xxii AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
ever. About one o’clock in the morning, Monsieur 
Raquedel, the family chaplain, thought that he 
heard an unusual noise in the apartment next to his 
bed-room. He arose, and, on opening the door of 
the chamber whence the noise had proceeded, he 
saw me in the act of lifting up the sash; and he 
was just in time to save me from going out at a 
window three stories high. I was fast asleep ; and, 
as soon as he caught hold of me, I gave a loud 
shriek. I thought I was on my way to a neigh- 
bouring wood, in which I knew of a crow’s nest. 
I was now shortly to be conducted to a place 
where at intervals I could attend to birds, without 
much risk of neglecting books. 
The armies of the French republic having revo- 
lutionised some of the finest parts of Europe, and 
scourged the inhabitants ; it was no longer safe for 
the Fathers of the Society of Jesus to remain in the 
town of Liége, where they had a celebrated college. 
As the American war had caused a relaxation of 
the penal laws which had been put in execution 
against us with the most unrelenting severity, these 
good fathers ventured to revisit their native land, 
from which they had retired in early youth. The 
generous Mr. Weld of Lulworth Castle in Dorset- 
shire, immediately afforded them a resting place. 
He well knew their worth, and he gladly stepped 
forward to offer them his hand, in their utmost need. 
Having succeeded by inheritance to the stately 
mansion of Stonyhurst, near Clitheroe, in Lanca- 
shire, to it he directed their wandering steps, and 
bade them settle there. My father, who had been 
