332] 
tion, but even of asking or an- 
swering a question in the eommon 
intercourse of life. To a home.bred 
Englishman every object, every 
custom was Offensive ; but the na- 
tive of any country might have 
been disgusted with the general 
aspect of his lodging and entertain. 
ment. I had now exchanged my 
elegant apartment in Magdalen 
college, for a narrow gloomy 
street, the most unfrequented of an 
unhandsome town, for an. old in- 
‘convenient house, and for a small 
chamber, ill-contrived and ill-fur. 
nished, which,‘ on the approach of 
winter, instead of a companionable 
fire, must be warmed by the dull 
invisible heat of a stove. From a 
man I‘was again degraded to the 
dependance of a school-boy. Mr, 
Pavilliard managed my expences, 
which had been reduced to a dimi- 
nutive state; I received a small 
monthly allowance for my pocket. 
money ; and, helpless and aukward 
as I have ever been, I-no longer 
enjoyed the indispensable comfort 
of a servant. My condition seemed 
as destitute of hope, as it was de- 
void of pleasure; I was separated 
for an indefinite, which appeared 
an infinite term, from my native 
country ; and I had lost all con. 
nexion with my Catholic friends. 
T’have since reflected with surprize, 
that as the Romish clergy of every 
part of Europe maintain a close 
correspondence with each other, 
they never attempted, by letters or 
messages, to rescue me from the 
hands of the heretics, or at least to 
confirm my zeal and constancy in 
the profession of the faith. Such 
was my first introduction to Lau- 
sanne; a place where I spent nearly 
five years with pleasure and profit, 
which I afterwards revisited with. 
out compulsion, and which I have 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1796. 
finally selefted as the most grate. 
ful retreat for the decline of my 
life. 
Bot it is the peculiar felicity of 
youth, that the most unpleasing 
objects and events seldom make a 
deep or lasting impression ; it forgets 
the past, enjoys the present, and 
anticipates the future. Atthe flexi- 
ble age of sixteen I soon learned to} 
endure, and gradually to adopt, the 
new forms of arbitrary manners : 
the real hardships of my situation 
were alienated by time. Had [I 
been sent abroad ina more splendid 
style, such as the fortune and 
bounty of my father might have 
supplied, I might have returned 
home with the same stock of lan- 
guage and science, which our 
country men-usualiy import from the } 
continent. An exile and a prisoner 
as I was, their example betrayed 
me into some irregularities of wine, 
of play, and of idle excursions; but 
I soon felt the impossibility of asso- 
clating with them on equal terms ; 
and, after the departure of my first 
acquaintance, I held a cold and 
civil correspondencé with their suc. 
cessors. ‘This seclusion from Eng. 
lish society was attended with the 
most solid benefits. In the Pays 
de Vaud, the French language is 
used with less imperfection than in 
most of the distant provinces of 
France: in Pavilliard’s family, ne- 
cessity compelled me to listen and 
to speak ; and if I was at first dis- 
heartened by the apparent slow. 
ness, in a few months I was asto- 
nished by the rapidity of my 
progress. My pronunciation was 
formed by the constant repetition 
of the same sounds; the variety of 
words and idioms, the rules of 
grammar, and distinétions of 
genders, were impressed in my 
memory: ease and freedom were 
obtained 
ee 
———, “> way 
