is notice, the perusal of which gave quite a new direction to his
life. Becoming impressed by religion, his ambition now was to be a
missionary. Leaving the army, in which he had reached the rank of
sergeant at nineteen, he proceeded to prepare himself for the
ministry, and after studying for a time, and passing his preliminary
examinations, he was, in conformity with the custom of the Geneva
Church, employed on probation as a lay helper in parochial work. In
this capacity Neff first went to Mens, in the department of Isere,
where he officiated in the absence of the regular pastor, as well as
occasionally at Vizille, for a period of about two years.

It was while residing at Mens that the young missionary first heard of
the existence of the scattered communities of primitive Christians on
the High Alps, descendants of the ancient Vaudois; and his mind became
inflamed with the desire of doing for them what Oberlin had done for
the poor Protestants of the Ban de la Roche. "I am always dreaming of
the High Alps," he wrote to a friend, "and I would rather be stationed
there than under the beautiful sky of Languedoc."

But it was first necessary that he should receive ordination for the
ministry; and accordingly in 1823, when in his twenty-fifth year, he
left Mens with that object. He did not, however, seek ordination by
the National Church of Geneva, which, in his opinion, had in a great
measure ceased to hold Evangelical truth; but he came over to London,
at the invitation of Mr. Cook and Mr. Wilks, two Congregational
ministers, by whom he was duly ordained a minister in the Independent
Chapel, Poultry.

Shortly after his return to France, Neff, much to his own
satisfaction, was invited as pastor to the very district in which he
so much desired to minister--the most destitute in the High Alps.
Before setting out he wrote in his journal, "To-morrow, with the
blessing of God, I mean to push for the Alps by the sombre and
picturesque valley of L'Oisan." After a few days, the young pastor was
in the scene of his future labours; and he proceeded to explore hamlet
after hamlet in search of the widely-scattered flock committed to his
charge, and to arrange his plans for the working of his extensive
parish.

But it was more than a parish, for it embraced several of the most
extensive, rugged, and mountainous arrondissements of the High Alps.
Though the whole number of people in his charge did not amount to more
than six or se