e
a life of purity while continuing among my associates. I looked
forward wishfully to the time when I could thus retire; but I saw also
that, unless I could leave behind me my earthly-mindedness, my pride,
vanity, and every carnal propensity, an outward solitude could afford
me no shelter.

'Our army entered into France the forepart of the summer of 1792,
accompanied by the Austrians and Prussians. I was in the King's Horse
Guards, which consisted mostly of the nobility. We endured great
hardships, for many weeks sleeping on the bare ground, in the open
air, and were sometimes in want of provisions. But that word _honour_
so inflamed us, that I marvel how contentedly we bore our privations.'

Towards the approach of winter, owing to various political changes,
the Princes' army was obliged to retire from France, and soon after
was disbanded. 'Etienne had been present at several engagements; he
had seen many falling about him, stricken by the shafts of death; he
had stood in battle array, facing the enemy ready for the conflict;
but, being in a reserve corps, he was preserved from actually shedding
blood, having never fought with the sword, or fired a gun.'

In after years, he was thankful to remember that although he had been
perfectly willing to take life, he had never actually done so in his
soldier days. After the retreat of the French army, he and his
brothers set out for Amsterdam. On the way, however, they were made
prisoners of war, and condemned to be shot. 'The execution of the
sentence was each moment expected, when some sudden commotion in the
hostile army gave them an opportunity to make their escape.' Their
lives thus having been spared a second time they reached Holland in
safety.

The young men were puzzled what to do next. They could not bear to
leave their beloved parents at distant Limoges, and yet it was
impossible to reach them or to help them in any way. France was a
dangerous place for people with a 'de' in their names in those days,
and for young men of military age most dangerous of all. Finally,
Etienne and his brother Joseph settled to go to South America.
'Through the kind assistance of a republican General, a friend of the
family, they obtained a passage on board a ship bound for Demerara,
where they arrived in the First month of 1793, after a voyage of about
forty days.'

Unfortunately this long voyage had not taken them away from scenes of
violence. The Revolution in France was terri