what date is not known; it has existed time out of mind, and is certainly one of the finest ruins I have ever seen. In the days of the Charleses it was successively the refuge of distinguished persons, and more than once of the monarch himself. The Duc de Bouillon, who fitted up a few rooms as a temporary residence, was its last tenant. The castle crowns a promontory of rock, the base of which is washed by the sea, and from the highest tower the view of the village of Gozey beneath, of the island shore, and the opposite coast of France (only fifteen miles distant), is magnificent. . . . . I have, as I believe I said, as far as parties go, which invariably terminate in a dance, as much society as I wish, and more than is quite convenient, as most of the principal people live in the country. . . . . I continue to take my Spanish lessons three times a week; but I shall curtail them to two, as they are somewhat costly. I read a little, not as much as I ought, and have abundance of books, besides my own. I subscribe to a library, and the Le Bretons lend me whatever I want. I do not neglect my company, which gives me, however, mighty little trouble. Our men are all English, and of the best, though not most brilliant, description, that is, lads from the plough tail, who have no vice: out of four companies since I joined there has not been a single punishment, and but one since the depôt came to the island. I have in my company a good many louts of course, but some comely, well spoken, almost gentlemanly lads, who colour up to the temples if you check them, which, however, they seldom require. I have had some cry and sob like children when I find fault sharply; but these are too soft, I don't like them; every man that can read has a prayer book, and the Bibles are given between

myself as much as possible, in the hope of inducing you to give me more particulars of the Vicarage than I generally get from any of you.

"Ever your tenderly affectionate

and dutiful Son,

"A. S. H. M."

About this time Captain Mountain was strongly urged by his friends, and particularly by Sir Colin Halkett, who first suggested the idea, to apply for an unattached majority. The difficulty was how to procure the necessary sum of 1400l., even if he were so fortunate as to obtain permission to purchase. The following extract of a letter to his eldest brother, who ever acted towards Armine with the love of a father, will best explain the circumstances:

"My dearest Brother,

"I have been vexed with myself for having troubled you with a letter, and I certainly should not so soon be again guilty of the like indiscretion had I not led you by my own words to expect to hear from me again.... Sir Colin had more than once, in the course of conversation, before said to me, 'You ought to apply for one of these unattached majorities,'-which I, conscious of my poverty, had passed over in silence; but that day, when he gave his opinion more at length, and concluded by an offer of recommending me to Sir Herbert Taylor, I came to my room hot from the encounter, and, having but barely sufficient time to scrawl a few lines, seized hold at once of pen and paper.

"That it should be possible for me to raise the cash and actually get the permission to purchase, being so young a captain, seems too great a piece of luck to fall to my lot, and I am half sorry that I wrote to you in the zeal of the moment. And yet, had I been silent, I might, perhaps, years hence, have looked back, and reproached myself with having missed a chance: the more, too, I reflect, the more do I feel, that no sacrifice of myself could be hardly too great to obtain such advantage. In the event of a war, I should be sure of getting on full pay for nothing, and, if I have the luck and the pluck (and, considering whence I come I ought to have), be also pretty sure of doing something. . . . . In short, after the most candid and impartial consideration of the matter of which I am capable, the advantages by present purchase are so immense, that I would say to you, raise the money by your credit, and trust to me to pay the interest, as with great attention I might do, until I shall be able to repay the principal, which I have, sooner or later, reasonable prospect of being able to do: this I would ask frankly under present circumstances, but for one thing,-I may die; there's the rub: if I insured my life, I could not pay interest and insurance, and exist myself, there's the choking bone, and, writhe as I may, I cannot swallow it."

The unattached majority was not attained at this time; but during the winter the war in Portugal opened the door for employment on active service, and Captain Mountain hurried to England in the hope of getting permission to join the troops proposed to be sent to Portugal. On reaching London he wrote to his mother thus:

"After being nearly a fortnight without news, a packet brought three mails at once, but, to my disappointment, not a line from you. I had fancied it would bring my promotion; Sir Colin, too, was disappointed that it did not. I got on my horse on Saturday last about mid-day, and rode to Government House. Well, Mountain, what are you going to do?' 'I come to ask you, sir.' 'You had better be off without loss of time; it will cost you a few pounds more, but it is worth the risk. Meet me at the Office at 3, and I will give you a line to Sir Herbert Taylor.'

come.

"I gave over my company, sat up all night to pack up my books, and make what arrangements I could about my things, and started in the packet at daylight. We had a very good passage, arrived at Weymouth yesterday about mid-day, took a chaise to Dorchester, and got there into the coach, which set me down here an hour ago. I shall be with you probably on Thursday; but as it must entirely depend on what Sir H. Taylor says to me to-morrow, you must not be surprised if I do not Now, dearest Mother, I am very anxious to get to Portugal; but I have no chance of success, for I am late, and there are crowds of young men equally eager to go. Angerstein and his cousin Locke are both disappointed; but if I can persuade them to give me the majority, I shall be in the way disposable, if anything occurs. I send you Sir Colin's letter, to show you what he has done for me: he has done by me rather as a father than as a general officer whose acquaintance I made a few months ago. When I went to the office, he read me his letter, and said, 'I have said little, because I thought a short letter best. Now, Mountain, you are taken by surprise in this journey. Do you want money? Tell me if

you do. It is no inconvenience to me to give you what you may want, and I hope you will have no hesitation in taking it.' I was taken by surprise by this offer, and by his kind manner, so that, hang me, if I could have found a syllable to answer. It happened that the paymaster had already advanced the wherewithal to make the journey, so that I needed not Sir Colin's assistance, which was so sincerely offered that I would otherwise have accepted it. I have left my horse and my things to take their chance; but it is worth the risk, and I could not do less than follow Sir Colin's advice.

"Kind love to all,

"I have this moment seen my friend, Captain Mountain, 76th Regt., whose intentions were to have gone on leave of absence in the course of next month; but, as it appears beyond a doubt that troops are to be sent immediately on active service, he has determined, with my permission, to leave this place for London thist evening, with a view of using his exertions to get employed. Captain Mountain is a young man whose character and military acquirements (added to his great proficiency in languages) would render him a most useful officer, and I can only say that, were I myself employed, I should consider him an acquisition in any staff situation about my own person. May I also trouble you by re

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