and Latin had been derived from the Abbé de Grimeau, a native of Languedoc, who had been forced to leave his country during the Revolution, and who for some years had been domesticated as tutor in the family at Bellevue. At the conclusion of the Peace of Amiens, the Abbé availed himself of the permission afforded to so many of his fellow-exiles to return to France, and as young Sheil was then in his eleventh year, his parents resolved that he should accompany his old preceptor on his way, as far as London, in order that he might be placed at school. Arrived at the end of their journey, the Abbé kindly devoted several days to the business of showing his pupil some of the sights of the great city which fill the mind of a boy with wonder and delight. This done, he informed him that the time for their separation drew near, and that his instructions were, to leave him at Kensington House, where a school had been established under the auspices of certain French refugees, who styled themselves the Pères de la Foi. Thither they proceeded accordingly. Through the openwork of the large old-fashioned gates was to be seen a garden, filled with shrubs and flowers. It was the first glimpse of his new abode, and struck the curious eye of the little stranger with a certain sense of pleasure. Instead of immediately entering the house,

he was led by his old friend to the playground, which was situated at the rear of the building.

The moment he entered, his ears were filled with the shrill vociferations of some hundreds of little emigrants who were engaged in their various amusements, and babbled, screamed, laughed, and shouted in all the velocity of their rapid and joyous language. He did not hear a word of English, and at once perceived that he was as much amongst Frenchmen as if he had been suddenly transferred to a Parisian college. Having got this peep at the gaiety of the school into which he was to be introduced, he was led, with his companion, to a chamber covered with faded gilding, and which had once been richly tapestried, where he found the head of the establishment, in the person of a French nobleman, Monsieur le Prince de Broglie.* M. de Broglie was the son of the well-known Marshal who bore a considerable part in the events of 1790, in France. Like most of his family, he had been trained to the profession of arms; but during the Emigration he was induced, while residing in Germany, to take Orders: and coming to England some years later, he endeavoured to support himself by opening a school, where the sons of his fellow

* Schoolboy Recollections, &c.

countrymen in exile, in addition to the ordinary opportunities of instruction, might preserve a knowledge of the dialect and associations of the country they had lost. The political and ecclesiastical ideas of the Abbé were alike uncompromising. He refused to return to France, after the amnesty conceded by Napoleon, because he could not conscientiously take the oath of fidelity to the constitution; and his repugnance to the Concordat granted by Pius VII. led him, in concert with others who entertained similar opinions, to constitute themselves into a species of schismatic church, denominated La Petite Eglise. He found it difficult to relinquish the enjoyments of society and those habits of expense to which he had been early accustomed. He kept a well-appointed curricle and pair, which he prided himself on driving with grace and skill. By the more ascetic members of the establishment he was thought to retain too much of the man of the world; but his foibles, such as they were, lay wholly in too great a love of expense, for in all more important particulars his life was a blameless one. Credulous and inexperienced in business, he was sometimes tempted to speculate in matters of which he knew little. He was thus led into expenditure above his means, and was eventu

ally obliged to give up the establishment at Kensington.

His person and manners, which retained all the impress of the vieille cour, are thus described from recollection by his new pupil: "I saw in him a little, slender and gracefully-constructed Abbé, with a sloping forehead, on which the few hairs that were left him were nicely arranged, and well-powdered and pomatomed. He had a gentle smile, full of suavity, which was made up of guile and of weakness, but which deserved the designation of aimable in the best sense of the word. His clothes were adapted with a peculiar nicety to his symmetrical person, and his silk waistcoat and black silk stockings, with his small shoes buckled with silver, gave him altogether a glossy aspect. Notwithstanding his humble pursuits, he was designated by everybody as Monsieur le Prince.'

The preliminaries of introduction having been gone through, my French tutor took his farewell; and, as he embraced me for the last time, I well remember that he was deeply affected by the sorrow which I felt at my separation from him; and turning to Monsieur le Prince, recommended me to his care with an emphatic tenderness. The latter led me into

the school-room, where I had a desk assigned to me beside the son of the Count Décar, who has since, I understand, risen to offices of very high rank in the French court. His father belonged to the nobility of the first class. In his son it would have been at that time difficult to detect his patrician derivation. He was a huge lubberly fellow, with thick, matted hair, which he never combed. His complexion was greasy and sudorific, and to soap and water he seemed to have such a repugnance that he did not above once a week go through any process of ablution. He was surly, dogged and silent; and spent his time in the study of mathematics, for which he had a good deal of talent. I have heard that he is now one of the most fashionable and accomplished men about the court that this Gorgonius smells now of the pastiles of Rufillus.

"On the other side of me was a young French West Indian, from the colony of Martinique, whose name was Devarieux. The school was full of the children of the French planters, who had been sent over to learn English among the refugees from the Revolution. He was an exceedingly fine young fellow, the exact reverse in all his habits to Monsieur le Compte Décar, on my left hand, and expended a good deal of