their pursuits. He was never happier than when he was with them, and endless were the stories he could tell of the storming of Cornelio, of the rout of Napoleon's army, and of the subsequent duties of the Army of Occupation. But these stories were reserved for winter evenings; in the summer, when the shadows began to creep slowly over the grass, the children, in company with their father, would often walk to the summer-house, or 'Folly' as it was called, in the park, and watch the sun sink slowly to rest behind the great line of hills, while High Tor, Saddle Tor, and Rippen Tor stood up in blue shadow against the clear sky, and rich Devonshire valleys were bathed in thick mists.

I have been told that these evening walks remain as happy memories now to those of the home circle who are still living, and that they shed a radiance over their lives then which lingers on even yet.

Thus Reynell Taylor's boyish days were passed in all the happiness of contented childhood. The sky was always bright, the sun was never clouded, and the golden summer months, it may be believed, seemed an absolute infinity. The serious side of life was a closed book, and the struggle of after years in the wider world was unthought of.

But the life in the old house came suddenly to an end; the expenses of a large family, and a country place, already much encumbered, determined the parents to move elsewhere, and in 1836 they left Ogwell never to return.1

That winter was spent at Richmond, and in January 1837 Ann Frances was married to Sir Walter Carew. 'In

'On the death of Reynell Taylor's father, in 1854, Ogwell was sold, Denbury having been sold by his grandfather, and thus the property with which the family had been for so long a time connected passed into strange hands.

May the same year,' writes Mrs. Fortescue, ' my father was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Sandhurst, and my marriage took place there in November. That winter the home party came to Devon, and visited us at Fallapit. The chief incident of their visit was, I recollect, Reynell having a fall out hunting and breaking his collar-bone. The next day the doctor came to see him, and on arriving at the house asked who the curious-looking person was he had seen down the valley. It was Reynell in a dressinggown of my husband's, with a gun in his one available hand, getting shots at every bird and animal possible!'

At Sandhurst Reynell Taylor's education was carried on with greater regularity. His father still continued to teach him Greek and Latin, and his mother, who was an exceptionally good French scholar, taught him to speak French. By the help of some of the professors at the college Reynell Taylor also acquired a certain knowledge of German and mathematics, so that up to the time of his leaving for India, in 1840, his studies were by no means neglected.

Having two sisters with homes in Devonshire, he spent part of his time at Haccombe and part at Fallapit, enjoying all the sport he possibly could.

'At Sandhurst,' writes his brother, Fitzwilliam Taylor, 'he became a great favourite with the cadets and officers of the senior department, and played constantly in the college cricket matches. He early evinced a love for shooting and all other field sports, and many a good day's snipe shooting have we had together over Edmoor and the present site of Aldershot Camp, then a desolate wilderI well remember one feat of his, which was the

ness.

picking up of about fourteen golden and common plover, after firing both barrels into a lot of them as we were returning one night in the dark over Harford Bridge flats.'

His life at Sandhurst among soldiers fostered the love he had previously shown for the army, and when India was suggested as affording the best opening for a young soldier, Reynell Taylor readily accepted the idea. His father had still many influential friends there, and his eldest brother had been for some time in the Company's service, so it was settled that Reynell Taylor was to sail for India, and a commission as cornet was accordingly obtained for him on February 26, 1840, when he was just eighteen years of age.

'My brother's personal appearance when he went to India,' writes Fitzwilliam Taylor again, was that of a remarkably good-looking boy, with bright complexion and wavy light-brown hair. He was not quite six feet in height then, but he subsequently attained that height. He was strong and muscular, but with a light, active figure; good at all outdoor exercises-cricket, shooting, swimming, a good rider, and a good shot, and in every way calculated to make a good soldier, which profession was decidedly the one of his choice.

'He was always very thoughtful, and to a certain degree inclined to be taciturn, but no one had a keener sense of the ridiculous, or a truer appreciation of fun, than he had. He always had a reverent religious feeling, but it was not until after he had gone to India that it took the deeper form. His courage was of the cool and steady order. My eldest brother told me that someone who had

seen him in action said that he had never seen greater coolness under fire.'

Of his courage and soldierlike qualities I shall have much to say presently; he had not to wait long before they were put to the test. His life lay before him now— a life destined to be filled with storm and sunshine, like others' lives, with much honest work, with hard blows given and received in a country's cause; a long tale of years spent battling against the world, always looking forward, never looking back, for Reynell Taylor, like Joseph Taylor, of whom I spoke just now, was 'no less remarkable as a good man than as a good warrior,' and ere he lay down to rest he was 'well schooled in both warfares.' And can a man desire more? Man is created to fight; he is perhaps best of all definable as a born soldier; his life a battle and a march under the right General;' and if he succeed—I mean not by earning fame-if he come out of the ordeal with the true ring to him, clear and deep-toned; if when the last chapter is closed and the seal set to the book, he be found to have turned neither to the right hand nor to the left, is there nothing to be learnt from the study of his life? Let us see, then, how Reynell Taylor fared. As soon as the day was fixed for sailing he paid a last visit to Devonshire, and found all his relatives assembled at Haccombe to wish him good-bye. Boy as he was at this time, there was still something so attractive in his character that he was universally beloved wherever he went, and his frank open manner and manly ways made him a general favourite. Thus his going to India left a blank in the family, and the ring of his merry voice was missed for

many a long day. 'We were staying at Haccombe,' writes Mrs. Fortescue, when he left there to join the coach at Newton Abbott. Sir Walter Carew had started for hunting after his parting, but as the carriage did not overtake him he feared Reynell would be late, and so he galloped back, and finding the phaeton at the door and Reynell bidding good-bye, he made him jump in and gave the horse to the servant. I fancy I can see him now, standing up in his red coat, and using his hunting-whip to urge on the horses a good deal faster than the servant would have dared to.'

So Reynell Taylor started on his journey, and after pausing at Sandhurst for a final parting with his parents, he made his way to Gravesend, and a few days later set sail for India.

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