ing his companionship, drew forth such praise of Armine's conduct from several officers of distinction in the Brunswick army, as was deeply gratifying to himself and his relations. Sir Gordon Drummond, writing to the Bishop of Quebec on this occasion, says:

"There can be but one opinion on the subject, which is, that your son has conducted himself throughout this unpleasant affair in the most correct manner as an officer and a gentleman. The high commendation he has received from so many persons of rank and distinction is most flattering, and the prompt and handsome manner in which the officers of the Brunswick regiment testified their opinion is highly creditable to them, and honourable to your son; and I can only add, that yourself and Mrs. Mountain must ever feel proud to be blessed with such a son."

CHAPTER II.

IN 1819 Armine Mountain returned to England to meet his father and mother, who had come from Canada partly on account of the Bishop's health, which had suffered much from his constant labours and great exertions in his diocese, and partly for the sake of personally endeavouring to obtain some advantages for the Church in Canada.

After a few months passed amongst relatives and friends, Armine returned to the Continent in company with the son of Mr. Angerstein, of Weeting. They spent some time in Germany, France, and Switzerland. In 1821 he went again to Germany, and spent a winter at Augsbourg, where Queen Hortense, the mother of the present Emperor of the French, held her court. In a letter to his brother, dated Jan. 1821, he writes thus:

"On a bien le temps de s'appliquer à Augsbourg; c'est une belle ville, mais dépeuplée, et par conséquent un peu triste; cependant, je suis fort content de mon séjour ici. Le soir nous allons quelquefois au spectacle, et de temps en temps chez la Reine Hortense, à laquelle nous avons été présentés par Monsieur de Saxenhofen, qui nous a montré bien des amitiés. Sa suite est composée de deux dames

d'honneur, du Gouverneur, du jeune Prince, et de l'aumônier, et l'on trouve chez elle le bon ton de la cour sans étiquette ennuyeuse. C'est une dame remplie d'esprit que la Reine, et j'aime mieux encore aller chez elle quand il n'y a point d'étrangers, que les jeudis, où elle reçoit les personnes distinguées de la ville."

It was in the preceding year that he wrote the following to his mother:

"Ever Dear Mother,

"Lausanne, Christmas Day.

"As it is not this day given to me to embrace you, and to express to you by word of mouth the tender affection which fills my breast, I must have recourse to my pen. Long practice has, alas! accustomed me to live far from my family; and although I daily think of you, the hope of returning to you softens the pain of separation. But it is on festivals such as this, on which the whole family was wont to come together, that I feel all the loneliness of my lot, and love to occupy myself in retracing the scenes of the days of old. It is upon the anniversary of the great day upon which the Eternal Love blessed a world, that I consider myself called upon to cherish more goodwill towards all my fellow-beings; that I feel myself invited to love my friends and relatives more dearly, more disinterestedly; that I think it my duty, in pouring out my gratitude to the Father of all for His infinite mercies to me, to thank also with all my heart my earthly parents for the tender care which they have taken of my youth.

"May it please an all-powerful God, that you, father, mother, brothers, sisters, cousins, may spend happily this

day's festival; that the coming year may bring you each the accomplishment of your wishes; and that we may all one day be united upon English soil!"

During his residence on the Continent, Armine wrote long journal letters to his own family, giving accurate and minute descriptions of all he saw and did; but so many accounts have since that time been published of tours in Switzerland and Italy, that only a few extracts from his letters are here given, to show how, in distant countries and varied scenes, his heart clung to his parents and relations, and how the "besoin de se communiquer," which was so marked a trait in his character, was undiminished, even when he was sharing in the gaieties of Paris, Vienna, or Rome.

"1819.

"I arrived at Frankfort on the 19th of July, where my friend Angerstein joined me the next day. Preparations for our journey occupied four or five days, at the expiration of which we resolved to try our newly acquired carriage in an excursion to Hesse Homburg. Angerstein knew Sir Henry Campbell, whom we supposed to be there, and we hoped by his means to be introduced to the Princess.

"Upon our arrival there we found that Sir H. Campbell was gone, and that the Prince and his attendants had ridden out. The servant showed us into a room, as we supposed to write down our name; when the Princess Elizabeth, to our surprise, came forward, and after a short conversation, in which we introduced ourselves and

apologised for the intrusion, H. R. H. herself showed us round the château, talking with the most unaffected good humour of her husband and new relations, and asking with genuine politeness after our respective families. At the end of an hour, she desired her servant to show us the grounds, and we took our leave."

To his youngest Sister.

66

Orleans, Dec. 1819.

"None but those whom the waves of an ocean separate from all that they hold most dear, can conceive the delight that your letter, my dear little girl, and those of my father and mother, have given to your distant brother. The knowledge of your safety, the hope that all goes on well with you, and the conviction that I still retain a place in your memories, softens every vexation and heightens every pleasure of my varied existence."

"Sens. This ancient capital of the Sennones, still surrounded by Roman fortifications, is situated at the confluence of the Yonne and the Vanne, the water of which latter is conducted in small canals through its streets. The dilapidated battlements, grey with time, and the name of Julius Cæsar, who built a small fort near the town, render interesting this obscure place, once the seat of an archbishopric. In the choir of the Cathedral stands the mausoleum of the Dauphin, father of Louis XVI. One of the priests preserved this beautiful specimen of Coston's art from the fury of the multitude during the revolution, by taking it to pieces and hiding it in his house. A singular record of human folly and superstition, la Prose de l'Âne, is still preserved in the museum. This was a procession in which, in commemoration of our