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Rh hatred of England was not feigned; that they had nothing so much at heart as the humiliation of the rival of their own country. They therefore gave them, almost always, a confidence without stint. Their behests were but rarely refused. They worked under the avowed sanction and with the authority of the prince whom they served. And if they did not succeed, their want of success is to be attributed rather to the jealousies which prevented combination amongst the native princes, than to any shortcomings on the part of the ablest and most influential amongst them.

Of all these adventurers de Boigne was, with one exception, the ablest and the most successful. Born at Chambéry, the 8th March, 1751, the son of a furrier, Benoit de Boigne was at an early age sent to study law at the College of his native town. But he had scarcely attained the age of seventeen when his adventurous nature impelled him to renounce his studies, and to seek excitement in a career of arms. In 1768, then, he entered the regiment of Clare, a regiment in the Irish Brigade in the service of France, and then commanded, in the absence of Lord Clare, by Colonel Leigh. De Boigne joined the regiment with the rank of ensign at Landrecies, and applied all the ardour of his youth to master the science of his profession. In this task he received great encouragement and assistance from Colonel Leigh, and, under his tuition, de Boigne attained a complete knowledge of the art of war as it was understood in those days.