xxil 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 neighbouring 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 Liege, 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 
Stony hurst, near Clitheroe, in Lancashire, to it he 
directed their wandering steps, and bade them settle 
there. My father, who had been educated at the 
