O'Rell served in the Franco-German War, 1870, and against the Commune, and came to England in 1873 as a newspaper correspondent. He taught French at St. Paul's School, 1876-1884, and from 1887 lectured in the U.K., U.S. and the colonies. He wrote 'John Bull and his Island', 1883, and 'A Frenchman in America', 1891.