, 1880-11-14
FATHER PROUT,

The Author of the Bells of Shandon,
md Father Tom n,,d tho Pope.
From the Londoa. pau Mall tuzsttt.
Fnther Prout in ltonc got into trouble with
the ecclesiastical Government When be came
10 live IN Pnris, he hired durk Eround-foor in
Hue du Moulin. street since demolished. He
bud three chnmbers, aud kept no servant, Gull
nary utensils were Uttered tn the floor of his
sitting raolu, which served as It kitchen. Nuth-
in. seemed to have been ever cleAned. The
reason the tenant Of this lodging gave for the
disorder III which plates, dishes, knives, forks,
and saucepans lay WIS that his tables weru occu-
pied with his books and papers And 80
they were. The general aspect Ut thu
place wus that OF au old iron aud
paper shop. Prout was not conscious Of the
uusghtly uutidincss which rcgned about him.
When he was iii tho Rue de Moulin he forswore
at home the whisky bottle, aud drank III moder-
adUn when he went out to dino with conviyiul
friends During this phase OF his life prout was
not a Roman Catholic, but he had superstitous
hooks III hts bra tn into which he WIS ullAbt. TO
admit light. He useu constantly tt ~ to u
friend u his who wtUte to Journal with Uni
tarun bns to call his attention to ecclesiastical
scandnis, and pressed hi,n to VIII: about them.
! w:.s present ut ono Ut these Prout, who
dressed In long black coat Of pricstly fashion.
WIS asked why lie did not send what be c,lsue To
communicate to the Gtote. He replied 1hnt mo-
1prousty he was correspondent Ur that paper,
aud that it he said all he wished to say he
old friends who perhaps fet stil. kl'1dly Disposed
towards him. Oae OF his expressions WIS: 1T
is we'll such things should be known. lou Gun
give them greater pu bllcity than cnu, with no
prospect, near or remote. Ut getting hornets
round you" He was theu rather venerable
looking: with a.a white faGe, and En.ve, sweet
hot cuInc our but when he took to any one his
conversation WAS flowing and graceful. The
1nude joke or pungent remark It wns for the
ear Of tho person sitting next him. l have
mentioned the superstitious nooks in his brain.
ton to dinner On Ali-Souls' Day. ii he met
tuncrnl be turned back Il few steps. and would
ssoop 10 pick up IL rusty piece ut iron thut he
afraid to begin work hu had to get through
on Fridny, believed in dreums anu for IL lung
time wished tn believe in tabie-turnlng und
spirit rAppng. By habit and instinct no was q
supernaturalist4 His literary occupations anp
reading. whey were purely literary: did not
change his bent, which was to hn,kcr after what
Mrs. Grove termed " the night side of nature
Futhor Prout wns drawn towards Sptritualisn
by Il lady of whom he hud been Il sort of guard
his when was in the Rue du Moulin. She wns
the daughter OF II Colonel MANNED ut Waterloo,
aeeen II beauty, and to the lust had tcdtu
rrStex. Prout got her married, and when she WIS
d widow with Il comfortable Jointure tried tn
h1ll her Il second husband. She lived in the
Tcrnes and had Il house ut Mcudon, where she
with him. Every evening wheu she WAS III the
Tcrnes he used unless particularly engaxed, to
60 and din. and psss @ {h the eysns @ Mth her
summer house, Where this lady mixeti grog for
her venerable friend, and then got before little
to any other III her dwelling, She was 1t 1hs
time very handsome, and used to fight IrOut
'' tor his good.' She would have been us H1iser-
without ners. He was, rs sue snid, one of her I
- oldest habits; and :ealy she stood to him in
i the rela tion Of soE1 Of guardian angel. About
t. go Vichy. The doctor was pere,nptory. |
Father proat WINS very penurious, aud did not
19sa ehnE ad hed hcr rese
what battles she bud had with him to get him |
on: He pleaded bis hatred Of railway travel
were to g, al1 tic way In u currugc, and
Of di, lis - old ealaary utensils ] stowsd IL IL
able In hotels 10 10 in hts own room little Y
cooking On the sly. One Of the dishes be was
in the hnoit Of psepar'nK for himself was out
rnents for the Journey to Eichy Father Pgu,lr /
told her that be bud lost E4o, and could not |
nonsy in Soots and other pinces % where It the % con-
cerge when, he suspected of entering his rooms |
when he was out, would not think OF lnoking for |
t. IN hts latter days ho used to forget the hid
Ing places. and to be in great distress ut 1n,nd
tn mixing hn must have lost what he could not /
find: Relations from Ireland came over to ut
tend Father Prout in his last illness, and heard !
thnt 1t WIS they who sent for the Abbe Roger
sou; the lady uf whom he had been the guardian 4
NNs NOT then with httn-
Fn1ner Prout used to look up daily some cor
respondents OF English journals introduced to
him by Thackera.y III the eufIs they frequentetl.
lie liked their society, and he wanted by rcad-
Ing their papers, to spare himself tho expense
Of buying Journals. At tho tuhlc of ono Of them
he sometimes wrote his Globe letter. The lnnd
vas firm and legibie. and the photography faulty.
lrout had not the memory Of the eye. Ii II word
wns spet In his hearing. he remembered the
spelling. but he did not always distinctly recoI-
tect tlmt OF words he had only read. He used to
Console himself with the reflection that It WAS
not his business. but the protf-reuder's to spell