, was an officer in the
army of King James the Second, and fought at the battle of the Boyne, so
fatal to the royal cause. When the king was compelled to leave the
country and retire to France, Captain O'Farrel was among the loyal
gentlemen who followed his fortunes and accompanied him to Saint
Germain. Here my grandfather, having been appointed one of the
gentlemen of the king's household, met with Mademoiselle Thurot, a
beautiful and accomplished young lady of ancient lineage, whose uncle,
with whom she lived, was at that time a member of the parliament of
Paris. A penniless adventurer, as Captain O'Farrel was regarded, was
looked upon with distrust by the young lady's relatives, who endeavoured
to keep him at a distance. Love scorns difficulties, especially when
burning in the breast of an Irishman, and that Irishman a handsome,
dashing officer who has seen service. The captain carried off the young
lady, and she became his wife. So angry were her uncle and her other
wealthy relations in Paris that they discarded her, refusing to
contribute a sou to her support. My grandfather had alone the stipend
he received from his royal master, and when King James died he was left
to his own resources--they were small indeed. He tried by various means
to make an income, but the natives had in every way the advantage of
him; and at last, with his young wife, and the remnant of his property
contained in a valise, he retired to Boulogne, in the hope that some of
his wife's relatives who resided in that town would have larger bowels
of compassion than those he had left in the city. The once gay and
high-spirited officer found himself mistaken: they could not give any
encouragement to one who had set so bad an example to the younger
members of their families; should they support Madame O'Farrel, their
own daughters might be throwing themselves away on some of the Irish
adventurers, with whom the country swarmed, and expect to be provided
with houses and establishments.

"My poor grandfather, almost broken-hearted, was on the point of
starvation, when he received a small pension allowed by the Queen of
France to all those who had faithfully served their exiled sovereign.
Hard service, wounds, and disappointment soon terminated his life; and
three months after he had been laid in his grave my father was born--
fatherless before he saw the light--and soon became motherless, for
Madame O'Farrel survived her husband scarcely a ye