. The story of John Frederic Oberlin. ry over the rugged moun-tain ways the iron from the mines to the forgesat Rothau. The poverty of some was so extremethat one presentable suit of clothes was made toanswer for different members of the family andwas worn alternately, and one pair of sabots had toserve for all the household. Tax dues far beyondtheir ability accumulated year by year. Oberlinwrites: Money-gatherers are going about say-ing, Pay up, pay up, and it is difficult to savethem from the hands of the sheriff. Whoeversecures enough bread for a whole year is consid-ered very rich. Again,
. The story of John Frederic Oberlin. ry over the rugged moun-tain ways the iron from the mines to the forgesat Rothau. The poverty of some was so extremethat one presentable suit of clothes was made toanswer for different members of the family andwas worn alternately, and one pair of sabots had toserve for all the household. Tax dues far beyondtheir ability accumulated year by year. Oberlinwrites: Money-gatherers are going about say-ing, Pay up, pay up, and it is difficult to savethem from the hands of the sheriff. Whoeversecures enough bread for a whole year is consid-ered very rich. Again, he records in his journalthe joy of a poor widow upon receiving a centwhich he had feared to offer her lest he shouldoffend her, and further on adds, Oh, I wish thathe who has not learned to save, to be content withlittle, to limit himself to simple food and clothing,to refuse all frivolous things, might learn andknow the life of our poor Ban-de-la-Roche. Itis difficult for those in comfort to understand whatextreme poverty means. 36. EDUCATIONAL THEORIES AND PRACTISE His diary, which is full, does not anywhere,however, reveal any discouragement. He wasafflicted by the misery of the people, but he waswont to get mental relief from the scenes of itby turning to nature about him. The moun-tains uplifted his spirit. He loved the fields andmeadows of the valleys with the streams cours-ing through them. They helped him to postponefor the time his thoughts of the surroundinghuman sorrow. His botany paid him rich re-wards for the investment of his past study. Theflora of the fields, varied and rich, greatly in-terested him. Of one of his excursions as winterapproached he writes: Nature was of mar-velous beauty. The valleys and hills wereof a dazzling whiteness. The pine-trees werecovered with hoar frost. The frozen snowreflected everywhere brilliantly the rays of thesun. Again he refers to the satisfaction which cameto him in this communion with nature — * withthe hills lighted up b
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