so completely covered with ice, as to have the appearance of an immense glacier. During the summer months, the narrow pathway which conducts to the church is watered by playful cascades, which fall from the projecting rocks; but now, these descending streams are all frozen, and have assumed the most grotesque forms imaginable, in many places stretching quite across the foot-path, and having a perfect semblance to the most exquisite tapestry. Early in the morning, I took with me a few young men, and, having procured hatchets, we soon cleared away these obstructions, levelled some of the most dangerous passes, and hewed steps in the ice, so that our friends from the lower hamlets, who worshipped with us, were all enabled to ascend without accident. My morning congregation was numerous. The whole of the afternoon I was employed with my catechumens in a stable. Many persons from the lower parts of the valley, who had attended the services of the day, had expressed a determination to remain all night at Dormillouse; conse

quently we held a 'reunion,' and, having resumed my instructions, the evening was spent in a very agreeable and edifying man

ner.

"Having remained here several days, thus engaged in various religious exercises, I proceeded to Minsas, accompanied by twelve of my oldest catechumens."

On this occasion, Neff visited every hamlet between Vars and La Grave, the two extremities of his parish, alike regardless of the storms and the severity of the season, and of the toils and the imminent perils he must encounter, in forcing his passage across the mountains which separated him from many portions of his numerous charge. From Minsas, he had proceeded to the remaining hamlets in Val Fressiniere, and then traversed the whole of the valleys of Queras and Champsor, making a call at every cottage, and in each gathering the family together, reading the Scriptures to them, conversing on religious subjects, and soliciting advice respecting the measures which might prove most conducive to the im

provement of their temporal circumstances, but especially such as were best adapted for conveying that genuine knowledge of the Saviour, so inseparably connected with their immortal welfare.

CHAPTER VIII.

NEFF DETERMINES TO HAVE NO FIXED ABODE-THE DESTITUTE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE INHABITANTS OF FRESSINIERE IN PARTICULAR, DESCRIBED HE INTRODUCES A BETTER SYSTEM OF EDUCATION HAS A PLACE OF WORSHIP ERECTED AT VIOLINS AND FORMS CIRCULATING

LIBRARIES.

IT is necessary to visit these regions, to form an adequate conception of the toils and deprivations which now awaited this zealous and devoted pastor. At La Chalp, one of the few agreeable spots in the Higher Alps, a neat and sequestered cottage had been erected for him; but so deeply was he interested for the welfare of these long neglected Alpines, and so great was his anxiety, lest any of them should be overlooked, that he was determined to have no fixed place of abode. Such was the extent of his pastoral jurisdiction, and so difficult of access were many of the hamlets within its limits, that he was unable to spend more than two or three days in the course of each

month, at his nominal residence at La Chalp. When issuing from this secluded glen, to prosecute his arduous and disinterested labours, the pastor of the Alps had to travel twelve miles to the west, sixty to the east, twenty to the south, and thirty-three to the north. The life of Neff, from this period, was one of almost constant migration; and so long as his hardy and vigorous constitution remained unimpaired, he was unwearied and punctual in the performance of his long and toilsome rounds, visiting every portion of his scattered parishioners in regular succession. Nor was it until his physical energies were completely exhausted, that he allowed himself a single day of relaxation and repose. From the commencement of his labours here, to his last illness, he never slept three nights successively in the same bed. No sooner had the time expired which he had allotted for the religious instruction of the inhabitants of one hamlet, than he was seen with his staff in his hand, and his wallet on his back, vigorously scaling the mountain side, or winding his solitary course through deep and dreary defiles,