prizes in horticultural operations. The beneficial effect of this measure induced Oberlin to institute a prize, to be awarded to those who should rear the finest ox; and he likewise took measures to induce the farmers to convert the least productive grass lands into arable fields, and by means of the clover, already noticed, to feed the beasts in their stalls. By this last mentioned practice he hoped to increase the amount of available manure, for the sake of the arable land; nor were his hopes disappointed. Attention to manures he knew to be one of the primary principles in agriculture, and on this subject he spared no pains to enlighten the people. He induced the practice of gathering together all vegetable refuse, such as the leaves of trees, the stalks of rushes, moss, and fir cones-all which, when fermented in heaps, might be converted into a useful compost. Acting on his favourite maxim, that nothing should be lost, he also, to increase the compost heaps, instructed the children to tear old woollen rags into shreds, and to cut up old shoes; for all which he paid them sixteen sous, or eightpence, for a bushel, and one sou for the smallest quantity they could collect. A short time afterwards, in order to induce the rising generation to persevere in the course of improvement which had been begun in the district, he commenced the plan of lecturing, for two hours every Thursday morning, on agriculture, vegetable physiology, and other useful branches of science. It will readily be supposed that these various enterprises were interspersed over a pretty long series of years. Unlike an ordinary class of improvers, who act with great zeal for a time, and then, when they have either satisfied a whim, or gained some paltry meed of applause, relax, if not altogether cease their efforts, Oberlin was animated by an unwearying and ever buoyant spirit of social melioration. Nor, while giving so much time and anxiety to the temporal welfare of his flock, did he neglect the more weighty matter of religious instruction. The earnestness of his clerical ministrations was almost unexampled; and this, coupled with the amiableness of his character and his boundless benevolence, gained for him from his parishioners the title of Papa Oberlin, or Cher Papa (Dear Papa), by which he became universally known. Hitherto we have said nothing of Papa Oberlin's benevolent and judicious schemes for training the young. These, however, early engaged his attention. He was most solicitous of erecting a school-house in Waldbach, which might answer as a model for one in the other four villages; but the raising of the requisite funds for this undertaking was a matter of some difficulty among a poor population; from his own income, which was never above 1000 francs (L.40) annually, and already burdened with many claims, he could also derive little assistance. There were no landed gentry to whom he could apply; but, as in former cases of urgent necessity, friends at a distance extended a helping hand; and the school-house was at length erected and furnished. Not only so, but in the course of a few years a similar schoolhouse was erected in each of the other villages; and such was the progress of improved sentiment among the inhabitants, that they came voluntarily forward to second the efforts of their pastor, and to take on themselves the trouble and expense of supporting the establishment. To complete his scheme of education, he instituted arrangements for cultivating young men as teachers thus providing not only for the present, but the prospective conducting of these useful seminaries. Having effected these important measures, Oberlin paused for a time to witness their operation, being hopeful that they would realise all he could wish for the secular instruction of the young. The schools answered every expectation; but something else was desirable. He observed with regret, that while parents were engaged in their daily labours, and the elder children at school, the infants were either neglected, or left in the charge of old women, incompetent, from their infirmities and their ignorance, to pay them the attention and give them the instruction they required. Education, as he justly considered, begins in the nursery, and children may be taught right from wrong to be meek or passionate, cleanly or the reverse, before they are out of their cradle. To see an evil, was with Oberlin only preliminary to providing a remedy. He resolved to institute in his parish a number of salles d'asile, or infant schools, under properly qualified conductrices. In commencing operations, he received the assistance of his wife, who sought out and instructed women of mature age, and of a kindly disposition, to act as schoolmistresses. Having hired an apartment in each of the five villages and three hamlets in the canton, Oberlin placed in each one of these women, whom he termed a conductrice. At first, the schools were opened only one day in the week, as the conductrices were obliged to labour during the other days for their subsistence; but afterwards means were found for more frequent instruction. Having been previously initiated in the branches of knowledge best adapted to the purpose, the conductrice taught the children by turns whatever appeared most suited to their infant capacities. In the instructions there was a happy blending of labour with intellectual exertion. Children naturally love to finger or work at something, and, as is observed, if not provided with some kind of trivial but harmless employment, they will almost inevitably work mischief. To amuse their minds-to keep them from meddling with each other-and, in some instances, to keep them from falling asleep, as well as to accustom them to industrious habits, the elder boys were taught to pick or card wool and cotton, and the girls to spin, sew, and knit. Those who were too young for this species of labour, were placed in positions to see the work going on; for, next to working themselves, all children are fond of looking at others at work. this he was dissuaded by his father, and willingly addicted himself to a course of study suitable for a more peaceful pursuit. French, his vernacular tongue, he learned to write with great force and elegance; and besides the German language, he acquired a proficiency in Latin and Greek, with a competent knowledge of general science, and various other accomplishments. Partly from the wishes of his parents, who were of the reformed or Lutheran church, and partly from his own inclinations, he resolved on devoting himself to the duties of a clergyman. For this purpose he attended a course of theological study at the university of Strasburg, and in 1760 was ordained to the sacred ministry. Being still young, and possessing little experience of the world, Oberlin did not feel warranted in immediately assuming the pastoral office; for the space of seven years he devoted himself to private teaching, and for some time acted as tutor in the family of a distinguished surgeon, where he obtained that knowledge of medicine and surgery which proved so valuable to him in afterlife. While thus occupied, he was offered the chaplainship of a regiment, and this he was about to accept, as likely to place him in a sphere of considerable usefulness, when a new field of operation was laid before him by his friend M. Stouber, and the idea of a military chaplaincy was abandoned. M. Stouber had been, since 1750, the curé or pastor of a wild hilly canton among the Vosges, called by the French the Ban de la Roche, from the castle of La Roche, around which the Ban or district extends; and named by the Germans the Steinthal, or Stoney Valley, from the rocky and generally sterile appearance of its surface. The canton comprised two parishes, Rothau, in which was one church, and another in which were three churches, distributed among the villages of Foudai, Belmont, Waldbach, and Bellefosse. The principal part of the district was Lutheran, and enjoyed the privileges to which we have already adverted. As respects its physical features, the Ban de la Roche formed part of the western declivities and ramifications of the Haut Champ, an isolated group of mountains, rising 3600 feet above the level of the sea, and separated by a deep longitudinal valley from the eastern side of the chain of the Vosges. Waldbach, the principal village, is placed on the acclivity of the Haut Champ, at the height of 1800 feet; and Rothau is 1360 feet. The other villages or hamlets already mentioned occupy points more or less elevated. From the great height of the district, it possesses various climates, from that of a southern latitude on the lower slopes, to that of an extreme northern one in the higher parts. Such is the difference between the seasonal influences in the lower and upper tracts, that at Belmont the harvest is a month later than at Foudai. The whole canton contains between eight thousand and nine thousand acres, of which from three thousand |