melancholy pleasure. The shape, the dimensions, the materials of the
room, the chair on which he sat, the floor which had been laid in part
by his own hands, the window-frame and desks, at which he had worked
with cheerful alacrity, were all objects of intense interest, and I
gazed on these relics of "the Apostle of the Alps," with feelings little
short of veneration. It was here that he sacrificed his life. The severe
winters of 1826-7, and the unremitted attention which he paid to his
duties, more especially to those of his school-room, were his
death-blow.

[Neff then relates some preliminary arrangements.]

Dormilleuse was the spot which I chose for my scene of action,
on account of its seclusion, and because its whole population is
Protestant, and a local habitation was already provided here for the
purpose. I reckoned at first that I should have about a dozen élèves;
but finding that they were rapidly offering themselves, and would
probably amount to double that number, at the least, I thought it right
to engage an assistant, not only that I might be at liberty to go and
look after my other churches and villages, but that I might not be
exposed to any molestation, for in France nobody can lawfully exercise
the office of a schoolmaster without a license, and this cannot be
granted either to a foreigner or a pastor. For these reasons I applied
to Ferdinand Martin, who was then pursuing his studies at Mens, to
qualify himself for the institution of M. Olivier, in Paris. It was a
great sacrifice on his part to interrupt his studies, and to lose the
opportunity of an early admission to the institution; nor was it a small
matter to ask him to come and take up his residence at the worst season
of the year, in the midst of the ice and frightful rocks of Dormilleuse.
But he was sensible of the importance of the work, and, without any