetness for the heavenly inheritance. 
 
 Oberlin was accustomed to preach very 
 alarmingly on the judgment to come, and the 
 punishment of the wicked ; though, at the same 
 time, he held out the fatherly love of God to 
 every returning sinner, who would seek Him 
 through Jesus Christ. These last mentioned 
 doctrines may be said to have constituted the 
 leading features of his ministry. He had a 
 remarkable reverence for the Bible, and espe- 
 cially for the Books of Moses, and the Gospels. 
 He was led to adopt many of the laws of Moses, 
 because, he said, although the ceremonial law 
 is rejected, the object of that law, the glory of 
 God and the good of man, remains, and there- 
 fore the law itself ought to be retained. The 
 subjoined note marks a number of passages from 
 the laws of Moses, which Oberlin adopted, and 
 which he applied with great force and interest 
 in his own conduct, and in his instructions to his 
 people.* 
 
 * Alms. Deut. xiv. 28, &c. xv. 7. Mat. iii. 10. 
 Prevention of dangers. Deut. xxii. 8. Exod. xxi. 33. 
 
202 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 It may, indeed, be doubted, whether there 
 was not much in the history of Moses, as well 
 as in his law, which remarkably adapted itself to 
 Oberlin's experience and views. 
 
 This coincidence has been pointed out to me 
 by the Rev. Francis Cunningham, who visited 
 the Ban de la Roche in 1820, when Oberlin 
 was in the eightieth year of his age. He thus 
 writes : 
 
 Strangers. Exod. xii. 21. xxiii. 9. Lev. xix. 33, 
 34. xxiv. 22. Num. xv. 14. Deut. x. 18, 19. xxiv. 14, 
 19. xxvi. 12. xxvii. 19. 
 Also for Strangers. Exod. xxii. 19. Num. ix. 14. 
 Solomon appointed a court for Strangers : 2 Chron. vi. 
 32. This court the avarice of the Jews suffered to be- 
 come a market, and from this market Jesus drove the 
 buyers and sellers. 
 
 Fertility. To make a county fertile, it must be guard- 
 ed from bad seasons, dearth, and famine. Lev. xxvi. 3, 
 14. Deut. xi. 13, 16. Mai. iii. JO. 
 
 Politeness. Rom. xii. 10. 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 5. 
 
 To protect ourselves from the evils of war. Lev. xxv. 
 18, 19. Deut. xxxiii. 28, 29. Prov. i. 33. 
 
 Doctors. Exod. xv. 26. 2 Chron. xvi. 12. 
 
 Law-suit. Mat. v. 39, 40. 
 
 First-fruits. Exod. xxii. 29. Deut. xv. 19. 
 
 Payment. Lev. xix. 13. Deut. xxiv. 14. Jer. xxii. 
 13. Rom. xiii. 8. Matt. v. 25. 
 
 Health. Exod. xv. 26. Mai. iv. 2. 
 
 Prolonged life. Deut iv. 40. v. 32, 33. vi. 2. xi. 9. 
 xvii. 20. xxx. 17, 18, 20. xxxii. 46, 47. 
 
HIS MINISTRY. 203 
 
 " In contemplating the history and circum- 
 stances of this venerahle man, I could not but 
 call to mind that of the Patriarch, whose law, 
 as well as example, he seems so attentively to 
 have followed. Oberlin, like Moses, was trained 
 to another service than that which he was 
 ultimately called to follow. He had to civil- 
 ize, as well as to instruct, a people degraded 
 by long habits, deeply rooted, and which 
 sprung from wretchedness and poverty. Like 
 Moses, he was a great lover of order, and had 
 a singular tact for government. Like him, too, 
 he united remarkable meekness with occasion- 
 al impetuosity, and the truest decision of char- 
 acter. As of Moses at the end of his 
 pilgrimage, so it may be said of Oberlin, his 
 eye was scarcely dim, and his natural force 
 was hardly abated. They each lived to testi- 
 fy of a people following the ways of God, 
 (Deut. xxxiii. 29,) ' Happy art thou, O Israel ; 
 who is like unto thee, O people saved by the 
 Lord ;' and now, as they fought the same fight, 
 passed through the same tribulation, and wash- 
 ed their robes and made them white in the 
 blood of the Lamb, they dwell together before 
 the throne of God, and serve him day and 
 night in his temple ; they have entered into 
 the same joy, and are crowned with the same 
 
204 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 reward. For there, this most holy, most de 
 voted, and most useful man, has now opened 
 his eyes to receive the recompense of his faith, 
 his patience, and his labors : — and there, as 
 one who hath turned many to righteousness, 
 he will shine in the crown of his Redeemer for 
 ever and ever." 
 
 In his sermons, Oberlin was simple, ener- 
 getic, and affectionate, continually speaking 
 to his people under the appellation of u mes chers 
 amis" (my dear friends.) He appeared to study a 
 colloquial plainness, interspersing his discourses 
 with images and allusions, which, had they been 
 addressed to a more refined audience, might have 
 been deemed homely, but which were particularly 
 adapted to the capacities and wants of his se- 
 cluded villagers. He would frequently intro- 
 duce biographical anecdotes of persons distin- 
 guished for their piety ; and the boundless field 
 of nature furnished him with striking illustrations 
 to explain spiritual things. But the Bible itself, 
 " la chere Bible" as he exclaimed with tears of 
 gratitude a short time before his last illness, was 
 the grand source of all his instructions. It form- 
 ed the study of his life, and, as he said, constitut- 
 ed his own consolation under all trials, the source 
 of his strength, and the ruling principle of his 
 actions : — how, then, could he do less than re- 
 
 
HIS SERMONS. 205 
 
 commend it to others ? He was in the habit 
 of citing very largely from it, from the convic- 
 tion that the simple exposition of the Word of 
 God was the best means of efficaciously inter- 
 esting his flock. His sermons were almost 
 always composed with the greatest care : and 
 when unable, for want of time, to write them 
 out at length, he made, at least, a tolerably full 
 outline. In general, lie committed them scru- 
 pulously to memory, but in the pulpit he did 
 not confine himself to the precise words, and 
 would indeed sometimes change the subject 
 altogether, if he saw that another was apparently 
 better suited to the circumstances of his auditory. 
 
 The following extracts, taken from the notes 
 of some of his autograph sermons, are charac- 
 teristic of that originality and devotedness, 
 which formed one of their distinguishing fea- 
 tures. 
 
 The first was preached in the parish church 
 of Waldbach the very day after his son Henry's 
 death. Some account of that beloved son has 
 been inserted in a previous part of this Me- 
 moir, and it may there be seen that the chief 
 comfort which he experienced in his last mo- 
 ments, was derived from the words which his 
 father took for his text, " De la mort a la vie" 
 " from death unto life." 
 
206 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 "1817, Nov. 16. 
 
 " THE DAY AFTER THE DEATH OF MY SON HENRY 
 GOTTFRIED. 
 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my 
 word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever- 
 lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but 
 is passed from death unto life." John v. 24. 
 
 "From death unto life! From death unto 
 life ! Lo ! the device, the motto, the rallying 
 word of Christians, — of all, who have kept faith- 
 fully their baptismal covenant, — and of all, who, 
 though fallen from the grace of God, sincerely 
 repent, reflect with sorrow upon their violation 
 of those vows, which were taken at Baptism and 
 renewed at Confirmation, and, turning again to 
 the Saviour of our souls, seek for the honor and 
 blessedness of living before him, with him, and 
 for him. 
 
 " From death unto life ! Ah, what a calm 
 prospect is here opened of the future ! what joy- 
 ous hopes, what delightful colors are here thrown 
 upon the whole path of life below ! — even upon 
 its crosses and its tears, when we feel the force 
 of those words of the Apostle of our Lord, ' All 
 things work together for good to them that love 
 God.' Yes, all things, the sad and the joyful, 
 the sweet and the bitter, — the most heavy afflic- 
 tions, — all work together for good to them that 
 
HIS SERMONS. 207 
 
 love God, — for their true good, their real happi- 
 ness, and their eternal welfare. 
 
 " They are all — especially the most bitter — 
 they are all the steps which raise them from one 
 degree of virtue to another, advancing them con- 
 tinually in faith and reliance upon God, in true 
 and joyful obedience to his commands, in humil- 
 ity, gentleness, kindness, and tenderness, in gen- 
 erous thoughts and affections, in charity, in pu- 
 rity, — in short, in all the heavenly graces. 
 
 "And, while they thus advance the Christian 
 in virtue, they advance him also in resemblance 
 to God, renewing the Divine image within his 
 soul ; and thus exalting him to regions of increasing 
 light, and drawing him nearer to the dwelling- 
 place of our Creator and Father. For to each 
 one will be assigned a mansion more or less 
 glorious, more or less near to the inexhaustible 
 Source of all blessedness, according to the degree 
 of his moral and spiritual resemblance to God. 
 
 "From death unto life! Ah! how is the 
 thought of death, otherwise so fearful, stripped of 
 its terror to those who hold fast to this hope, to 
 those who are steadfast in their expectations of 
 this delightful change. At our birth we enter 
 upon death : — for this name has our Creator 
 and Father given to the present life, — this poor, 
 pretended life, — this life full of trials, sufferings, 
 
208 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 and tears. God has called it death, — and it is 
 death ; since men have fallen from ther primitive 
 state of glory — since they have withdrawn 
 their affections from God to fix them upon what 
 is transient and perishable — since they have 
 forsaken the Fountain of living water to hew out 
 for themselves broken cisterns, which can give 
 them no water, or, only, that which is salt, offen- 
 sive, poisoned, and deadly. 
 
 " But when we open our hearts to the voice 
 of the Divine Shepherd, who is ever calling us 
 to him ; when we seek earnestly for the high 
 honor and happiness of being counted in his flock; 
 ah, then, what a change is worked in us ! from 
 earthly beings we become heavenly ! we have 
 the image of God renewed within us ! 
 
 " Then, the aim of our actions, the purpose and 
 design of our plans, is wholly different from what 
 it was. To become rich, to gain transient and 
 perishable advantages, is no longer what we de- 
 sire and aspire to in our labors and savings. Ah ! 
 no. In uniting our hearts and minds with the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, we espouse his interests, and 
 seek to take part in his great work of freeing the 
 human family from its innumerable sins, of soul 
 and body, from its fearful moral corruption, and 
 from all the wretchedness, the countless forms of 
 suffering, which these things produce. 
 
HIS SERMONS. 209 
 
 " This is the purpose which animates the souls 
 of Christians, the true disciples of the Lord Je- 
 sus ; to them death, the king of terrors, cannot but 
 Jose all his power to awaken fear. They are in- 
 different, in some respects, whether they live or die. 
 
 " Do they dwell long upon earth ? — it is that 
 they may glorify the Lord to the extent of their 
 ability in their respective callings, and serve him 
 in his great work. Are they recalled from this 
 world by death ? — it is that they may still serve 
 him in his great work, and still use their exer- 
 tions that the name of God may be glorified, that 
 his kingdom may find entrance every where, and 
 that the whole world may delight to do his will. 
 
 " It was on this account, that St. Paul would 
 not allow himself to choose between life and 
 death, between remaining in this world and going 
 to the next. He said, that his desire was indeed 
 to depart and be with Christ, but that, for the 
 sake of those whom he had converted to the 
 Lord, it was more needful that he should remain 
 in this life, since his aim was to glorify the Lord 
 by what he did, whether in this world, or in the 
 next. (Phil. i. 20, 24.) 
 
 "And, 2 Cor. v. 15, he says: The Lord 
 Jesus died for all, that they who live should 
 not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him 
 who died for them. 
 14 
 
210 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " And Rom. xiy. 7, 8 : None of us (his dis- 
 ciples) liveth to himself, and none of us dieth to 
 himself. But whether we live (in this world), 
 we live unto the Lord ; and whether we die, we 
 die unto the Lord : whether we live, therefore, 
 or die, we are the Lord's. 
 
 u Ah, my dear friends ! after such a life, how 
 pleasing, how delightful will be the prospect of 
 that country beyond the grave ! 
 
 " One then, though dying, might sing in his 
 heart these lines of Drelincourt's. 
 
 I. 
 
 " Le voici le beau jour, le jour tant desire, 
 Ou mon Saint Redempteur veut recevoir mon ame, 
 Mon cceur s'eleve a lui, mon cceur est toit de flamme 
 Pour s'elancer au ciel ou j'ai tant aspire. 
 
 II. 
 
 c; Doux moment par mes voeux tant de fois attire ! 
 Tu viens couper enfin de mes malheurs la trame, 
 Jesus que par la foi j'embrasse et je reclame, 
 M' enleve d' une terre ou j'ai tant soupire. 
 
 III. 
 
 " O Dieu ! Terre couverte d'horreurs et de charmes, 
 
 Terre pleine d'erreurs, d'iniquites, d'alarmes, 
 
 Dont meme les douceurs excitent ma pitie, 
 
 Si du mortel combat passant a sa victoire, 
 
 Je laisse dans ton son sein ma fragile moitie 
 
 Dieu seul sera mon Tout dans le sein de la gloire." 
 
HIS SERMONS. 21 1 
 
 Then follow the notes, containing the particulars 
 of Henry's death, which seemed to introduce the 
 personal suhject, if it were introduced at all. 
 But it is the more probable that it was not, as 
 the calamity was so recent, and so deeply affect- 
 ing to his father. The remarkable affection that 
 existed between the venerable pastor and his son, 
 has been before alluded to. But in this sermon 
 we have a proof, that whilst he felt for the loss of 
 his child, he could not forget for a moment the 
 state of those before whom he was preaching, 
 and upon whose account he desired to make this 
 occasion one of unusual profit as well as interest. 
 
 Oberlin, as I have stated above, was fond of 
 drawing analogies between the natural and spirit- 
 ual world. The following extracts from a ser- 
 mon preached on a week day, (November 16, 
 1819,) will illustrate the manner in which he did 
 so. It also bears some marks of his peculiarities 
 of view as to a future state : 
 
 "The children of tins world marry and are given in 
 marriage : but they who shall be accounted worthy to 
 attain that world, an 1 the resurrection from the dead, nei- 
 ther marry nor are given in marriage: neither can they 
 die any more : for they are equal unto the angels ; and 
 are the children of God, being the children of the res- 
 urrection. — Luke xx. 34 - 36. 
 
212 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " Our Lord here opens to us a view, a pros- 
 pect that is most delightful to every one who has 
 no higher, no more urgent wish, than that of be- 
 coming a true disciple of Jesus Christ, and 
 member of his body. 
 
 "But to comprehend this beautiful passage, 
 we must explain certain terms : 
 
 " 1. What does our Lord mean by ' this world,' 
 and by ' that to come ?' 
 
 " By ' this world ' he means the actual state of 
 the human race, since its fall from its first glo- 
 rious condition. 
 
 " And by ' the world to come,' he means the 
 wonderfully glorious state of those, in whom God 
 has renewed his image, — that first glorious con- 
 dition for which we were created. 
 
 "2. What does our Lord intend by 'resurrec- 
 tion from the dead ? ' It is not the general 
 awakening of the dead, at the last day, to pre- 
 sent them before the tribunal of the Supreme 
 Judge ; but it is our perfect deliverance from 
 the evils which sin has brought upon us, and our 
 restoration to primitive glory. Lo ! this is what 
 our Lord calls ' resurrection from the dead. 5 
 
 11 3. Who is it that shall be counted worthy of 
 this glorious resurrection, and of the perfect 
 renewal of the Divine image ? 
 
HIS SERMONS. 21 3 
 
 " It is those, who give themselves, with the 
 heart, soul, and spirit, to the Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 who strive to enter in at the strait gate, and, to 
 this end, observe and keep diligently all that our 
 Lord has commanded his disciples, who, by 
 continual prayer from their hearts, and frequent 
 communion at the holy Supper, endeavour to 
 become more and more closely united with their 
 Master ; who aspire to love God with all their 
 heart, with all their soul, with all their strength, and 
 with all their mind ; to love their neighbour as 
 themselves ; and to be faithful servants of God 
 in his vineyard. It is those who labor after these 
 things, not merely for themselves, but also for 
 their families, their friends, and their acquaintance, 
 as far as they can effect it by their prayers. 
 
 " When such persons, by their faithfulness, 
 humility, zeal, and charity, have passed through 
 the several lower heavens, have attained to perfect 
 holiness, to the perfection of the saints, and are 
 counted worthy to be received into the company 
 of the inhabitants of Mount Zion, the kingdom 
 of heaven, then shall they receive the glorified 
 body, or ' the resurrection,' of which our Lord 
 here speaks. 
 
 " 4. Then they shall not die again, or, as our 
 Lord says in Revelation xxi. 4, " There shall be 
 no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither 
 
214 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 shall there be any more pain : for the former 
 things are passed away.' 
 
 " You know, my dear friends ! that the whole 
 natural world is a representation of the spiritual. 
 Caterpillars and other insects pass through differ- 
 ent states, which bear no resemblance to each 
 other. At first, issuing from the egg, they are 
 mere worms ; in time they cast off their outer 
 skin, and go forth in a new dress. 
 
 " But, next, they assume a wholly new form, 
 that of the chrysalis. 
 
 " It now becomes, as it were, another animal, 
 differing entirely from the first in its figure and 
 properties. 
 
 " But this is not all ; under the form of this 
 chrysalis it prepares to become a new creature, 
 in all respects different from that of the two 
 former states ; it is now the butterfly, painted 
 with beautiful colors, endowed with new tastes 
 and new habits. 
 
 11 It now disdains the gross nourishment of its 
 first life, and, in search of purer and better food, 
 sips the honey from the flowers. In its move- 
 ments it has no longer need of feet to pass from 
 one place to another ; it rises lightly upon its new 
 pinions, and darts quickly away, over walls, 
 streams, and mountains. 
 

 HIS SERMONS. 21 O 
 
 " In like manner, those, who are in Jesus 
 Christ, in proportion as they advance in humility, 
 charity, and holiness, pass through different 
 
 changes of the inner and spiritual body, visible 
 to the angels, but hidden from us beneath the 
 earthly body. 
 
 " And these changes continue, from brightness 
 to brightness, from splendor to splendor, until 
 their bodies are fashioned like to the glorious 
 body of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 11 Ah ! my dear friends, what a delightful 
 prospect, what a surprising and pleasing hope is 
 this ! O, let us ever be animated to press after 
 our sanctitication in Jesus Christ, and to strength- 
 en our union with him. 
 
 " It is through him, the dear Lord, it is only 
 through him, that we may attain to all this. For 
 he it is, whom God hath given unto us, that in 
 him we might find wisdom, righteousness, sancti- 
 fication, and glorious redemption."* 
 
 Oberlin always concluded the Sabbath after- 
 noon's service with catechetical exercises ; and 
 as this was intended more particularly for the 
 benefit of the children, he endeavoured to render 
 his afternoon's discourse even more simple than 
 
 * For two of Oberl in's sermons, in French, sec Ap- 
 pendix, Nos. 3 and 4. 
 
216 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 that of the morning had been, and to adapt his 
 language to the age of his younger hearers. 
 
 " My friends," said he, upon one of these oc- 
 casions, wishing to give them, if possible, some 
 idea of eternity, " if a single grain of sand were 
 brought into this room once every hundred years, 
 many centuries must elapse before the floor could 
 be covered. That moment would, however, ar- 
 rive; but, even when it came, the spirits of the 
 blessed would be still in the enjoyment of heav- 
 enly happiness, for they are immortal ; and if a 
 grain of sand were to be brought at the same 
 stated interval for many thousands of centuries, 
 until the room were entirely filled, those happy 
 beings would still be immortal, and eternity would 
 be as boundless, as when the first grain was 
 brought." 
 
 " The good pastor," says Mrs. SteinkopfF, 
 from whose journal the editor has been kindly 
 allowed to make the following extracts, " con- 
 siders his flock as his own children, and they 
 look up to him with the most profound respect 
 and veneration. I never witnessed so delight- 
 fully affecting a scene as the church of Wald- 
 bach, quite full, apparently, of attentive people. 
 It stands very near the parsonage, and is plain, 
 neat, and clean, with a gallery all round. When 
 we were there, on the 11th of June, 1820, it was 
 
IIIS MINISTERIAL LABORS. J 17 
 
 completely filled with peasants in the costume of 
 the country, and there was not a countenance 
 among tbera that indicated indifference ; the 
 greater part evinced the utmost seriousnes and 
 attention. When the reverend pastor entered, 
 all stood up; he placed himself before the com- 
 munion table ; it was plain, covered with a white 
 cloth, fringed all round. He first gave out a 
 hymn. When it was sung, he read a prayer 
 from the Ritual, during which all knelt, and cov- 
 ered their faces. He then gave out another 
 hymn ; after which he went to one part of the 
 church where the children sat, and called over 
 their names, to see if any were absent. Then 
 all knelt down again whilst he prayed ; then they 
 sung, and he went into the pulpit and gave out 
 his text, after another prayer : ' He shall see 
 of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. 3 
 Isa. liii. 11. He spoke in the plainest and most 
 familiar manner ; mentioned the errors of the 
 times, against which he warned his hearers, 
 particularly dwelling on the importance of sanc- 
 tification. ' Those who give themselves up to 
 intemperance, 5 said he, ' and to the enjoyment 
 of luxuries, without concerning themselves about 
 their poorer brethren, and yet think that with all 
 this they shall go to heaven, because Christ died 
 for sinners, are mistaken. No : the Gospel says 
 
218 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 quite otherwise. We must deny ourselves, lay 
 aside our sins, lead a holy and godly life, and 
 then our Blessed Redeemer will save us.' He 
 earnestly warned them against sin. Not a sound 
 was to be heard. Every countenance express- 
 ed attention. When he had finished, he read 
 some verses of a hymn expressive of entire de- 
 votedness to God. ( My dear friends,' said he, 
 * may these be the feelings of our hearts, and as 
 such let us sing them. They then sang them de 
 bon cceur [with great interest.] 
 
 " The following is a translation : — 
 
 " O Lord, thy heavenly grace impart, 
 And fix my frail inconstant heart. 
 Henceforth my chief desire shall be, 
 To dedicate myself to Thee ! 
 To Thee, my God, to Thee ! 
 
 " Whate'er pursuits my time employ, 
 One thought shall fill my soul with joy ; 
 That silent, secret thought shall he, 
 That all my hopes are fix'd on thee — 
 On Thee, my God, on Thee ! 
 
 " Thy glorious eye pervadeth space, 
 Thou'rt present, Lord, in every place, 
 And, wheresoe'er my lot may be, 
 Still shall my spirit cleave to Thee — 
 To Thee, my God, to Thee ! 
 
HIS MINISTERIAL LABORS. 219 
 
 " Renouncing every worldly thing, 
 Safe 'neath the covert of thy wing, 
 My sweetest thought henceforth shall he, 
 
 That all I want I find in Thee — 
 In Thee, my God, in Thee ! 
 
 " Two children were then brought to be bap- 
 tized ; after which he pronounced the blessing. 
 Whilst the people were going out of church 
 another verse was sung. Those nearest the door 
 went out first, all in order and in silence. There 
 are two doors in the church ; the pulpit is placed 
 in the middle, next the back, so that the congre- 
 gation is in front, down each side. Before it 
 stands the communion table. All are seated on 
 benches. There are, against the gallery, half a 
 dozen pictures ; one is of our Saviour on the 
 cross." 
 
 Dr. Steinkopff writes the following letter, de- 
 scriptive of the same interesting scene. 
 
 " Waldbach, in the Stcinthal, 
 June 12, 1820. 
 
 " I cannot describe the veneration I felt on 
 approaching Mr. Oberlin, that servant of God, 
 and benefactor of man, who, in his eightieth 
 year, is still full of health, vigor, and activity, 
 and gladly spends his remaining strength in doing 
 good. Serenity and cheerfulness are depicted 
 
220 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 on his countenance ; and he delights in commu- 
 nicating to his Christian friends something of .that 
 peace of God which possesses his own soul. 
 
 " Yesterday I attended divine service in his 
 church. Notwithstanding a pouring rain, it was 
 completely filled. Mr. Oberlin's assistant in the 
 ministerial office (the Rev. Mr. Graff) assured 
 me that every house in the five villages, under 
 his pastoral care, was now provided with a Bible, 
 and that every child who came to receive cat- 
 echetical instruction brought a New Testament 
 with him. But for the sake of those who applied 
 from a distance, I gladly complied with his wish 
 to furnish him and his son, at Rothau, with one 
 hundred and twenty German Bibles and Testa- 
 ments. After divine service, three Catholic 
 peasants applied for De Sacy's Testament. One 
 paid three francs for a copy. He gave Mr. 
 Oberlin the pleasing information that many of his 
 Catholic neighbours had already procured the 
 New Testament, and were in the constant habit 
 of reading it. Mr. Oberlin's son, who lives on 
 the most friendly terms with the Catholic priest, 
 lately presented his schoolmaster with a copy. 
 
 " I accompanied the venerable patriarch in 
 some of his pastoral visits. Wherever he went, 
 respect and affection met him. The children 
 hailed his appearance. They immediately pro- 
 
HIS MINISTERIAL LABORS. 221 
 
 duced'their Bibles, or Testaments, read to him, 
 or listened to his truly paternal exhortations and 
 
 admonitions."* 
 
 Every Friday Oberlin conducted a service in 
 German, for the benefit of those inhabitants of 
 the vicinity to whom that language was more 
 familiar than French. His congregation on a 
 Sunday consisted, on an average, of six hun- 
 dred persons, but on a Friday of two hundred ; 
 and Oberlin laving aside all form, seemed on 
 such occasions more like a grandfather surround- 
 ed by his children and grandchildren, to whom 
 he was giving suitable admonition and instruction, 
 than the minister of an extensive parish. In or- 
 der that no time might be lost, he used to make 
 his female hearers knit stockings during the ser- 
 vice, not indeed for themselves or their families, 
 but for their poorer neighbours, as he believed 
 that this charitable employment need not distract 
 their attention, or interrupt that devotional spirit 
 which generally pervaded the Friday evening as- 
 semblies. When he had pursued for half an 
 hour the train of his reflections upon the portion 
 of Scripture which he had just been reading, he 
 would often say to them, " Well, my children, 
 are you not tired ? — Have you not had enough ? 
 
 * See Appendix to the Seventeenth Report of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society. 
 
222 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 — Tell me my friends." To which inquiry his 
 parishioners would generally reply, " No, Papa, 
 go on ; — we should like to hear a little more ; " 
 though on some occasions, with characteristic 
 frankness, the answer was, " Enough, we think, 
 for one time ; " and the good old man would 
 leave off in the midst of his discourse, or wait a 
 little, and presently resume it, putting the same 
 question again at intervals, until he saw that the 
 attention of his congregation began to flag, or un- 
 til they, perceiving that he spoke with less ease, 
 would thank him for the things he had said, and 
 beg him to conclude. 
 
 Such was the general esteem in which he was 
 held, that Catholics as well as Protestants were 
 fond of attending his preaching. The following 
 conversation took place between an English gen- 
 tleman and the driver of the car in which it was 
 found necessary to proceed from Schirmeck to 
 Waldbach. No apology can be deemed necessa- 
 ry for introducing it, in illustration of the respect 
 in which Oberlin was universally regarded by the 
 peasantry. 
 
 " You are going then, Sirs, to see our good 
 pastor Oberlin," said the latter. 
 
 " Yes, we are going to see him. Do you know 
 
 him ?' ' 
 
ills MINISTERIAL LABORS. 223 
 
 41 Do 1 know bim ! " continued the man, " yes, 
 1 know him well. I have heard him preach 
 man)' a time." 
 
 11 Bui yon are a Catholic, are you not?" 
 
 44 Yes, we of Schirmeck are Catholics; yet 
 this does not hinder us from hearing the good 
 pastor of Waldbach sometimes." 
 
 " Do you find that he preaches well ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I esteem him much. He often 
 makes us all shed warm tears." 
 
 The honest charioteer spoke a very intelligible 
 French, quite distinct from the patois of Schir- 
 meck ; and this circumstance, together with a 
 certain touch of military sang froid in his man- 
 ner, not entirely concealed by his fustian jacket, 
 prompted the inquiry whether he had served un- 
 der Napoleon. 
 
 " Yes, Sir, you are right," replied he, " I have 
 been a soldier. When one is a soldier, it is easy 
 to contract bad habits." 
 
 44 For all that, I have found one contracts them 
 easily enough any where." 
 
 44 It may be," said the man. 44 For myself, I 
 tell you frankly that I was not better than others ; 
 and when I come to hear pastor Oberlin preach, 
 he makes me often think that I am not any too 
 good now. He is right, the pastor is right ; for 
 it is true, very true." 
 
224 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 " Yes ; but do you not think that this is a truth 
 very necessary to be learned ? Do you not be- 
 lieve that he who shows us our faults, is one of 
 our best friends." 
 
 " Yes : for in order to be healed, one must 
 know his malady." 
 
 " Certainly. You are then highly favored in 
 having a minister who makes you feel the truth." 
 
 " You are right. And I assure you that he is 
 a man who endeavours to be of use to us in every 
 possible way." 
 
 " Tell me now what he has done." 
 
 " What he has done ! He has done every 
 thing that could be done. See ; — he has done 
 all these. In the first place, this road here, — 
 he made it for us." 
 
 " True ; — but it is not absolutely the best in 
 the world." 
 
 " That may be ; but see, Sir, it was not many 
 years since that we could not pass it with a 
 little car like this. The pastor has superintend- 
 ed all the work upon this road ; he has even 
 labored with his own hands, to encourage others." 
 
 " And that little bridge there, that we are going 
 to cross ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed, and that bridge too ; — he had 
 it made." 
 
HIS MINISTERIAL LABORS. 125 
 
 " He must be rich, to do all those things." 
 
 "One might say both yea and no." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " One taight say yes; because it' he had all 
 
 that he has given away to others, he would he very 
 rich. Ami one may say DO, because he lays up 
 nothing, — absolutely nothing; he gives all to the 
 poor; — all. Sir, all.* You are going to see his 
 house. You need not think to find it very ele- 
 gant." t 
 
 But to turn to Oberlin himself. 
 
 One of his prevailing desires was, that all, to 
 whatever class or denomination they might be- 
 long, whilst conscientiously adhering to their own 
 peculiar creeds, should grow in an acquaintance 
 with those common truths which constitute the 
 essence of the Gospel. " Are you a Christian? " 
 said he to a Catholic gentleman who visited the 
 Ban de la Roche in the autumn of 1820 ; — u if 
 you are a Christian, my dear friend, we are of 
 
 * "lie has laid up nothing tor his children," said Lou- 
 isa to a clergyman) who visited the Ban do la Roche, 
 in September, 1825, "but he will leave them with the 
 
 benedictions of heaven, and none of them will ever want 
 bread." 
 
 f This conversation, taken from the MS. notes of 
 Dr. Edmund Clarke, lias also appeared in the Eclectic 
 Review. 
 
226 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 the same religion. If you believe in the utter 
 depravity of human nature, in the necessity of 
 repentance, and, whilst adoring God, pray to Him 
 to crown your efforts to become better, we are 
 of the same religion. Follow the law traced by 
 the dear Saviour ; it only is the true law. All 
 the forms and ceremonies that different sects 
 have added to this law are of little importance." 
 Perceiving that the eyes of his visitor were 
 directed to a portrait of Luther that hung against 
 the wall of his study, " That man has been," said 
 he, " like every founder of a sect, much applaud- 
 ed and much calumniated. And if you will 
 promise me not to be offended," continued he, 
 smiling, " I will tell you something about him. 
 The Popes, for a long time, arrogated to them- 
 selves temporal powers and privileges, in a very 
 different spirit from that spirit of humility by 
 which the first followers of Jesus Christ were dis- 
 tinguished. Taking advantage of the credulity 
 of the people, they extended their dominion over 
 nearly the whole of Europe ; Turkey alone being 
 free from their sway. Leo X. wished to unite 
 the Christian princes against this latter kingdom, 
 but it was necessary to obtain money in order to 
 secure their co-operation. Leo, who was re- 
 markable for the patronage he afforded to the 
 fine arts, was also in want of funds to finish the 
 
HIS MINISTERIAL LABORS. 227 
 
 famous cathedral of St. Peter. He devised the 
 plan of selling indulgences. These were notes 
 payable at sight, for the enfranchisement of souls 
 in purgatory ; a place never mentioned by Jesus 
 Christ and his apostles. Depots of them were 
 opened in the priest's houses, in the monasteries, 
 and even in the public-houses. The priests were 
 employed in persuading the people to purchase 
 them. An Augustine monk, the son of a black- 
 smith, of Eisleben, was led to consider what 
 power these indulgences could possibly possess ; 
 and ascending the pulpit, after a priest who had 
 been inculcating these doctrines, he excited in 
 the minds of his hearers the indignation with 
 which his own was filled. This Augustine, whose 
 name was Martin Luther, proceeded to apply to 
 several princes, some of whom espoused his 
 cause. He spread the doctrines of the Refor- 
 mation ; abolished those of the monks ; and, 
 taking Scripture for his guide, returned to the 
 simple communion of bread and wine ; he de- 
 nied the power of baptism to take away original 
 sin ; condemned auricular confession ; and de- 
 clared that Popes and Councils had no authority 
 to add any thing to the religion of Jesus Christ 
 and his apostles, seeing that if Jesus Christ had 
 wished his religion to be different from that which 
 he taught, he would himself have delivered it 
 
228 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 differently. Luther opened the way for a great 
 revolution, and violent means were taken to op- 
 pose his proceedings. I will add no more," con- 
 tinued he ; " I only wished to mention the causes 
 and the principal effects of the Reformation. 
 Luther was not the founder of a new religion ; 
 he only brought us back to the religion of Jesus 
 Christ. God will regard all who adhere to the 
 doctrines of his divine Son with equal favor, be 
 they Catholics or Lutherans." 
 
 The following anecdotes are illustrative of the 
 paternal influence which Oberlin exercised over 
 his flock, as well as of his readiness to assist 
 those who differed from him in their religious 
 tenets. A young woman of Schirmeck, of the 
 Roman Catholic persuasion, had married a Pro- 
 testant of Waldbach. This man had enemies ; 
 he was, comparatively speaking, rich, and his for- 
 tune might possibly have some connexion with 
 the motives of their animosity. The young wo- 
 man became the mother of a little girl, who, by 
 mutual consent, and in pursuance of the mar- 
 riage agreement, was to be brought up in the 
 religion of the former, and baptized by the cler- 
 gyman of Schirmeck. To repair thither it was 
 necessary to take the road over the mountains ; 
 but, at the moment of their setting off, they were 
 informed that the enemies of the husband had 
 
HIS PATERNAL INFLUENCE. 229 
 
 laid a scheme to waylay them at a particular turn 
 of the road, to spring out upon him when he 
 reached it, and to compel him by menaces and 
 ill-treatment to consent to their unjust demands. 
 
 Their journey could not very well he delayed, 
 as the priest had been informed of their intended 
 arrival ; and yet they were afraid to undertake 
 it, on account of the impending danger. In this 
 painful dilemma they went to consult Obcrlin. 
 He, after exhorting them to place their trust in 
 God, most kindly offered to accompany them, 
 to render his aid and protection should they re- 
 quire it. On arriving at a spot in the forest 
 where there was reason to fear an ambuscade, 
 Oberlin knelt down, and, extending his hands 
 over the young people, exclaimed with a loud 
 voice, " Great God ! Thou seest wickedness 
 lying in wait, and conspiring mischief. Thou 
 seest innocence in alarm. Almighty God ! avert 
 the danger, or give thy children strength to sur- 
 mount it." 
 
 At this moment several men, who had been 
 concealed behind a thicket of beech trees, dis- 
 covered themselves, and, rushing forwards, ut- 
 tered the most threatening exclamations. Ober- 
 lin took the little infant in his arms, and advanc- 
 ed towards them with a calmness which did not 
 conceal his indignation, yet still left room for the 
 

 230 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 hope of pardon. " There," said he to them, " is 
 the babe which has done you so much injury — 
 which disturbs the peace of your days." Dis- 
 mayed at the presence of their pastor, whom 
 they little expected to meet with in the charac- 
 ter of an escort to persons going to perform a 
 Roman Catholic ceremony, and finding from the 
 few words which he had addressed to them that 
 he was not ignorant of their bad designs, they 
 did not attempt to dissimulate, but, confessing 
 their crime, begged pardon of the young man, 
 and offered terms of reconciliation. Thus prov- 
 identially rescued from the danger which had 
 threatened them, the young people continued 
 their walk to Schirmeck, while Oberlin returned 
 to Waldbach with the men whom he had thus 
 prevented from doing evil. When they reached 
 the entrance of the village, " My children," said 
 he, as he left them, " remember the day on the 
 mountains, if you wish that I should forget it." 
 
 Another morning, (in the early part of his min- 
 istry,) as Oberlin was at work in his study, he 
 heard a great noise in the village. Rushing out, 
 he perceived a foreigner whom almost the whole 
 population were loading with abusive and threat- 
 ening language. " A Jew ! a Jew ! " resounded 
 on all sides, as the good pastor forced his way 
 through the crowd ; and it was with difficulty that 
 
HIS PATERNAL INFLUENCE. 231 
 
 he could obtain silence. As soon, however, as 
 he could make himself heard, he rebuked them 
 with great warmth for having proved themselves 
 unworthy the name of Christians by treating the 
 unfortunate stranger in so cruel a manner. He 
 added, that if this poor man wanted the name of 
 a Christian, they wanted the spirit of Christians. 
 The same enlargement of mind distinguished 
 Oberlin on all occasions. And whatever men 
 might say, he still remembered the Apostle's in- 
 junction, Gal. vi. 10. " Let us do good unto 
 all men." 
 
 I shall conclude this chapter respecting Ober- 
 lin's private and ministerial character, with the 
 following questions which he addressed to his 
 flock in writing, requiring from them satisfactory 
 replies to each inquiry. They prove that his so- 
 licitude for their welfare descended to the small- 
 est details, both with respect to their temporal 
 and spiritual concerns, and that he neglected 
 nothing to which he thought it his duty to call 
 their attention. 
 
 Questions addressed by Pastor Oberlin to his Parish- 
 ioners. 
 
 1. Do you, and your family, regularly attend 
 places of religious instruction ? 
 
 2. Do you never pass a Sunday without em- 
 ploying yourself in some charitable work ? 
 
232 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 3. Do neither you, nor your wife or children, 
 ever wander in the woods on a Sunday, in search 
 of wild raspberries, strawberries, whortle-berries, 
 mulberries, or hazel-nuts, instead of going to 
 church ? — and if you have erred in this man- 
 ner, will you solemnly promise to do so no more ? 
 
 4. Are you careful to provide yourself with 
 clean and suitable clothes for going to church in 
 on the Sunday ? * 
 
 5. Do those who are provided with necessary 
 clothes employ a regular part of their income to 
 procure them for their destitute neighbours, or to 
 relieve their other necessities ? 
 
 6. Have your civil and ecclesiastical overseers 
 reason to be satisfied with your conduct, and that 
 of the other members of your family ? 
 
 7. Do you so love and reverence our Lord 
 and Saviour, Jesus Christ, as to feel united in the 
 bonds of Christian fellowship with that flock of 
 which he is the Pastor ? 
 
 8. Do the animals which belong to you cause 
 no injury or inconvenience to others ? — (Guard 
 
 * During the first years of Oberlin's residence in the 
 Ban de la Roche, the inhabitants were so miserably off 
 for wearing-apparel that they could only go to church 
 by turns, being obliged to borrow each other's clothes 
 in order to appear decently attired. 
 
QUESTIONS TO HIS PARISHIONERS. 233 
 
 against this, for it would be as fire in tow, and 
 a source of mutual vexation.) 
 
 9. Do you give your creditors reason to be 
 satisfied with your honesty and punctuality ? — 
 or can they say of you that you are more desi- 
 rous of purchasing superfluous clothes than of 
 discharging your debts ? 
 
 10. Have you paid all that is due this quarter 
 to the churchwarden, schoolmaster, and shep- 
 herd ? 
 
 11. Do you punctually contribute your share 
 towards the repairing of the roads ? * 
 
 *That Oberlin considered the repairing of roads as 
 a religious duty incumbent upon all his parishioners, (since 
 it conduced to the public good,) appears from the fol- 
 lowing curious and characteristic letter, which he ad- 
 dressed to them, Nov. 9, 1804. 
 
 " Road between Foudai and Zolbach. 
 " Dear friends of Foudai ! 
 
 " Several persons at Zolbach have long been desirous 
 that a certain road in your district, which runs towards 
 Zolbach, should be mended and put into repair. 
 
 "Such a measure would tend greatly to the advan- 
 tage of Foudai. But for whose sake will you do it ? 
 Will you do it from love to your Heavenly Father, to 
 whom you pray every clay, and whom in the Lord's 
 Prayer you call Father, and who requires you to prove 
 your faith by your works ? Will you do it from love to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, who, during his stay upon earth 
 went about doing good, and who has redeemed us in or- 
 
234 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 12. Have you, in order to contribute to the 
 general good, planted upon the common, at least 
 twice as many trees as there are heads in your 
 family ? 
 
 13. Have you planted them properly, or only 
 as idle and ignorant people would do, to save 
 themselves trouble ? 
 
 14. When the magistrate wishes to assemble 
 the commonalty, do you always assist him as 
 far as lies in your power ; and, if it be impos- 
 sible for you to attend yourself, are you care- 
 ful to inform him of your absence, and to assign 
 a proper reason for it ? 
 
 15. Do you send your children regularly to 
 school ? 
 
 1 6. Do you watch over them, as God requires 
 you should do ? And is your conduct towards 
 
 der to make to himself a peculiar people zealous of good 
 works ? Will you do it from love to God's children 
 who are at Zolbach ? — You know that all the services 
 which you render to the children of God, and the fol- 
 lowers of Jesus Christ, God regards as done to himself. 
 Will you do it from love to the servants of mammon 
 who are at Zolbach, in order to set them a good exam- 
 ple, and to win their affections by your kindness ? — or, 
 will you do it from compassion to the animals which 
 your Heavenly Father has created, and which he has 
 himself honored by his covenant with Noah after the 
 deluge, Gen. ix. 9 ? " 
 
QUESTIONS TO HIS PARISHIONERS. 235 
 
 them, as well as your wife's, such as will ensure 
 their affection, respect, and obedience ? 
 
 17. Are you frugal in the use of wood r And 
 do you contrive to make your fires in as econom- 
 ical a manner as possible ? 
 
 IS. Do you keep a dog unless there he ab- 
 solute necessity r 
 
 19. Have you proper drains in your yard for 
 carrying off the refuse water? 
 
 20. Are vou, as well as your sons, acquainted 
 with some little handicraft work to employ your 
 spare moments, instead of letting them pass away 
 in idleness ? 
 
 With regard to the purport of the fifth ques- 
 tion, as Oberlin was most particular in devoting 
 a certain share of his own income to the allevia- 
 tion of the wants of others, and in accustoming 
 himself to the strictest self-denial in order to in- 
 crease his means of doing good, so he used his 
 utmost endeavours to persuade others to im- 
 itate his example, and to avoid any superfluity in 
 their clothes or manner of living, that they might 
 be the better able to assist their poorer neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 He addressed the following advice to the 
 mothers in his parish, on observing that it was 
 becoming a prevalent fashion amongst them to 
 put cambric frills to their little boys' shirts — 
 
236 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 an extravagance wich he deemed extremely rep- 
 rehensible : 
 
 " Various mothers are, I observe, beginning to 
 put frills of muslin or of cambric to their chil- 
 dren's shirts. Do not do so, dear friends. Un- 
 pick them, cut them off, and seek not to increase 
 the vanity of your children, which is already nat- 
 urally too great. Cut off all the finery that 
 does not correspond with your station in life, and 
 employ yourselves in clothing the poor families 
 of this extensive parish ; many of whom are in an 
 extremely miserable condition. 
 
 " Love your neighbours as yourselves. Re- 
 nounce every superfluity, that you may be the 
 better able to procure necessaries for those who 
 are in want. Be their care-takers — their fa- 
 thers and their mothers — for it is for this pur- 
 pose that God has blessed you with more tem- 
 poral wealth than he has done them. Be mer- 
 ciful. The time may come when you yourselves 
 will stand in need of the mercy of God." 
 
 The following note bears also the same import : 
 its superscription is, 
 
 " Surplus of Hay." 
 
 " Waldbach, March 13, 1803. 
 " Dear Friends, 
 
 " Is not this one of the two principal command- 
 ments — 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 
CIRCULARS. 2o7 
 
 thyself?' Matt. xxii. 39. Is it not as much as 
 to say, when thy cattle can spare a little of thy 
 hay, supply those who stand in need ? I>ut as 
 thou canst not give to all who want, choose those 
 who are in the greatest necessity and poverty, 
 and, from among them, select such individuals 
 as are most earnest in obeying the command- 
 ments of Jesus Christ, and in endeavouring to 
 work out their salvation with fear and trembling. 
 Say to thyself, ' to such will I sell my hay,' and 
 then let them have it at so low a price, that they 
 may rejoice and bless God. 
 
 " And afterwards be careful to furnish them 
 with the means of liberating themselves from 
 the debt which they have incurred, as far as thou 
 art able to do so. 
 
 " Be the father of the poor, and God will be 
 thy father. Remember that it is impossible to 
 love God with thy whole heart, without loving thy 
 neighbour also. 
 
 " Tread not in the steps of others, but be thou 
 a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Be the 
 father of the poor. Choose those who fear God 
 most. Make good speed about it, for perhaps 
 thou wilt not be much longer in possession of 
 terrestrial riches." 
 
 The following little circulars, in allusion to the 
 sixteenth question, addressed at different times 
 
238 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 by Oberlin to his parishioners, prove how con- 
 stantly he endeavoured to instil into their minds 
 the necessity of bringing up their children in hab- 
 its of subordination, and under their own in- 
 spection. 
 
 < ; Waldbach, Feb. 27, 1801. 
 " Dear Friends, Fathers and Mothers ! 
 
 " I have a request to make to you. You give 
 shepherds to your sheep, to lead them into green 
 pastures, to feed, tend, and preserve them from 
 danger, and you do well. 
 
 " But have you no fears for your children ? 
 Does not Satan go about to tempt them to do 
 wrong ? Then give them shepherds likewise, 
 and never allow them to be left to their own 
 devices. Let them work and amuse themselves 
 under proper inspection and superintendence, 
 but let this superintendence be wise, prudent, 
 gentle, kind, and engaging, and whilst it leads 
 you to take part in their amusements, and to 
 direct, animate, and enliven them, let it also 
 restrain them within due bounds. Whatever 
 it costs you, God will restore it a thousand fold." 
 
 May 29, 1803. 
 
 " t And the Lord said unto Cain, where is 
 Abel thy brother ? And he said, I know not ; 
 
CIRCULARS. 239 
 
 am I my brother's keeper ? ' Gen. iv. 9. The 
 Lord said to Cain, ■ Where is Abel thy brother ? ' 
 Oh, may these words resound continually in the 
 ears of every parent, ' Father, where is thy son ? ' 
 Fathers of Belmont ! Fathers of Bellefosse, of 
 Waldbach, of Foudai, and of Zolbach ! Father, 
 where is thy son ? In what village ; in what 
 house ; in what company ? How is he em- 
 ployed ? It behooves you to be able to answer 
 these inquiries by night and by day ; on Sundays 
 and on working-days ; wherever you are, and 
 whatever you are doing. You are the guardians 
 of your children ; and whether they are employed 
 in work or in relaxation and amusement, it is your 
 duty to superintend and direct their amusements 
 and pursuits. 
 
 " Do it ; do it, henceforth with faithfulness, 
 vigilance, and zeal ; with earnest and secret 
 prayer that God may pardon you for past un- 
 faithfulness, and deliver your sons from the sin 
 and danger into which your carelessness, and want 
 of parental watchfulness, may have driven them. 
 This is the desire of 
 
 " Your papa and minister, 
 
 "J. F. Oberlin." 
 
240 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 It was not in the pulpit alone that Oberlin 
 sought to make known the truths of the Gospel ; 
 he was in the habit of paying pastoral visits to 
 all the cottages in his parish ; of conversing with 
 their inhabitants on the subjects connected with 
 their eternal welfare, and upon the various plans 
 adopted by benevolent individuals in different 
 parts of the world for the dissemination of relig- 
 ious knowledge. 
 
 In the hope of advancing their moral and spir- 
 itual welfare, he kept a book in which he made 
 private memoranda respecting their various states, 
 a task for which the insight he obtained of their 
 respective characters, during his frequent visits, 
 peculiarly qualified him. Amongst other heads in 
 the book were " Idlers," and " Bad Managers." 
 The Ten Commandments also furnished him with 
 many distinct heads, under which he made remarks 
 upon the state of his congregation, particularizing 
 the conduct of such persons as he deemed repre- 
 hensible, that he might be the better able to adapt 
 his discourses to their edification. 
 
 The affectionate manner in which he entered 
 into familiar conversation with them upon such 
 subjects as the diffusion of religious knowledge, 
 
DR. AND MRS. STEINKOPFF's INTERVIEW. 241 
 
 the conversion of the heathen, and the exertions 
 of God's devoted servants in hearing to others 
 the " unsearchable riches of Christ," seldom 
 failed to gain their attention, and to awaken in 
 their hearts the warmest interest, whilst it had, 
 at the same time, a most happy effect upon their 
 manners, inducing, in some of the poor women 
 particularly, a refinement and softness not often 
 met with in persons of the same class, entirely 
 free from pride, awkardness, forwardness, or 
 grossierctc. The following anecdote is a pleasing 
 illustration of these remarks. 
 
 During Dr. and Mrs. SteinkopfPs visit to the 
 Ban de la Roche, in 1S20, they one day took a 
 walk up the side of the mountain with Mr. Graff. 
 The little path they were following, led to Belle- 
 fosse, whither they were going, to pay a visit to 
 Madeleine Kriiger, one of the exemplary poor 
 women of that village. Many peasants had 
 bowed to them as they passed, with an air of 
 courtesy, and the women had addressed them 
 with, " I have the honor of saluting you, 
 Madame," making at the same time a courtesy 
 that would not have disgraced an English draw- 
 ing-room. In the middle of a wood, through 
 which the road led, they met a peasant, simply 
 attired, with a pleasing, open countenance, and a 
 basket at her back. " Madame," said she, address- 
 16 
 
242 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 ing Mrs. Steinkopff, " I have the honor to salute 
 you," and a most profound courtesy accompani- 
 ed her words. 
 
 " Good morning ! I am rejoiced to have met 
 you, my dear Priscilla," said Mr. Graff, return- 
 ing the salutation ; " I have the pleasure of in- 
 troducing you to this lady and gentleman, from 
 England. You are well acquainted with the 
 name of the gentleman. He is Dr. Steinkopff, 
 one of the Secretaries of the Bible Society, which 
 has supplied us with so many Bibles." " Oh, 
 God be praised for it, my dear Sir ! " replied the 
 peasant. " Yes, I am well acquainted with your 
 name ! I have read the Reports which make 
 mention of you. Is it possible," and she joined 
 her hands together, " that I have the honor of 
 seeing you here on earth ! Often, yes, often, I 
 think of the people of whom 1 read, and who 
 have been brought to our dear Saviour, through 
 the means, through the generosity, of that noble 
 Society. Ah, what reason have we to rejoice, 
 who live in the abundance of spiritual blessings ; 
 and how much should we wish to procure the 
 same advantages for those who are destitute of 
 them ! Yes ; we are very rich here, in this Ban 
 de la Roche. Oh, that we may never be unfaith- 
 ful to that light which God has been pleased to 
 grant to us ! I am truly delighted with all that I 
 
VISIT TO MADELEINE KRUCIER. 243 
 
 hear, and especially that I have the pleasure of 
 seeing you. I recollect what our good pastor one 
 day said at a funeral, when he saw a poor child 
 weeping bitterly over its grandmother, whom 
 they were going to bury, — ' My dear child, instead 
 of weeping for your grandmama, who is now no 
 more, endeavour to live in a manner conformable 
 to the will of God ; believe, dear, in your Sa- 
 viour, and then, in his good time, you will mee 
 her again in heaven, never more to be separated/ 
 J also pray, Sir, that it may please God to g 
 me grace to live the life of a Christian, that when 
 1 die my spirit may join those pure and happy 
 spirits who have done so much good upon earth.'' 
 " The manners and expression of this interesting 
 young woman," says Mrs. Steinkopff, H were 
 very superior ; for with all the animation and 
 sprightliness of the French, much zeal and humil- 
 ity were conspicuous." 
 
 11 On reaching Bellefosse," continues the lat- 
 ter, "we visited the white-washed cottage of Ma- 
 deleine Kriiger ; its neat painted casements and 
 clean steps announced the comfort to be found 
 within. We entered through a kitchen with a 
 well-furnished dresser and good oven. ' Hap- 
 pily come,' said she, ' you do me too much 
 honor. I am this moment returned, and I should 
 be sorry not to nave been here on your arrival ; 
 
244 
 
 MExMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 my door is not yet unlocked,' and as she spoke, 
 she reached the key and opened it into a very 
 good room, at one end of which stood her bed 
 with pretty blue cotton curtains, and on one side 
 a long table with benches around it, all as white 
 as wood could be made ; on the table lay a Mo- 
 ravian text-book open, in which she had been 
 reading. Whilst we were there, a tall, agreeable 
 looking man, with a slouched hat and blue 
 trowsers and jacket, came in ; he was mayor and 
 schoolmaster at the same time." 
 
 They afterwards proceeded to the neat, clean, 
 and comfortable cottage of Sophia Bernard, at 
 Foudai, with whom they were to take tea ; she 
 met them at the door and showed them into a 
 good sized room, where, on a long deal table, 
 almost as white as snow, were placed some beau- 
 tiful flowers, and cups and saucers, cream and 
 cakes, supplied by Mrs. Legrand, who, with her 
 husband, sons, and daughters, drank tea with them. 
 The cups and saucers were very handsome, being 
 of white and yellow China, and had different Ger- 
 man sentences upon them. Upon Mrs. Stein- 
 kopfF's cup this motto was inscribed " 35etc fftr 
 mid), id) will fftt t>id), bctcn : " (" Pray for me, 
 and J will pray for thee.") Two benches were 
 placed along the table, and Sophia stood behind, 
 to wait. She was, like many of the female peas- 
 

 VISIT TO SOPHIA BF.RNAU1). 2 1 6 
 
 ants of the Stein thai, delicate in ber appearance, 
 
 with r mild and gentle countenance, and pecu- 
 liar humility of deportment. She looked upon 
 
 her guests with the greatest pleasure and satisfac- 
 tion, listening to all that w r as said, and lifting up 
 her hands in gratitude to God, for what she 
 heard concerning the extension of the Redeem- 
 er's kingdom on earth by the success of ^Mission- 
 ary and Bible Societies. On the departure of 
 her visitors she knelt down, and prayed very fer- 
 vently for their protection. 
 
 The following letter, written by Mrs. C 
 
 during her visit to the Ban de la Roche in the 
 summer of 1S20, describes the same scene, and 
 also presents so lively and animated a picture of 
 the venerable pastor and his family, that it can- 
 not but be read with interest and delight. 
 
 " Ban de Ja Roche, June 7, IS JO. 
 " My dearest , 
 
 My last letter from Strasbourg was written in low 
 spirits ; the sun has since shone upon us. We 
 are now in a most uncommon and interesting 
 spot — every thing is novel, but the One Spirit 
 which acknowledges the Father, and the Son, 
 and the Holy Spirit, which is the same ; and de- 
 lightful it is to feel it the same, amongst other 
 
246 
 
 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 nations and languages. It is confirming to faith 
 to find the children of God in every place look- 
 ing only to the same Saviour, and built upon the 
 same foundation. 
 
 " I wish I had power to convey to you an idea 
 of our present interesting and curious situation. 
 In the first place, I must introduce you to the 
 room I am sitting in. It is perfectly unique. I 
 should think the floor had never been really 
 cleaned. It is filled with old boxes, and bottles, 
 and pictures, and medicines, and books, but every 
 thing is in its place. Two little beds are stuck 
 up in each corner, and there are a few old chairs, 
 &£c. The window looks upon the tops of the 
 mountains, near which we are, — separated from 
 the w r orld ; but this is a spot highly favored, re- 
 markably illuminated by the blessed light of the 
 Gospel. I must now tell you of our journey 
 here, and arrival. 
 
 " On Saturday morning, after an early break- 
 fast, we left Strasbourg. I was rather sorry to 
 quit our comfortable hotel, where I began to feel 
 a little settled, and the place, as a town, pleased 
 me. We soon left the high road, and as there 
 were no more post-houses, we took a pair of horses 
 to make our way as well as we could through 
 the mountains. The roads were not quite so 
 bad as I expected, yet their narrowness, and the 
 
mks. C 's LETTER. 247 
 
 steep precipice Oil one side, made me nervous. 
 But we were charmed by the interest and beauty 
 of the scenery: — before we had gone far, we 
 found the valleys luxuriant in vines ami fine 
 
 trees : a mountain river running through the 
 valley, ami presenting different views in every 
 turn of the road. F. and 1 both thought we 
 had never seen more exquisite home scenery. 
 The postillion lost his way, and led us up a de- 
 licious valley. Though we enjoyed the scenery, 
 our situation was not very pleasant, and we were 
 anxious to arrive early ; lor we were perfect 
 Strangers, without any introduction, or having 
 given any warning ; but we felt confidence in 
 going amongst Christian people. Having reached 
 the right road again, we entered thejMUJ leading 
 into the Ban de la Roche ; it was exceedingly 
 interesting ; we were upon the famous road, dug- 
 out of the rock, made by Mr. Oberlin himself, 
 and his parishioners, for before he came the place 
 was almost inaccessible. 
 
 " However good the roads were in comparison, 
 I could not be satisfied to stay in the carriage ; 
 so we walked on to a very romantic little village, 
 where Mr. Legrand and his family live, inti- 
 mate friends of Mr. Oberlin. 1 fear you have not 
 seen the book he wrote about Mr. O. and this 
 
248 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 place ; * it gives great interest to it. It is really 
 wonderful what he has effected. We inquired 
 for their house. Mrs. Legrand was pointed out 
 to us ; she had a fine open countenance, but was 
 dressed in a far commoner manner than any of 
 our maids, who would appear like ladies in this 
 place. The women here are a hundred years at 
 least behind us in luxury and fashion, and out- 
 ward appearance ; such simplicity I never saw, 
 I will now introduce you to the Legrands, a most 
 cheerful and happy family. Their house is com- 
 plete in its way, and full of comfort for a foreign 
 habitation. The father and mother, with their 
 two sons, both married to sweet women, live to- 
 gether. They seemed beaming with goodness 
 and happiness ; evidently most domestic, and 
 I should trust religious people, devotedly attached 
 to Mr. Oberlin, their friend and minister, for whose 
 sake they settled in this place. 
 
 " After this pleasant introduction to the Le- 
 grands, we again set off for Mr. Oberlin's, a mile 
 and a half further, (a romantic walk through the 
 valley,) accompanied by Mr. Legrand. On the 
 way we met this most venerable and striking 
 
 * Letters to the Baron de Gerando, on the Agricul- 
 ture of the Ban de la Roche, from which extracts have 
 been given in this work. 
 
ums< C "s LETT**, 249 
 
 man — the perfect picture o[ what an old man 
 and minister should be. He received us cor- 
 dially, and we soon felt (jiilm at ease with him. 
 Wo all proceeded together towards his house, 
 which stands on the top o( a hill surrounded by 
 trees ami cottages : if we live to return, you shall 
 see my sketeh of it.* Owing to the fatigue of 
 our journey, 1 felt quite over-done on our first 
 arrival. 1 could see nothing like a mistress in 
 the house ; hut an old woman, called Louisa, 
 dressed in a long woollen jacket and black cotton 
 cap, came to welcome us, and we afterwards 
 found that she is an important pea-son at the Ban 
 de la Roche : she is mistress, housekeeper, inti- 
 mate friend, maid of all worh\ schoolmistress, 
 entertainer of guests, ami, 1 should think, assis- 
 tant minister, though we have not yet heard her 
 in this capacity. Besides Louisa, the son-in-law 
 and daughter, and their six children live here, 
 two young girls, protegees, and two more maids 
 out of the parish. Mr. Graff, the son-in-law, is 
 a minister, and a very excellent man. There is 
 much religion and simplicity both in him and his 
 wife : but the latter is so devoted to the children, 
 that we seldom see her. We were ushered into 
 the dining-room, where stood the table spread for 
 
 •See the Sketch of ObcrlhYs residence, on the title- 
 page. 
 
250 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 supper ; a great bowl of pottage, — a pewter plate 
 and spoon for every body : — the luxury of a 
 common English cottage is not known in the Ban 
 de la Roche. But we see the fruits and feel 
 the blessed effects of religion in its simplest form ; 
 it is a great privilege to be here, and I trust will 
 be truly useful to us. 
 
 " Tuesday. — We are become more acquaint- 
 ed with this extraordinary people. They are as 
 interesting as they are uncommon. I much regret 
 that I cannot speak the language more fluently ; 
 yet I get on as well as I can, and have had a 
 good deal of pleasing communication with them. 
 I only hope you will read Owen's letters, with 
 the description of his visit on a Sunday to this 
 place ; it will give you an interest in our present 
 situation. Also, in the Appendix of the First 
 Bible Society Report, read Mr. Oberlin's letter. 
 I never knew so well what the grace of courtesy 
 was till I saw this remarkable man. He treats 
 the poorest people, and even the children, with 
 an affectionate respect. For instance, his cour- 
 tesy, kindness, and hospitality to our postillion 
 were quite amusing. He pulled his hat off when 
 we met him, took him by the hand, and treated 
 him with really tender consideration. He is, I. 
 think, more than eighty — one of the handsom- 
 est old men I ever remember to have seen — still 
 
MRS. C 's LETTER. l')\ 
 
 vigorous in mind and spirit — delighting in his 
 parish — full of fervent charity. He has talked 
 
 a great deal to F . The meals are really 
 
 amusing : — we all sit down to the same table, 
 maids and all, one great dish of pottage or boiled 
 spinach, and a quantity of salad and potatoes, 
 upon which they chiefly live, being placed in the 
 middle. He shakes hands with all the little chil- 
 dren as he passes them in the street, speaking par- 
 ticularly to each of them. The effect which 
 such treatment has had in polishing these people, 
 uncivilized and uncultivated as they formerly 
 were, is quite wonderful. They have been taught 
 a variety of things which have enlarged and pol- 
 ished their minds ; besides religion — music, ge- 
 ography, drawing, botany, he. My sketching 
 has been quite a source of amusement in the par- 
 ish, and my sketch-book handed about from one 
 poor person to another.* If you go into a cot- 
 tage, they quite expect you will eat and drink with 
 
 * As I was one day sketching upon the mountain, a 
 group of poor peasant women attracted my attention, 
 and I begged one of them to stand still for a few mo- 
 ments, that I might sketch her in the costume of her 
 country. " Ah ! Madam," she replied, smiling, " you 
 shall sketch me. I should like you to have a picture of 
 me in your book, because you will then be led to remem- 
 ber me, and perhaps to pray for me." 
 
252 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 them ; a clean cloth is laid upon the table, wash- 
 ed almost as white as milk, and the new milk and 
 the wine, * and the great loaf of bread are 
 brought out ; yet they are in reality exceed- 
 ingly poor. Their beds also look so clean and 
 good, that they would astonish our poor people. 
 In some respects I think they are decidedly clean- 
 er than our own peasantry. Their dress is sim- 
 ple to the greatest degree. The women and girls 
 all dress alike, even down to the very little chil- 
 dren. They wear caps of dark cotton, with 
 black ribbon, and the hair bound closely under. 
 Everybody — maids, children, poor, and rich, 
 call Mr. Oberlin their ' Cher Papa ; ' and never 
 was there a more complete father of a large fam- 
 ily. We breakfast at seven ; the family upon 
 potatoes boiled with milk and water, — a little 
 coffee is provided for us. We dine at twelve, 
 and sup at half-past seven. Every thing is in the 
 most primitive style. I never met such disinterest- 
 ed people. It is almost impossible to pay them for 
 any service they do for you. In our visits to the 
 poor we have been afraid of offering them money ; 
 but we feel anxious to throw in some assistance 
 towards the many important objects which Mr. 
 Oberlin is carrying on amongst them. It is al- 
 
 # The usual wine of the country, called kirschenwasser, 
 is distilled from the fruit of the wild cherry. 
 
MKS. C 's LETTKH. 253 
 
 most past belief what he has clone, ami with WTjf 
 limited means. Three poor dear women are 
 noted for their benevolenee ; one especially, who 
 is a widow herself with several children, has tak- 
 en to support and bring up three orphan children; 
 and she has lately taken another, from no other 
 principle than abounding Christian charity. One 
 seldom meets with such shining characters. Mr. 
 
 O. told Mr. C the other day, he did not 
 
 know how to pay Louisa, for nothing hurt her 
 so much as offering her money. No one could 
 be more devoted to his service, and that in the 
 most disinterested manner. Her character has 
 impressed me very much. We had a delightful walk 
 to a church about two miles distant on Sunday 
 morning ; the numbers of poor, flocking from the 
 distant villages, dressed in their simple and neat 
 costume, formed a striking object in the scene. 
 It happened to be the Sunday Mr. O. goes to 
 the next parish, where his son requires his as- 
 sistance in giving prizes to the school-children. 
 
 u Wednesday evening. — The poor charm me. 
 I never met with any like them ; so much spir- 
 ituality, humility, and cultivation of mind, with 
 manners that would do honor to a court; yet the 
 homely dress and the simplicity of the peasants 
 are not lost. The state of the schools, the chil- 
 dren, and the poor in general, is quite extraordi- 
 
254 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 nary, and as much exceeds our parish, as ours does 
 the most neglected. 
 
 " We have spent our time in the following 
 manner : Since Sunday the mornings have been 
 very wet ; we have therefore been chiefly shut 
 up in our own room, reading, writing, and draw- 
 ing ; the eldest of the Graffs, (Marie,) a sw^eet 
 girl, is a good deal with me, to read and to talk 
 to me. The children and young people in the 
 house are becoming fond of me ; our being here 
 is quite a gayety and amusement to them. About 
 three o'clock Mr. Legrand comes for us, to take 
 us on different excursions, he. He seems to us 
 one of the kindest persons we ever met with, full 
 of conversation ; nothing can exceed the torrent 
 of words they all have. The old gentleman de- 
 lights in talking to Mr. F , and tells him 
 
 every thing about himself, his family, his parishes, 
 he. Our room joins his library, and all the fam- 
 ily are free to enter whenever they like. The 
 whole system is most amusing, interesting, and 
 useful. It is a capital example, and instructive 
 for the minister of a parish. There is a spirit of 
 good fellowship and kindness amongst all the 
 people that is quite delightful. The longer w r e 
 have been here, the more we have been struck 
 with the uncommon degree of virtue which exists 
 amongst them. On Monday evening, after 
 
MKS. C 's LETTER. 255 
 
 •ketchiog Legraod's house, wc were taken to the 
 cottage of Sophia Bernard, where we found the 
 tahle spread in the most complete manner for 
 our tea, a luxury we had not enjoyed since we 
 left England. Here we passed some time, eat- 
 ing, talking, and reading the Bible ; and it ended 
 with prayer, by Sophia Bernard, in a sweet and 
 feeling manner. We then had a charming walk 
 through the valley home. Tuesday, in the af- 
 ternoon, we ascended towards the very top of the 
 mountains, to another of his villages, where we 
 again found some delightful women, and a cap- 
 ital school. This afternoon we have been drink- 
 ing tea with the Lcgrands ; so comfortable and 
 complete a house and family is rarely to be met 
 with in any country. The three pairs have each 
 the most complete little dwelling, but under the 
 same roof. Our intercourse with them has been 
 truly pleasant ; they have treated us with real 
 
 Christian kindness. 
 
 * * # * # * # 
 
 # # # * * * * 
 
 " Colmar, Friday evening. — Our scene is 
 again quite changed : — we are returned to the 
 common world ; and I now find myself over a 
 comfortable fire at a good hotel, which is quite a 
 luxury after the primitive fare of the Ban de la 
 Roche, where we found but little indulgence for 
 
256 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 the body, though we were treated with genuine 
 hospitality. They live sadly in the clouds. The 
 sun does not appear very often to shine upon 
 them. I never was so struck with the difference 
 of climate as I was to-day, in coming down into 
 the plains. It poured with rain for the last day 
 or two ; and all yesterday, in the mountains, 
 every thing was soaked with wet ; but on enter- 
 ing the plains, the dust began to fly. Delightful 
 and uncommon as is this retreat, I must acknowl- 
 edge we have rather enjoyed the comforts of the 
 town, and the conveniences of this place. It 
 would be a trial to me to live surrounded and 
 buried by mountains. I could not help rather 
 feeling for Marie Graff, who is sensible of her 
 privations. However, they are happy and con- 
 tented, and highly blessed ; and it is a great priv- 
 ilege to have passed this time with them ; an 
 event which must always be valuable through 
 life. We parted from the excellent old man 
 with many kisses, in the full spirit of Christian 
 love ; and the same with the rest of the family. 
 We left them very early, accompanied by many 
 of the family, and proceeded to Foudai, where 
 the Legrands live. Here we breakfasted, and 
 parted with many tears on their part. They are 
 a most warm-hearted people. We then proceed- 
 ed over such a road as would astonish our Nor- 
 
MRS. RAUSCHER S LETTER. 257 
 
 folk and Suffolk friends. However, I am thank- 
 ful that we got through safely. I am getting 
 more bold, and can bear the precipices much bet- 
 ter than at first. We passed some beautiful 
 country, but whilst on the heights, the rain and 
 mist were so great we could not see much. 
 
 " The thoughts of the Ban de la Roche, and 
 the impression of this day, have been very pleas- 
 ant to me, and I have a secret satisfaction and 
 comfort in the prospect of getting to Basle, where 
 I trust I shall have the great consolation of hearing 
 from you." 
 
 * # # # * * # 
 
 The following extract from a letter, addressed 
 by Mrs. Rauscher to the Paris Bible Society, 
 presents a delightful picture of the good effects 
 resulting from the instructions and example of her 
 beloved parent, and from aneducation founded on 
 the Holy Scriptures. It also speaks of the death 
 of Sophia Bernard, an event which happened in 
 the spring of 1822, about two years after the visit 
 alluded to, in the preceding interesting letter. 
 
 This letter is dated March 14, 182G. 
 
 " Our parish has now possessed the Holy 
 
 Scriptures for more than a century, and they 
 
 form the basis of daily instruction in the schools. 
 
 In addition to this, the young people have long 
 
 17 
 
258 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 been m the habit of receiving religious instruction 
 from their pastor, so that a gradual and impercep- 
 tible improvement, resembling the growth of 
 plants in a well cultivated garden, has taken 
 place. You may form some estimate of their 
 moral progress, by the spirit of charity which 
 manifests itself on occasion of the death of a poor 
 father or mother leaving a numerous family ; and 
 by the eagerness with which the relations, friends, 
 or neighbours of the deceased, take charge of 
 the children, not to treat them as strangers and 
 dependants, but as members of their own house- 
 hold. These noble actions do not arise from any 
 fixed methodical rules, nor are they confined to 
 any particular epoch ; but are owing to the in- 
 structions of the good pastor, and to the excel- 
 lent regulations which he has led his parishioners 
 to adopt. 
 
 " This delightful spirit of benevolence particu- 
 larly manifests itself also, in the eager alacrity 
 with which the young people assist the old and 
 feeble in their rural labors. No sooner are their 
 own tasks completed in the evening, than the sig- 
 nal is given, and they set offto execute in concert 
 some labor, which, by its charitable object, be- 
 comes a recreation. Is a new cottage to be 
 built, — the young people take upon themselves 
 the task of collecting the materials together, and 
 
MRS, RAUSCHER's LETTER. 259 
 
 of assisting in its erection. Does it happen that 
 a poor man loses his cow — his only support, — 
 the whole parish subscribe and raise a sum suffi- 
 cient to replace it. Is a poor man visited with a 
 misfortune of any kind, — he is not the only suffer- 
 er — for all his neighbours participate in his afflic- 
 tion, as the Apostle says, ' If one member suffer, 
 all the members sutler with it.' 1 Cor. xii. 26. 
 
 " These admirable works are doubiless effect- 
 ed by the influence of the Holy Spirit from m 
 high, and by that spirit of Christian benevolence 
 which the attentive and constant perusal of the 
 Holy Scriptures cannot fail to inculcate. 
 
 " I will just mention as a single instance, 
 among many others, of the transforming power 
 of religion, that one young woman refused to 
 marry, that she might devote her time, her talents, 
 and her strength, to works of benevolence ; and, 
 allowing herself only the bare necessaries of life, 
 she presented the fruits of her assiduous and un- 
 remitting industry to the excellent and pious in- 
 stitutions of the present day ; she also sold all 
 that she thought she could do without, and gave 
 the produce to such objects as she believed cal- 
 culated to advance the kingdom of our adorable 
 Lord and Saviour. 
 
 "The excellent Sophia Bernard, after whom 
 you inquire, left her dwelling here below to in- 
 
260 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 habit a brighter mansion, about four years since, 
 to the great regret of the whole parish, and of the 
 inhabitants of the adjacent villages, who, though 
 of a different religious denomination, considered 
 that they had lost in her a mother, consoler, and 
 comforter. 
 
 " Catherine Scheidecker and Maria Miller 
 still live, though the former is very infirm.* 
 They both continue to walk in the path of Gos- 
 pel truth ; endeavouring to follow the steps of 
 their Divine Master, and praying to him contin- 
 ually for the salvation of their families, and that 
 of all the inhabitants of their parish, as well as 
 for every individual living. Both are poor in the 
 wealth of this world, but rich in faith ; and they 
 take every opportunity of evincing their gratitude 
 to God, whose love is shed abroad in their 
 hearts. 
 
 " My venerable father sends you the salutation 
 of a friend and brother in Christ Jesus our Lord, 
 and implores the blessing of Almighty God upon 
 you, and the labors of your society. He longs 
 for the joyful period, when, released from his 
 narrow prison-house of clay, he may enter upon 
 that happiness which is to be acquired only 
 
 *She died in the autumn of 1826, and has doubtless 
 received the " crown of glory " promised to those who 
 are " faithful unto death." 
 
mr. leghand's letter. 261 
 
 through the merits of the Son of God, whose 
 name is the ' Wonderful, Counsellor, the Prince 
 of peace.' " 
 
 1 have already stated that it was the practice 
 in the Ban de la Roche to meet on a particular 
 evening, at stated periods, to read the Scriptures 
 and pray for the Divine blessing on various re- 
 ligious institutions, and afterwards to make a col- 
 lection for them. The collections thus made, 
 consisted of voluntary contributions according to 
 the abilities of the donor; and the sums that were 
 sometimes raised are truly astonishing ; two hun- 
 dred and ninety francs having been at one time 
 remitted to the Paris Bible Society, and on anoth- 
 er occasion, the sum of five hundred to the Lon- 
 don Committee, in furtherance of the same 
 object. 
 
 The following extract is taken from a letter 
 addressed by Mr. Daniel Legrand to Professor 
 Kieffer. It is dated July 17, 1825. 
 
 " As all that our venerable patriarch receives 
 and possesses, is only employed for the advance- 
 ment of the kingdom of his Divine Master, he has 
 again remitted to me one hundred francs, desiring 
 me to forward them to the Bible Society at Paris. 
 His Louisa, (the name of his faithful housekeeper,) 
 has added to it ten francs for the same purpose, 
 and ten for the Missionary Society at Paris. She 
 
262 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 has a single field, and this is the amount of the 
 rent. May the Lord put a peculiar blessing 
 upon it ! " * 
 
 It would be almost a repetition to say that 
 these contributions towards public institutions did 
 not prevent the inhabitants of the Steinthal from 
 appropriating large sums to charitable societies 
 nearer home. Their beneficence was not, how- 
 ever, confined to their immediate vicinity ; for 
 the Foundation for Protestant Theological Stu- 
 dents at Strasbourg, the Reformed Theological 
 Society at Montauban, and particularly the Prot- 
 estant Institution for the Education of Poor Chil- 
 dren of the Neuhof, near Strasbourg, "j" were in- 
 debted to Oberlin and his people for much effi- 
 cient assistance. 
 
 What can we add to facts so full of eloquence ? 
 Whilst contemplating the rich blessings which 
 Oberl'n disseminated around him, and which the 
 pervading influence of his example so greatly 
 
 * Louisa Schepler has lately received one of the 
 " Prix de vertu," distributed annually by the Academie 
 Franchise, in consequense of a bequest by M. de Mon- 
 thyon. Nearly the whole of this sum, amounting to 
 five thousand francs, she has, with her characteristic 
 disinterestedness, appropriated to benevolent purposes, 
 chiefly among the poor of the Ban de la Roche, who are 
 still in extreme want. 
 
 f See Appendix, No. 5. 
 
LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 263 
 
 augmented, we can only earnestly hope that the 
 " centre " of Christian henevolence heing once 
 moved, " circle after circle " may succeed, and 
 tenfold good he effected. 
 
 11 Blessed is the man that trusted) in the Lord, 
 and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be 
 as a tree planted by the waters, and that spread- 
 eth out her roots by the river, and shall not see 
 when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green ; 
 and shall not be careful in the year of drought, 
 neither shall cease from yielding fruit." — Jere- 
 miah xvii. 7, 8. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Towards the latter part of Oberlin's life, the 
 infirmities of age precluded his discharging the 
 greater part of his pastoral functions, and he 
 was therefore compelled to delegate the charge 
 to his son-in-law, Mr. Graff, being able to do 
 little more than occupy himself in constant 
 prayers for his beloved flock* That no individ- 
 ual might be omitted in his intercessions at the 
 throne of grace, he used in the morning to take 
 
 * In consequence of an apoplectic attack, Mr. Graff 
 was compelled to relinquish his pastoral duties in the 
 Ban de la Roche soon after Oberlin's decease, and to 
 
264 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 his church register of baptisms in his hand, and 
 to pray, at stated intervals during the day, for 
 every person whose name was there mentioned, 
 as well as for the community at large. At all 
 periods of his residence in the Ban de la Roche, 
 Oberlin had a deep feeling of the value of interces- 
 sory prayer ; and so alive was he upon this point, 
 and so fearful lest he should omit any one whom 
 he particularly wished to remember, that he wrote 
 the names of such persons in chalk upon the black 
 door of his chamber. 
 
 His strength had greatly diminished ; his figure 
 indeed was not bent, but symptoms of infirmity 
 had made their appearance, and his white locks 
 announced advancing age. He no longer left 
 his home but from necessity, and devoted more 
 time than formerly to the labors of his study : 
 Several essays, on various subjects, found since 
 his decease, appear to have been written at this 
 period, and a refutation of Cicero's work, ' De 
 Senectute,' drawn up in £1825, was probably the 
 last he attempted. 
 
 His last illness attacked him suddenly, and 
 was of short duration. On Sunday, the 28th of 
 
 remove, with his wife and children, to Strasbourg, 
 where he now resides. Mr. Rauscher is his successor, 
 and occupies the parsonage house at Waldbach. Louisa 
 Schepler lives with him and his family. 
 
LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 265 
 
 May, IS Jo, he was seized with shiverings and 
 faintings, which lasted till a late hour of the night. 
 The whole of the two following days were passed 
 in alternate consciousness and insensibility ; but 
 he often exclaimed, when his strength permitted, 
 " Lord Jesus, take me speedily ! .Nevertheless, 
 thy will be done ! " On the evening of Tuesday, 
 Mr. Daniel Legrand, who had been absent on a 
 missionary excursion to Basle, came to see him. 
 He appeared delighted at his return, and, tender- 
 ly embracing him, said in a distinct voice, and in 
 an accent of paternal solicitude, " The Lord bless 
 you, and all who are dear to you ! May He be 
 with you day and night ! " On Wednesday he 
 appeared considerably weakened by th^rcon- 
 vulsions he had undergone, and the WB| of 
 nourishment, as a few drops of water were all he 
 had been able to taste ; he however still intimat- 
 ed by signs, when he was unable to speak, the 
 tender affection which he felt for his children, his 
 friends, his faithful housekeeper Louisa, and all the 
 members of his flock. 
 
 During the night, between Wednesday and 
 Thursday, the 1st of June, which was a very dis- 
 tressing one to his attendants, he continued almost 
 incessantly to utter plaintive cries, as though in 
 pain, although at intervals of ease he would seize 
 the hand of either of his children who happened 
 
266 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 to be nearest to him, and press it to his heart. 
 When Mr. Legrand arrived, at six o'clock in the 
 morning, from Foudai, he had lost the use of 
 speech, and his arms and legs had become cold 
 and lifeless. He, however, recovered strength 
 sufficient to take off his cap, join his hands, and 
 raise his eyes for the last time towards heaven ; 
 his countenance, as he did so, beaming with faith 
 joy, and love. 
 
 After this effort his eyes closed, never again to 
 open ; but it was not till a quarter after eleven 
 that his spirit forsook its mortal tenement, and 
 that the passing bell announced to the inhabitants 
 of the valley that they had lost the pastor, bene- 
 factor, and friend, who for nearly sixty years had 
 so unceasingly labored and prayed for them. 
 
 It would be impossible to describe the grief 
 which his loss occasioned : sorrow was depicted 
 on every countenance ; and not only in his own 
 house, but in every cottage throughout his exten- 
 sive parish, was his memory embalmed by the 
 tears and regrets of those who had participated 
 in his labors of love, or enjoyed the benefit which 
 his unremitted kindness afforded. 
 
 His care for those who had any peculiar claims 
 on his affection, extended even beyond the grave. 
 He was particularly anxious to evince his grat- 
 itude to the excellent Louisa, who had faithfully 
 
LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN. 267 
 
 served him during a period of fifty years ; and 
 the following sealed letter, in which he speaks of 
 her good qualities, and begs his children to treat 
 her as a sister, was opened a lew days after his 
 death. It is dated, W aid bach, August 2, 1811. 
 " My very dear Children, 
 
 11 In leaving you, I commend to your care the 
 faithful nurse who has brought you up — the in- 
 defatigable Louisa. The services which she has 
 performed for our family are innumerable. Your 
 dear mamma took her under her care before she 
 had attained the age of fifteen ; but, even at that 
 early period, she rendered herself useful by her 
 talents, her activity, and her industry. On the 
 premature decease of your beloved parent, she 
 became at once your faithful nurse, your careful 
 instructress, and your adopted mother. Her zeal 
 for doing good extended beyond the confines of 
 our own family. Like a devoted servant of the 
 Lord, she went into all the surrounding villages, 
 where I sent her, to assemble the children togeth- 
 er, to instruct them in God's holy will, to teach 
 them to sing hymns, to direct their attention to 
 the wonderful works of nature, to pray with them, 
 and to communicate to them all the knowledge 
 that she had herself derived from me and your 
 mamma. This was not the labor of a moment ; 
 and the innumerable difficulties which opposed 
 
268 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 themselves to her benevolent employments would 
 have discouraged a thousand others ; for whilst 
 on the one hand she had to contend with the wild 
 and frovvard characters of the children, she had, 
 on the other, to correct their patois, and, conse- 
 quently, after having spoken to them in that 
 dialect, which was necessary to make herself 
 understood, to translate all she had said into 
 French. The bad roads and the inclement 
 weather, so frequent on these mountains, present- 
 ed another difficulty : — but neither sleet, nor rain, 
 nor wind, nor hail, nor deep snows under foot, 
 nor snow falling from above, detained her from 
 her purpose ; and when she returned in the eve- 
 ning, though exhausted, wet, and weary, and chill- 
 ed with excessive cold, she would set herself to 
 attend to my children, and to her household af- 
 fairs. In this manner she devoted not only her 
 time and abilities, but also her health, and all her 
 bodily powers, to my service, and to the service 
 of our God. For many years past indeed, her 
 lungs have been injured, and her constitution ab- 
 solutely ruined, by over fatigue, and by sudden 
 transitions from heat to cold, and from cold to 
 heat, having often, when warm with walking, 
 crossed the snows and sunk into them to such a 
 depth as to be scarcely able to get out. She 
 received a sufficient recompense, you will per- 
 
LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN. 269 
 
 haps say, in the ample salary that I allowed her. 
 No, clear children, no : since the death of your 
 dear mother, I have never been able to prevail 
 on her to accept the least reward for her ser- 
 vices ; she employed her own little property in 
 doing good, and in the purchase of her scanty 
 wardrobe ; and it was always as a favor that she 
 received from me some light articles of dress, and 
 provisions, which I owed, notwithstanding, to her 
 economy and good management. Judge, dear 
 children, judge of the debt you have contracted, 
 from her services to me, and how far you will 
 ever be from repaying it. 
 
 " In times of sickness and affliction, how kind- 
 ly has she watched over both you and me ; how 
 tenderly has she sought to mitigate our pains and 
 to assuage our griefs. Once more I commend 
 her to you. You will evince, by the care that you 
 take of her, how much attention you pay to the 
 last wish of a father, who has always endeavoured 
 to inspire you with feelings of gratitude and be- 
 nevolence : — but, yes; — yes: — you will ful- 
 fil my wishes. You will be, in your turn, both 
 individually and collectively, all that she has been 
 to you, as far as your means, situation, and op- 
 portunity permit. 
 " Adieu, my very dear children, your papa, 
 
 "J. F. Oberlin." 
 
270 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 So well disposed were Oberlin's children to 
 fulfil this request, and to coincide in their father's 
 views, that they offered Louisa an equal share of 
 the little property he had left. This, however, 
 she refused, asking nothing more than permission 
 to remain an inmate of the family, and to be allowed 
 to add the honored name of Oberlin to her own. 
 " It is almost superfluous to say," writes one of 
 his children, " that whilst a descendant of Ober- 
 lin remains, Louisa shall want for nothing, at 
 least, until they themselves are destitute." 
 
 Oberlin's funeral took place on the 5th of 
 June. 
 
 During the four days that intervened between 
 his decease, and the simple and affecting ceremo- 
 ny which consigned his remains to their last home, 
 heavy clouds rested on the surrounding moun- 
 tains, and the rain poured down in incessant tor- 
 rents. This circumstance did not, however, pre- 
 vent the inhabitants of the Ban de la Roche, of 
 all ages and conditions, nearer or more remote, 
 from coming to pay a last tribute of respect 
 to the remains of their " Cher Papa" whose 
 venerable countenance they were permitted 
 to see through a glass lid, which, under the 
 direction of Mr. Legrand, covered the coffin, 
 which was placed in his study. 
 
HIS FUNERAL. 271 
 
 Early in the morning of the day fixed on for 
 the interment, the clouds cleared away, and the 
 sun shone with its wonted brilliancy. As they 
 left the house, the president of the consistory of 
 Barr, the Rev. Mr. Jaegle, placed the clerical 
 robes of the late pastor on his coffin, the vice- 
 president placed his Bible upon it, and the may- 
 or affixed to the funeral-pall the decoration of the 
 Legion of Honor. At the conclusion of this cer- 
 emony, ten or twelve young females, who had 
 been standing around the bier, began to sing a 
 hymn in chorus, and at two o'clock the proces- 
 sion took its departure, the coffin being borne by 
 the mayors, elders, and official magistrates. In 
 front of it, walked the oldest inhabitant of the 
 Ban de la Roche, carrying a cross which Louisa 
 had given him, to plant on the tomb, and on 
 which the words, Papa Oberlin, were engraved 
 in open letters. 
 
 So numerous was the concourse of people as- 
 sembled on the occasion, that the foremost of the 
 train had already reached the church of Foudai, 
 where the interment was to take place, before 
 the last had left the parsonage, although the dis- 
 tance was nearly two miles. The children of the 
 different schools formed part of the melancholy 
 procession, chanting, at intervals, sacred hymns, 
 selected and adapted for the occasion. At the 
 
272 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 moment of their approaching the village, a new 
 bell, presented by Mr. Legrand in commemora- 
 tion of this day of general mourning, was heard 
 to toll for the first time, and to mingle its mel- 
 ancholy sound with that of all the bells in the 
 valley. The burying ground was surrounded by 
 Roman Catholic women, all dressed in mourning, 
 and kneeling in silent prayer. On arriving at the 
 church, the coffin was placed at the foot of the 
 altar, and as many persons entered as the little 
 edifice would contain, though more than three 
 fourths of the company had to remain in the 
 church-yard, and the adjoining lanes. Notwith- 
 standing the pressure of so immense a multitude, 
 the utmost order and solemnity prevailed. Sev- 
 eral females, who could find room no where else, 
 sat down on the steps of the altar, leaning with 
 melancholy affection against the coffin, as though 
 anxious to cling to the very ashes of one whom 
 they had so much revered and loved. Many dis- 
 tinguished individuals were present on the occa- 
 sion, and several Roman Catholic priests, dressed 
 in their canonicals, took their seats among the 
 members of the Consistory, and evidently par- 
 ticipated in the general grief. Mr. Jaegle then 
 mounted the pulpit, and commenced the service 
 by reading a manuscript of Oberlin's, dated 1784, 
 and found among his papers after his death. It 
 
FRAGMENT* t 27. 1 
 
 is filled With so many expressions of ardent at- 
 tachment, and intercession for Ins beloved parish- 
 ioners, that I cannot refrain from inserting it. 
 
 Fragment, written by Ofterttn, in 1784. 
 
 " I was born at Strasbourg on the last day of 
 August, 17-10, and baptized on the 1st of Sep- 
 tember, in the church of St. Thomas. 
 
 "During my infancy and my youth, God often 
 vouchsafed to touch my heart, and to draw me 
 to himself. He bore with me in my repeated 
 backslidings, with a kindness and indulgence 
 hardly to be expressed, 
 
 " I arrived in this parish, in the capacity of pas- 
 tor, on the 30th of March, 17(37, when twenty- 
 seven years of age. 
 
 " On the 6th of July, in the year following, 
 God united me to that beloved woman, whom, 
 (after having received many services from her 
 hands,) you, six months ago, followed to the 
 grave. Her name was Madeleine Salome Witter. 
 I have had nine children. Two, who are yet 
 living, were born in the Ban de la Roche ; the 
 others at Strasbourg. Two have already entered 
 Paradise ; and seven remain in this world. On 
 the 18th of January last, ten weeks after her last 
 confinement, my wife, although in apparently good 
 health, was suddenly taken from me. Upon this 
 IS 
 
274 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 occasion, as upon a thousand others in the course 
 of my life, notwithstanding my overwhelming 
 affliction, I was upheld by God's gracious assis- 
 tance, in a remarkable manner. 
 
 11 I have had all my life a desire, occasionally 
 a very strong one, to die, owing, in some degree, 
 to the consciousness of my moral infirmities, and 
 of my frequent derelictions. My affection for 
 my wife and children, and my attachment to my 
 parish, have sometimes checked this desire, 
 though for short intervals only. I had, about a 
 year since, some presentiment of my approaching 
 end. I did not pay much attention to it at the 
 time, but, since the death of my wife, I have fre- 
 quently received unequivocal warnings of the 
 same nature. Millions of times have I besought God 
 to enable me to surrender myself with entire and 
 filial submission to his will, either to live or to 
 die ; and to bring me into such a state of resig- 
 nation, as neither to wish, nor to say, nor to do, 
 nor to undertake any thing, but what He who 
 only is wise and good, sees to be best. 
 
 " Having had such frequent intimations of my 
 approaching end, I have arranged all my affairs, as 
 far as I am able, in order to prevent confusion after 
 my death. For my dear children, I fear nothing; 
 but, as I always greatly preferred being useful to 
 others to giving them trouble, I suffer much from 
 
ADDRESS TO HIS PARISHIONERS. 275 
 
 the idea that they may occasion sorrow or anxiety 
 to the friends who take charge of them. May 
 God abundantly reward them for it ! With re- 
 gard to the children themselves, I have no anx- 
 iety, for I have had such frequent experience of 
 the mercy of God toward myself, and place such 
 full reliance upon his goodness, his wisdom, and 
 his love, as to render it impossible for me to be 
 at all solicitous about them. Their mother was, 
 at a very early age, deprived of her parents, but 
 she was, notwithstanding, a better Christian than 
 thousands who have enjoyed the advantage of pa- 
 rental instruction. 
 
 " Besides this, I know that God hears our 
 prayers ; and ever since the birth of our children, 
 neither their mother nor I have ceased to sup- 
 plicate Him to make them faithful followers of 
 Jesus Christ, and laborers in his vineyard. 
 
 "And thou, O my dear parish ! neither will 
 God forget nor forsake thee. He has towards 
 thee, as I have often said, thoughts of peace and 
 mercy. All things will go well with thee. Only 
 cleave thou to Him, and leave Him to act. Oh ! 
 mayest thou forget my name, and retain only that 
 of Jesus Christ, whom I have proclaimed to thee. 
 He is thy pastor ; I am but his servant. He is 
 that good master, who, after having trained and 
 prepared me from my youth, sent me to thee, that 
 
276 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 I might be useful. He alone is wise, good, 
 almighty, and merciful ; and as for me, I am a 
 poor, feeble, wretched man. 
 
 " O my friends, pray, in order that you may 
 all become the beloved sheep of his pasture. 
 There is salvation in no other than Jesus Christ ; 
 and Jesus loves you, seeks you, and is ready to 
 receive you. Go to him, just as your are, with 
 all your sins and all your infirmities. He alone 
 can deliver you from them, and can heal you. 
 He will sanctify and perfect you. Dedicate 
 yourselves to Him ! Whenever any of you die, 
 may you die in Him ; and may I meet you, and 
 accompany you with songs of triumph, in the 
 mansions of felicity, before the throne of the 
 Lamb ! 
 
 " Adieu, dear friends, adieu ! I have loved you 
 much ; and even the severity which I have some- 
 times deemed it necessary to exercise, has arisen 
 from my earnest desire to contribute to your hap- 
 piness. 
 
 " May God reward you for your services, your 
 good deeds, and the deference and submission 
 which you have shown towards his poor unwor- 
 thy servant. May He forgive those who have 
 pained me by opposition. They doubtless knew 
 not what they did. 
 
 
ADDRESS TO His PARISHIONERS. J<< 
 
 u my God ! let thine eye watch ovdr my 
 
 dear parishioners : let thine ear be open to hear 
 them ; thine arm be extended to succour and 
 protect them. Lord Jesus ! thou has entrusted 
 
 this parish to my care, feeble and miserable as 1 
 am. Oh, suiter me to commend it to thee, to 
 resign it into thy hands. Give it pastors after 
 
 thine own heart. Never forsake it. Overrule 
 all things for its good. Enlighten them, guide 
 them, love them, bless them all ; and -rant that 
 the young and old, the teachers and the taught, 
 pastors and parishioners, may all in due time 
 meet together in thy paradise ! Even so ! Fa- 
 ther, Son, and Holy Spirit ! — even so. Amen ! " 
 
 After the solemn reading of this pathetic doc- 
 ument, which was evidently intended for Ober- 
 lin's dying charge, Mr. Jaegle read the following 
 verses from the 103d Psalm : — 
 
 " Bless the Lord, O my soul : and all that is 
 within me, bless holy his name. Bless the Lord, O 
 my soul, and forget not all his benefits ; who for- 
 giveth all thine iniquities ; who healeth all thy 
 diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruc- 
 tion ; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness 
 and tender mercies." And the 1 4th verse of the 
 7th chapter of the Book of Revelations, which 
 Oberlin had himself selected to serve as texts to 
 
278 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 the discourse to be pronounced at his funeral ; 
 conscious, as he often declared himself to be, that 
 however numerous and useful the good works he 
 had performed, they needed " to be washed in 
 the blood of Christ." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Jaegle then delivered a dis- 
 course, which was listened to with the profound- 
 est attention. On its conclusion the whole con- 
 gregation knelt down, and repeated the following 
 prayer : — 
 
 " Almighty God ! our days are in thy hands, 
 thou governest all our destinies by thy supreme 
 wisdom. By thy will we enter on this life, and 
 we return to the dust at thy word. Thanks be 
 to thee for the sublime consolations given us in 
 the Gospel of thy Son. who has come to bring 
 life and immortality to light ; consolations with- 
 out which we should be given up to despair, when 
 those whom we love are snatched away by death, 
 or when it approaches us with its terrors. Grant, 
 we beseech thee, that wisdom — that the love of 
 that which is good emanating from thee, source 
 of all good, — may accompany us in our journey 
 to the eternal world, that we may pass our days 
 as submissive and faithful children, with the con- 
 sciousness of having followed thy commandments, 
 and of having preferred the salvation of our souls 
 to the deceitful interests and pleasures of earth. 
 
 
MR. BRAUNWALD's ADDRESS. 279 
 
 " Oh Lord, our God, thou hast called to thy- 
 self our excellent pastor — our beloved father; 
 thou hast given him a place in those eternal man- 
 sions which arc prepared for the righteous. Oh ! 
 grant that his memory may be preserved among 
 us ; that the love of Thee and thy Son, with 
 which he has endeavoured to inspire us, — that 
 the love of religion, without which there in neither 
 peace nor hope, may never be effaced from our 
 hearts. Then shall we contemplate again, in a 
 better world, when the sleep of death shall have 
 closed our eyes, him whose loss we now lament ; 
 and then shall we rejoice with him in that eternal 
 salvation to which God has called us through our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. — Amen ! " 
 
 Another hymn having been sung, the coffin 
 was conveyed to the church-yard, where the 
 grave was dug on a little eminence on one side 
 of the edifice, under the shade of a weeping wil- 
 low, planted over the tomb of Henry Oberlin. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Braunwald, pastor of Goxviller, 
 and vice-president of the Consistory of Barr, then 
 delivered the following address : 
 
 11 My Christian brethren ! 
 "We have met with a great and afflicting loss; 
 the good father Oberlin has left us ; he has closed 
 in peace his earthly career. Around his tomb I 
 
280 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 see the faithful of the two parishes of the Ban de 
 la Roche, the faithful of Waldbach and Rothau, 
 unite their sorrow and their tears, with those of 
 the children and the many friends of the venera- 
 ble dead. Though I am led by my love and ad- 
 miration of the venerable pastor of Waldbach to 
 speak on this day of mourning, I am well aware, 
 my brethren, that it is impossible for me worthily 
 to portray to you the exalted virtues and the ad- 
 mirable qualities of the good man we mourn. 
 
 " Our Consistorial Church has lost, in this hon- 
 orable old man, one of the most zealous of her 
 pastors, a man distinguished by his talents and his 
 virtues : the parish of Waldbach, the Ban de la 
 Roche at large, its benefactor, the kindest of 
 fathers; bis family, his friends, their pattern, the 
 source of all their happiness ; human nature, one 
 of its brightest ornaments. What purity and 
 elevation of soul, what simplicity, what courtesy, 
 what tenderness, what integrity, what candor has 
 it been our lot to admire in this blessed old man ! 
 More than eighty years of age, the venerable 
 Oberlin employed his failing powers to the glory 
 of his God, and, to his last sigh, implored the 
 blessings of the Eternal on this beloved parish, 
 the centre of all his affections. 
 
 " What tender solicitude did he feel for the 
 dear flock, trusted to his care and guidance ! A 
 
Mir. BJLAUNWALd's ADDRESS. 281 
 
 worthy servant of his Divine Master, a zealous 
 follower of the Apostles, be devoted himself whol- 
 ly to the good of his fellow-men. For fifty -nine 
 years he consecrated all his powers, physical and 
 intellectual, with every moment of his lahorious 
 life, to the improvement of this interesting region, 
 where civilization had already commenced under 
 the pious Stouber ; and by his most noble disin- 
 terestedness, invincible firmness, and well temper- 
 ed zeal, he has, with willing sacrifice of his own 
 fortune, done every thing to make peace, ease? 
 and comfort inmates of your humble dwellings. 
 It is to the good pastor, Stouber, and to Oberlin, 
 your father, that you owe your churches and your 
 schools ; it was Oberlin, who trained up your in- 
 structors ; it was he who covered your naked and 
 dry rocks with fertile soil ; it was he, who chang- 
 ed all these hamlets into flourishing villages ; it 
 was he, who, working at your side, repaired and 
 widened your roads; it was he, who displayed 
 noble compassion for your poor, who fed them in 
 times of scarcity ; it was he, who succoured the 
 widows and orphans, who protected the forsaken ; 
 it was he — but, let me pause: the memory of 
 your hearts speaks, you yourselves will finish this 
 feeble sketch of his labors for your welfare. In 
 his philanthropy, Oberlin never confined himself 
 to limited views, he made no points of distinction 
 
282 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 from modes of worship ; he was persuaded, that 
 intolerance dishonors charity. 
 
 " What was he in the bosom of his family ? 
 Ah, who could see him there without being touched, 
 moved, melted ! What was he to bis beloved 
 wife ; to you, bold Frederic ; to you, pious Hen- 
 ry ; to you, most happy Fidelite ; to you, zealous 
 Wolff; to you, our friends, Charles and Sophia, 
 Henrietta and Graff; to you, good Graff, who, 
 to discharge the offices of filial affection, were 
 ready to relieve the kind father of all his labo- 
 rious duties ; to you, Louisa and Witz, Frederi- 
 ca and Rauscher ; to you, his grand-children ; to 
 you, excellent Louisa Schepler ? — What a hus- 
 band, father, and grand-parent ! What concord, 
 what unity, what love, what filial devotion in this 
 happy family ! — What was he to his many 
 friends ? to you, noble, patriarchal, and pious 
 family of Foudai ; to you, worthy and respectable 
 Legrand ? 
 
 " The pious Oberlin rekindled the torch of 
 faith, and threw new light upon religion in our 
 districts. Still more than for your welfare in this 
 world, was his mind filled with desire for the sal- 
 vation of your immortal souls. The crowning glory 
 of all his efforts, the object of all his solicitude, 
 was your spiritual welfare, faithful brethren of the 
 parish of Waldbach. 
 
mr. bhaunwald's addrkss. 283 
 
 "With what warmth, energy, simplicity, per- 
 severance, did he preach to you the Gospel of 
 Christ, that precious gift of Heaven, the truths of 
 religion which were engraved on his own heart ! 
 He taught you to find in the Holy Bible, in the 
 precepts of Jesus Christ, the remedy of all your 
 ills, refuge from all your afflictions, the true 
 source of all pure pleasures, and of happiness in 
 the present and the future life. It was with the 
 Gospel in his hands, that he purified, enlightened, 
 consoled, and sanctified you. Was it not he, who 
 by his word and his example, nourished in your 
 hearts love to God and love to man ? Was it not 
 he, who brought you to the Redeemer who suf- 
 fered for us? to that perfect Christian virtue, to 
 that living faith which is the source of the Chris- 
 tian's happiness; who has presented you our 
 adorable Saviour in the heavenly mansions, where 
 he waits our coming, where he has gone to pre- 
 pare a place for us ? Was it not he, who again and 
 again exhorted you to labor for the meat which 
 endurelh unto everlasting life ? 
 
 11 It is to your worthy patriarch that you owe 
 the word of grace ; it was he who gave you 
 the manna that nourishes your souls ; it was he 
 who carried the Gospel into your dwellings and 
 into the cabins of so many of the poor beyond 
 the limits of this parish. Oh ! my brethren, cease 
 
284 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 not to draw from this treasury, which is inex- 
 haustible, which grows richer the longer you 
 draw ! Bless the name of Oberlin, bless the 
 memory of this just man, who could truly say 
 with Saint Paul, the great Apostle : 'I have serv- 
 ed the Lord with all humility of mind, and with 
 many tears and temptations. I kept back noth- 
 ing that was profitable unto you, but have showed 
 you, and have taught, you publicly, and from 
 house to house, exhorting you to repentance toward 
 God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 None of these things move me, neither count 
 I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish 
 my course with joy, and the ministry, which I 
 have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the 
 Gospel of the grace of God. Among you I have 
 gone preaching the kingdom of God. Wherefore 
 I take you to record, that I am pure from the 
 blood of all. For I have not shunned to declare 
 unto you all the counsel of God. I have coveted 
 no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.' * 
 
 " Do you not recognise in these features the 
 image of your venerable pastor Oberlin ? 
 
 " And, my brethren, what did he do for the 
 propagation of the holy religion of Jesus Christ, 
 the circulation of our sacred books ? Speak, ye 
 
 *Acts xx. 18, et seq. 
 
MR. BHAUNWALD's ADDRESS. 285 
 
 Bible Societies of Strasbourg, Paris, and London ! 
 Speak, ye Missionary Institutions of Basle and 
 Paris ! what sums has he collected, what dona- 
 tions has he caused to flow into these pious So- 
 cieties, that the Bible might circulate every 
 where, that the doctrine of Christ might pervade 
 the wildest regions, the most barbarous nations ; 
 that God and the Saviour might be adored by all 
 the inhabitants of the earth. What joy must he 
 have felt, as be traced, in the Reports of these 
 Bible and Missionary Societies, the blessing of 
 the Lord descending upon his work ! 
 
 " His life of trial, privation, and danger, his 
 numerous afflictions displayed his whole soul, and 
 the sublime virtues of which it was the centre. 
 Patience which nothing could impair, resignation, 
 eminently Christian, raised him above all the ills 
 of his lot. He looked upon death with an un- 
 moved eye, with the calmness and serenity of the 
 just. Leaving this world, he committed himself 
 to his God, he prayed for his family, his friends, 
 his parish ; and, while he was thus blessing earth, 
 his soul was wafted to heaven. Oberlin has left 
 us : his death was the recompense of a life replete 
 throughout with good works, with righteous and 
 generous actions. 
 
 11 What a throng at his funeral, what grief 
 what tears ! Two parishes, eight communes, this 
 
286 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 crowd of friends, and of strangers, all of us de- 
 clare with one voice. It is a man of worth to 
 whom we render these last respects ; it is Ober 
 lin, our father, our benefactor, for w T hom we 
 mourn ; love, respect, gratitude have brought us to 
 this tomb ! — His ashes repose in the midst of 
 you, kind inhabitants of the Ban de la Roche : 
 this tomb, which incloses his mortal remains, will 
 be to us all a hallowed spot. We will show it 
 to our children and say, Here rests Oberlin, our 
 father. He has made us happy, his image is en- 
 graved on our hearts, our love is stronger than 
 death ; Waldbach shall be a lasting monument to 
 his glory ; the names of Oberlin and Waldbach 
 shall be for ever united in the memory of men. 
 
 " Let us adore the ways of Providence, my 
 brethren ! In the place of the venerable father, 
 the Lord has given you the worthy husband of 
 Oberlin's daughter, the friend of his affections, 
 a servant after God's own heart. This choice 
 proceeded from the good father himself, and is 
 another proof of the care of Heaven over this 
 flock. With perfect confidence Oberlin commit- 
 ted to the hands of his successor the sacred de- 
 posit of which his divine Master had given him 
 the charge. 
 
 " Yes, Christians, let us adore the Providence, 
 which unites us and separates us — afflicts us and 
 
MR. BRAUNWALD's ADDRESS. 287 
 
 consoles us ; let us participate in his designs, and 
 accomplish his purposes in our behalf. Let us 
 be joined in the bonds of that charity, which is 
 the greatest of all virtues ; let us love each other 
 to the end of this mortal life ; let us love each 
 other in the life to come. Let us love each other 
 in God, in whose bosom we shall one day meet 
 to be united for ever, if we serve Him faithfully 
 here below. Let us vow to the God of all good- 
 ness entire resignation, unshaken faith. And 
 may the Father of mercies be the consolation 
 and support of the afflicted family and friends of 
 the venerable dead, of this parish filled with 
 mourning ! 
 
 " Adieu, venerable Oberlin ! in heavenly man- 
 sions, thou art reaping that which thou hast 
 sown — thy works follow thee. Delivered from 
 every evil, thou nearest thy Saviour say, ■ I know 
 thy works and charity, thy faith and patience.' 
 Adieu, noble friend ; adieu, honored father ! 
 Never shall thy image be effaced from our hearts ; 
 never shalt thou cease to be the object of our 
 veneration, — thy memory, as that of the just, shall 
 be blessed for ever. Amen." 
 
 M. Bedel, a physician of Schirmeck, then step- 
 ped forward amongst the crowd, and pronounced 
 a short eulogy on the deceased ; and amidst the 
 tears of the assembled multitude, which formed, 
 
288 MEMOIRS OF OBERLIN. 
 
 perhaps, the most eloquent funeral oration, his re- 
 mains were consigned to the grave. 
 
 In delineating the character of this extraordi- 
 nary man, we have not, it is true, had to trace 
 his steps, with those of the philanthropic How- 
 ard, through the desolate regions of Russia, 
 nor to witness his expiring sighs in the dreary 
 wilds of Tartary ; we have not had to follow him, 
 with the pious and indefatigable Marty n, across 
 the sunny plains of Persia, to communicate the 
 glad tidings of salvation to the benighted heathen, 
 nor to see him, regardless of his own shattered 
 health, sacrifice his life to the glory of Christ 
 amongst the nations of the East: — Oberlin's 
 sphere of usefulness was at home. — But there, 
 in the secluded recesses of his beloved Vosges, 
 the benevolent ardor of Howard, and the self-de- 
 nying zeal of Martyn, were eminently displayed. 
 
 To get good from heaven, and to do good on 
 earth, constituted, indeed, the sole aim of his life, 
 and constrained the dedication of every talent, 
 and the consecration of every power to the ser- 
 vice of his Lord and Master. Humility was in- 
 timately blended with his other Christian graces ; 
 and, deeply conscious of his own inability to ad- 
 vance one step in holiness, or to induce others to 
 follow him in his path Zion-wards, without Di- 
 vine assistance, he meekly depended on, and 
 
CONCLUSION. 289 
 
 earnestly implored the aid of God's Holy Spirit : 
 repeatedly uttering his favorite maxim, " Rien 
 sans Dlau:" (Nothing without God.) So far 
 from being actuated by the hope of reward for 
 
 any personal worthiness, he disclaimed all merit 
 of his own, and firmly believing in the divinity, 
 rested entirely on the propitiation, of Jesus. 
 " Tout au Sauveur" (all to the Saviour,) was 
 his constant motto, and constituted the moving 
 principle of his exertions. " What," said he to 
 a minister who visited him a short time before 
 his last illness, " did not our dear Saviour suffer 
 for us ? — Nothing then is difficult when we do it 
 for Him. To Him let us wholly devote our- 
 selves." 
 
 Through the all-sufficiency of that Saviour's 
 atonement, he is now, undoubtedly, praising God 
 in that kingdom of light and love, for which 
 whilst on earth he so ardently longed ; and, hav- 
 ing exchanged the graces of time for the glories 
 of eternity, is joining in the triumphant song of 
 the " ten thousand times ten thousand : " " Wor- 
 thy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, 
 and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, 
 and glory, and blessing." — " Blessing, and hon- 
 or, and glory, and power, be unto Him that silteth 
 upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and 
 ever ! " 
 
 19 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 1. page 53. 
 
 "A sincere Renewal of my Baptismal Covenant, 
 made in the Presence and the Name of the Holy 
 Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and 
 God the Holy Ghost. 
 
 " As the anniversary of my baptism approaches, 
 I ask myself, if I have devoted to the service of 
 God the many years he hasadded to my life ; but, 
 alas ! I must needs confess, with shame and sor- 
 row, that I have robbed Him of my best days to 
 give them to the god of this world and to devote 
 them to his service ; meanwhile, I have no feeling 
 in my soul of the shame, the pain, and the real 
 horror of sin. — What then shall I do ? Thou, O 
 my God, must work all this within me. Thou 
 wilt do it. Thou hast opened my eyes, that I 
 may see that I have not been serving thee. Thou 
 wilt carry on the work ; yes, I feel assured that 
 though thou art invisible thyself, thou wilt ever 
 touch my soul with thy divine influence. I fear 
 not to say that I have already experienced it. 
 
APPENDIX. 291 
 
 " In the name of the most Sacred Trinity and 
 before the holy angels, I profess my desire to con- 
 secrate the remainder of my life to God, relying 
 upon his assistance. — But, O Lord Jesus, what 
 have I promised ? I am taking too much upon 
 me, poor worm of the dust, — I, so cold in heart, 
 so blind to the darkness around me and within 
 me, I would consecrate myself to the service of 
 God. 
 
 "Yes, I would! Where man has no merit 
 nor power of his own, there my Saviour delights to 
 make known his name, to show forth his compas- 
 sion and kifinite love. Dear Saviour ! I see 
 nothing but evil in myself: and my condition is 
 so much the worse, in that I am insensible to my 
 disease. 
 
 " O my Saviour ! thy promise is clear ; thou 
 wilt not abandon me ; thou canst not but take 
 pity on me. Thou canst not but take pity on 
 me ; thou hast spoken these words to my heart : 
 ' I will deliver thee in the time of trouble ; with 
 long life will I satisfy thee, and show thee my 
 salvation.' What is this salvation, if not spiritual 
 blessings ; what is this long life, if not the life 
 eternal and most happy ? 
 
 " From thee do I receive this gracious promise j 
 thou hast often imparted it for consolation to my 
 soul, in moments of affliction, and I have it still 
 living in my soul ; when Satan would deprive me 
 of this source of comfort, O grant it new power 
 in my heart ; return upon the adversary the poi- 
 
292 APPENDIX. 
 
 soned darts with which he assails me; grant that 
 under the guidance of thy good and holy Spirit 
 I may continue my pilgrimage, as one who desires 
 indeed to become thy child, and to be redeemed 
 by thy blood. 
 
 " Lo here, dear Saviour, my heart and my 
 hands ; I am thine ; with my husband and my 
 dear children, I am thine. My desire is that we 
 may all be completely thine in body and soul. 
 Take and possess all that I have ; make us ready 
 and prepare our hearts, so that, relying uponthy 
 merits alone, we may always be worthy to appear 
 in thy holy presence. 
 
 " If this writing should fall into the hands of 
 my children or others, after my death, permit it 
 not to be without a salutary influence on their 
 souls. 
 
 " Once again, my dearest Saviour, I give myself 
 to thee ; grant me thy holy Spirit, to be my guide 
 and ruler ; give me a docile and obedient heart, 
 and a faithful attention to thy voice. Bestow 
 upon me the spirit of childlike love towards thee, 
 and not of slavish fear. Give me living faith, 
 that incredulity may not separate me from thee # 
 At the hour of my death, dear Saviour, remember 
 thy lowfy servant, that thy angels may present me 
 before thy throne ; let me then hear again that 
 voice of peace and grace, which says, ' Come, 
 ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- 
 pared for you from the foundation of the world.' 
 
Ai»i'i;\i)i\. 2 { X\ 
 
 Lord God, Jesus Christ, my kind Saviour, answer 
 this request in tenderness. Most Holy Trinity, 
 answer and grant my prayer. 
 
 " 1 have written this act and signed it with my 
 hand from 'the instigation and free choice of my 
 heart. 
 
 " Madeleine Salom£ Oberlin, 
 
 formerly, Witter. 
 
 " Waldbach, 1777." 
 
 No. 2. page 77. 
 
 The following hymn is given as a specimen of 
 those in use at the Ban de la Roche. 
 
 Pour le nouvel an, en particulier. 
 
 £i(f, £cit 3ceut! lafs getingen. 
 
 15. Air M. M. 
 
 1. 
 
 " Je ne saurais de 1' annee 
 Sans toi commencer le cours, 
 Auteur de ma destinie ! 
 Sage arbitre de mes jours ! 
 Entre tes mains je remets 
 Ma personne et mes projets : 
 Je t'adore et je te prie 
 De renouveller ma vie. 
 
294 APPENDIX. 
 
 2. 
 
 " Guide-moi par ta lumiere, 
 Soutiens-moi par ton amour 
 Dans la nouvelle carriere, 
 Que je commence en ce jour : 
 ArTranchis-moi de l'erreur ; 
 Excite et porte mon cceur 
 A ne vouloir, a ne faire 
 Que le bien, qui peut te plaire. 
 
 3. 
 
 " J'ai des ma plus tendre enfance 
 Souvent transgresse ta loi ; 
 II est temps que je commence 
 A me rapprochfir de toi : 
 Pour assurer mon bonheur 
 Fais qu'une sainte frayeur 
 Me porte a la penitence, 
 Pour desarmer ta vengeance. 
 
 4. 
 
 "Daigne augmenter cette annee 
 En moi les graces, Seigneur! 
 Que mon ame illuminee 
 Se devoue a ton honneur ; 
 Et qu'en fidele chretien, 
 M'attachant toujours au bien 
 Et fuyant Thypocrisie, 
 Je te consacre ma vie. 
 
 5. 
 
 " Dieu tout-bon ! fais que je passe 
 Cette annee heureusement ; 
 Jesus ! fais luire ta face 
 Sur moi favorablement : 
 
APPENDIX. 295 
 
 Rends-moi forme dans la foi, 
 Pour vivre et mourir en toi, 
 Et pour avoir en partage 
 De tes elus riierita^e." 
 
 No. 3. page 215. 
 
 1804, Mars 23. 
 
 Entree. 
 
 Seigneur Jesus Christ, notre adorable Redemp- 
 teur, fais nous la grace qu'aucun evenement entre 
 nous ne se passe sans laisser sur nos coeurs des im- 
 pressions salutaires. 
 
 Que nous nous demandions par ex : a l'occasion 
 du trepas du jeune homme dont le cadavre est en- 
 ferme dans le cercueil, oil sera-t-il actuellement ? 
 etait il pret pour la mort ? avait il ete fidele a 
 son alliance avec Dieu — avait il cherche le seul 
 necessaire avec Pempressement qu'une chose si 
 importante requiert, et de tout son coeur ? ses 
 forces, et ses talens corporels et spirituels, et son 
 temps, les-a-t-il employes suivant 1'intention de 
 son Createur, c. a. d. avant toutes choses pour re- 
 jouir, consoler, servir, soulager ses parens, et par 
 la de les mener k la sanctification et a la prepa- 
 ration d'une moisson eternelle ? 
 
296 APPENDIX. 
 
 Et nous memes, si a sa place la mort nous avait 
 enleves, ou serions nous actuellement ? 
 
 O Seigneur, dessille nos yeux afin que l'amour 
 propre et l'esprit de presomption ne nous en im- 
 pose ; faisons nous a tous egards ce que tu sou- 
 haites — prions nous pour nos enfans, et nos fil- 
 leuels avec tant d'instance, d'ardeur, et de perse- 
 verance que nous puissions esperer d'heriter avec 
 eux la gloire et la felicite eternelle que Jesus 
 Christ nous a acquise ? 
 
 Cher Seigneur, daigne faire que ces reflexions 
 nous animent a un zele redouble. Amen. 
 
 Le jeune homme que vous enterrez est Samuel 
 Conserve, fils de Claude Loux, de Zolbach. 
 
 Les parens affliges du defunt m'ont charge de 
 temoigner leur gratitude aux personnes qui dans 
 leur longue tribulation leur out prete secours. 
 lis demandent a Dieu, le grand Remunerateur de 
 toutes les ceuvres de charite, qu'il veuille les 
 recompenser dans ce monde et dans l'eternite. 
 
 No. 4. page 215. 
 
 18*22. O. Pcntccotc a Vantcl. 
 
 " Jc vous baptise r/'rr/?/, mats celui qui vicnt 
 apres ?noi, est plus puissant que moi 9 et jc ne suis 
 pas digne de lui 'porter scs soldiers ; e'est lui qui 
 
 
APPENDIX. ~9? 
 
 vous baptisera du St. Esprit ttdi feu." Matt. 
 
 iii. 10. 
 
 Chera amis! Par lc saint Bapt£me nous avons 
 etc reous enfans de Dion, d'aprea la premiere des- 
 tination du genre huniain. 
 
 31;iis mi enfant sans obeissance envera son pire, 
 no perd-il pas son droit d'enfance? Et avcz vous 
 accompli les ordrcs de Dicu — ccs ordres, pas 
 seulemcnt ccux du Nouveau Testament, mais 
 aussi de I'Ancien, dont le Seigneur nous assure 
 qu'il nc laissera pas transgresser un seul iota? 
 Les avez-vous accompli tons et parfaitement ? 
 Avez vous aime Dieu de tout votre cceur, et de 
 toute votre amel — et le prochain Paimez vous, 
 et l'avez vous toujours aime, comme vous-mrme ? 
 Avez vous en consequence de ce double amour 
 execute constammenl toute la volonte de Dieu bon- 
 ne, agreable et partake? Avez-vous constam- 
 ment fait tous vos etforts pour entrer par la porte 
 fetroite ! 
 
 ' Helaa ! helas ! ' me repondra tout homme sen- 
 se — ' il s'en taut infmiment ! Ah, si le Seigneur 
 vouloit entrer en jugement avec nous qui est ce 
 qui subsisterait ? ' 
 
 En voila. le but de la Pentecote ! C'esl de nous 
 avertir que le premier Bapteme ne suffit pas ; il 
 faut, a force de prior instamment, obtcnir le dcux- 
 ieme bapteme, le bapteme du Saint Esprit et de 
 feu, cette force et vertu mervilleuse qui vivilie 
 en nous la parole de Dieu, qui la fait jotter des 
 racines dans notre cceur, et porter du fruit. 
 
298 APPENDIX. 
 
 Dites, chers amis ! Quand vous semez vos 
 semences quelconques, par quel force, par quel 
 secret merveilleux et magique empe^chez-vous que 
 ces semences si tendres et delicates ne pourrissent 
 pas dans la terre : mais au contraire qu'en se 
 multipliant elles vous recompensent si largement 
 de vos peines ? 
 
 Certes, aucune puissance humaine ne peut 
 operer cette merveille. Mais, c'est que Dieu, ce 
 Papa tendre et misericordieux de toutes ses che- 
 res creatures, par sa bonte et par amour pour ses 
 enfans — car c'est comme tels qu'il aime tout ce 
 qu'il a cree ; — le cher Pere celeste, dis-je, com- 
 munique aux semences des plantes aussi comme 
 une espece de bapteme de feu et de vie ; qui pas 
 seulement les garantit de la pourriture ; mais qui 
 leur communique une vertu merveilleuse, quasi 
 creatrice et divine, la vertu d'en produire d'au- 
 tres de leurs especes, et de se multiplier. 
 
 Et — oh amis! C'est cette meme vertu divine 
 et merveilleuse, que nous devons, par nos voeux et 
 soupirs ardens et perseverans, mais secrets, 
 tacher d'obtenir sur la semence de Parole de 
 Dieu, lorsque nous Pecoutons a Peglise, ou que 
 nous la lisons pour nous-memes, ou lorsque nous 
 la communiquons a nos enfans et nos domestiques, 
 soit le matin, soit a differentes reprises par jour, 
 suivarrt les circonstances. 
 
 Alors celui, qui multiplie vos semences que vous 
 confiez a la terre, vous baptisera aussi de feu et 
 
APPENDIX. 299 
 
 du Saint Esprit, et benira en vous, ct les chers 
 votres, les semences cle sa Sainte Parole. Et il 
 arrivera que vous, et vos families, malgre toute la 
 corruption des cceurs, et les exemples seducteurs 
 de ceux qui habitent sur la terre, et malgre les 
 tentations et les sieges des esprits de 1'armee de 
 Satan, — vous deviendrez de saintes plantes de 
 l'Eternel, capables d'etre transplantees dans le 
 paradis de Dieu, sans crainte, ni risque de dechoir 
 jamais de votre ineffable felicite. 
 
 No. 5. page 262. 
 
 This admirable Institution, founded in 1824, is 
 destined for the reception of neglected children, 
 from the age of five to that of confirmation. It is 
 not confined to those of Strasbourg only, but ex- 
 tends its benefits to children of any other part of 
 Alsace, or elsewhere : there are already two chil- 
 dren from Paris there, for whom the Lutheran 
 Consistory of that city pays the fixed annual sti- 
 pend of one hundred and fifty francs. The chil- 
 dren of foreigners are not excluded, although 
 those of natives similarly circumstanced have the 
 preference. The candidates for admission have 
 to produce a certificate of birth from the civil au- 
 thorities ; a certificate of poverty from their min- 
 ister ; a certificate from a physician that the child 
 
300 APPENDIX. 
 
 has been vaccinated, and finally, a written agree- 
 ment from a respectable person, binding himself 
 to take care of the child after its leaving the es- 
 tablishment. 
 
 The Institution consists of a school on the plan 
 of the Protestant Parochial Schools in Strasbourg, 
 with this difference, that the children are taught 
 the most necessary parts of geography, natural 
 history, and astronomy, during their leisure hours; 
 and religious instruction is afforded by the small 
 Lutheran catechism ; and also a School of Indus- 
 try, in which, at present, tailors' work is the 
 chief employment, though it is intended at a fu- 
 ture time to instruct the boys in the trades of 
 shoemaking, baking, and weaving ; in the mean 
 time, however, they are employed under the di- 
 rection of their master, formerly a teacher at the 
 Institution of Mr. Fellenburg, of Hofwyl, in tur- 
 nery, cabinet-work, pin-making, book-binding, 
 plaiting, ribbon-weaving, &,c, and the girls with 
 domestic occupation, knitting, sewing, spinning, 
 &c. The children are also practically instructed 
 in gardening and agriculture. The Institution is 
 kept up by voluntary contributions, which are 
 received by the following members of the com- 
 mittee ; 
 
 M. C. W. Krafft, President. 
 
 Prof. Herrensciineider, Honorary Member. 
 
 Messrs. Legrand, Foudai, Ban do la Roche. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 301 
 
 N. B. Twenty-four children are already receiv- 
 ed, and ninety are on the lists, soliciting ad- 
 mission. 
 
 " Blessed is he that considereth the poor ; the 
 Lord will deliver him in time of trouble " Psalm 
 xli. 1. 
 
 THE END. 
 
_ 
 
 *n 
 
* ^^<