Under the direction of Neff, they dispersed themselves amongst the villages and hamlets of his mountain parishes. One of them began to labour at Drome, two at Trieve, two in the valley of Champsor, two in Val Queras, and the remaining five in various hamlets throughout Val Fressiniere.

CHAPTER XI.

THE HEALTH OF NEFF DECLINES-HE VISITS THE VALLEYS OF PIEDMONT SOME PERSECUTIONS COMMENCE IN THESE VALLEYS-NEFF RETURNS TO HIS CHARGE- AND IS RENDERED EMINENTLY USEFUL TO THE CATHOLICS.

OUR readers will remember the ceremony of the opening of a new temple at Violins, in Val Fressiniere, on which interesting occasion several Protestant pastors were present, and took part in that important solemnity; amongst whom was Mons. Antoine Blanc, a Vaudois pastor, from the valleys of Piedmont, who had been invited by Neff to preach the dedication sermon. Labourers in the same holy cause, and both of them alike actuated by love to the Redeemer, and an ardent zeal for the salvation of sinners, the interview which then took place was instrumental in producing between them an affectionate and permanent attachment.

From the tenor of one of Neff's letters, written from Guillestre, in the month of June,

immediately following the departure of his pupils from Dormillouse, it is obvious that his incessant and extraordinary labours, together with the additional toils and hardships he had imposed upon himself, during the long and inclement winter which had just terminated, had very materially exhausted his strength, and rendered it desirable that he should enjoy a few weeks of relaxation from his accustomed avocations. He had long felt an anxious desire to make a tour through the adjacent valleys of Piedmont; and it was probably this circumstance, in addition to the state of his health, which prevailed upon him to accept a pressing invitation from his friend M. Blanc, to accompany him on a visit to the various Protestant churches scattered throughout those lovely and hallowed vales, which, during the dark and cruel ages of Papal domination, were the retreat of primitive Christianity, and where a vast number of the faithful and devoted followers of Jesus joyfully yielded their testimony to the truth by the sacrifice of their lives.

In the progress of his tour through these

valleys, Neff met with numerous and mournful proofs of the sad and almost universal religious degeneracy existing amongst their present inhabitants. He left behind him, amongst his papers, a brief but interesting record of his observations on this subject, of which the writer readily avails himself, inasmuch as the testimony of such a man as Felix Neff is most decisive, as to the real state of religion amongst the Waldensian population.

It was on the 6th of July, during the summer of 1826, that he left Arvieux, in order to proceed across the Col de la Croix to La Tour, one of the Vaudois villages, and which Neff and his brother pastor had appointed as their place of rendezvous.

'Having left Arvieux," says Neff, “ I arrived the same day at the Col de la Croix, in the vicinity of Mount Viso. Here the prospect is one of vast extent. The traveller can descry the lofty summit of the Col, long before he reaches Milan." Having attained an elevated part of the mountain, Neff rested awhile, contemplating the numerous objects which were presented to his view. Accustomed as he was to mountain

scenery, the spectacle he now beheld appears to have filled him with amazement; and afterwards, when reverting to this circumstance, he confessed his inability to convey an adequate idea of the magnificent sublimity of the prospect which then presented itself. Above and around him were the rocks, the glaciers, and the eternal snows of the Alps; immediately beneath lay the extensive valleys of Piedmont; whilst in the distance, he could perceive the vast plains of Italy, under the canopy of an azure sky, smiling in luxuriance and verdure as they stretched along to the utmost verge of the horizon. In this situation, all the hardship and fatigue the tourist has previously to endure are at once forgotten, amidst the richness and grandeur of those objects which, when he has reached this towering elevation, so abruptly burst upon his astonished vision. If, in addition to a cultivated mind, he possesses a vivid imagination, he will find the scenes before him yielding pleasures of a nature still more rapturous and absorbing. Standing upon this Alpine summit, his eye glances through the rugged vista of impend