aved on my heart the facts I am about to relate to you with the most
scrupulous exactness. Monsieur de Conzie, now bishop of Arras, having
been raised to the see of St. Omer's in 1766, caused me to be elected a
canon in his cathedral church: he nominated me one of his
vicars-general, and I repaired thither on the 5th of October, 1767.

"That prelate, whose high reputation dispenses with my encomiums,
mentioned your uncle to me on the very day of my arrival. 'I am here
possessed,' said he; 'of a hidden treasure; and that is Mr. Butler, the
president of the English college. I for the first time saw him,' added
he, 'during the ceremony of my installation. He was kneeling on the
pavement in the midst of the crowd; his countenance and deportment had
something heavenly in them: I inquired who he was, and upon his being
named to me, I caused him, though reluctant, to be conducted to one of
the first stalls in the choir. I will entreat him,' said moreover the
prelate, 'to favor you with his friendship: he shall be your counsel;
you cannot have a better.' I made answer, that Monsieur de Beaumont, the
illustrious archbishop of Paris, in whose palace I had enjoyed the
invaluable benefit of passing two years, had often spoken of him to me
in the most honorable terms; that he had commissioned me, at my
departure, to renew to him the assurance of his particular esteem; and
that I would neglect nothing to be thought worthy of his benevolence.

"I was so happy as to succeed in it within a short time. His lordship,
the bishop, condescended to wish the joy of it, and intrusted me with
the design he had formed of honoring the assembly of his vicars-general,
by making him our colleague. I was present when he delivered to him his
credentials; which moment will never forsake my remembrance. I beheld
your dear uncle suddenly casting himself at the prelate's knees, and
beseeching him, with tears in his eyes, not to lay that burden upon him.
_Ah! my lord_, said he to him, _I am unable to fill so important a
place_; nor did he yield but upon an express command: _Since you require
it shall be so_, said he, _I will obey; that is the first of my duties_.
What an abundant source of reflections was this for me, who was then but
twenty-six years of age. It was then especially that I resolved to make
up for my inexperience, by taking him for my guide who had been giving
me that great example of Christian humility.

"The bishop had already showed him h