"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 of one gone before them to heaven, where they confidently hoped, sooner or later, to meet him again. 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 unlimited confidence in God's unerring goodness." Every The firm belief that every event of our lives is under the guidance and direction of a superintending Providence, and that Infinite Wisdom can, from a variety of dispensations, produce 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 sentiments, 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 "glory in tribulation," can anticipate with joyful hope that period "when sorrow and sighing shall flee away." CHAPTER VI. HIS PARISHIONERS-HIS GENEROUS UNMOLESTED STATE OF THE BAN DE LA ROCHE DURING THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION-OBERLIN'S RENUNCIATION OF HIS OWN INTERESTS FOR THE SAKE OF SCHOOL FOR THE CHILDREN OF FOREIGNERS-HIS SENTIMENTS RESPECTING THE PAYMENT OF TITHES-LETTER CONTAINING A PLAN FOR THEIR DISBURSEMENT-PURCHASE OF ASSIGNATS-HIS INFLUENCE IN EXCITING A SPIRIT OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY AMONG HIS PEOPLE - ACCOUNT OF SOPHIA BERNARD, &c.-OBERLIN BECOMES A CORRESPONDENT SOCIETY-LETTERS OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE THE LONDON COMMITTEE-MODE OF COLLECTING SUBSCRIP- 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, deprived of his scanty income. Soon after its commencement, indeed, it had been agreed by the heads of the parish that a collection of 1400 francs should be made for him, by persons going about from house to house for the purpose; but although their benevolent efforts were exerted to the utmost, they could not raise, during the year 1789, more than 1133 francs, and in the following one not so many as 400. 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 expense, at least as far as their clergyman is concerned." 66 66 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, famine 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 1 benevolence and instruction unmolested.* His house, in fact, became the retreat of many individuals of different religious persuasions, and of distinguished rank, who fled thither, under the influence of terror, from Strasbourg and its environs, and who always received the most open-hearted and cordial reception, though it endangered his own situation. "I once," says a gentleman, who was then residing at Waldbach, 66 saw a chief actor of the Revolution in Oberlin's house, and in that atmosphere he seemed to have lost his sanguinary disposition, and to have exchanged the fierceness of the tiger for the gentleness of the lamb." It is pleasing to see how a Christian minister could meet the difficulties of times like these, and how one of Oberlin's courage and aptitude could make the circumstances of so alarming * Once, indeed, in the year 1789, he was cited before the Supreme Council of Alsace, and had to clear himself from the accusation of having induced his parishioners 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 virtues, and of the good that he had effected, after pronouncing judgment in his favour, expressed regret that so estimable an individual should have been drawn from his solitude, to the interruption of the exercise of his charitable labours. |