The Huron Seminary ? Madame de la Peltrie ? Her Pious3 Schemes ? Her Sham4 Marriage ? She visits the Ursulines of Tours ? Marie de Saint Bernard ? Marie de l'Incarnation ? Her Enthusiasm ? Her Mystical Marriage ? Her Dejection ? Her Mental Conflicts ? Her Vision ? Made Superior of the Ursulines ? The H?tel-Dieu ? The Voyage to Canada ? Sillery ? Labors5 and Sufferings of the Nuns ? Character of Marie de l'Incarnation ? Of Madame de la Peltrie
Quebec, as we have seen, had a seminary, a hospital, and a convent, before it had a population. It will be well to observe the origin of these institutions.
The Jesuits from the first had cherished the plan of a seminary for Huron boys at Quebec. The Governor and the Company favored the design; since not only would it be an efficient means of spreading the Faith and attaching the tribe to the French interest, but the children would be pledges for the good behavior of the parents, and hostages for the safety of missionaries8 and traders 168 in the Indian towns. [1] In the summer of 1636, Father Daniel, descending9 from the Huron country, worn, emaciated10, his cassock patched and tattered11, and his shirt in rags, brought with him a boy, to whom two others were soon added; and through the influence of the interpreter, Nicollet, the number was afterwards increased by several more. One of them ran away, two ate themselves to death, a fourth was carried home by his father, while three of those remaining stole a canoe, loaded it with all they could lay their hands upon, and escaped in triumph with their plunder13. [2]
[1] "M. de Montmagny cognoit bien l'importance de ce Seminaire pour la gloire de Nostre Seigneur, et pour le commerce de ces Messieurs"—Relation, 1637, 209 (Cramoisy).
[2] Le Jeune, Relation, 1637, 55-59. Ibid., Relation, 1638, 23.
The beginning was not hopeful; but the Jesuits persevered14, and at length established their seminary on a firm basis. The Marquis de Gamache had given the Society six thousand crowns for founding a college at Quebec. In 1637, a year before the building of Harvard College, the Jesuits began a wooden structure in the rear of the fort; and here, within one inclosure, was the Huron seminary and the college for French boys.
Meanwhile the female children of both races were without instructors16; but a remedy was at hand. At Alen?on, in 1603, was born Marie Madeleine de Chauvigny, a scion17 of the haute noblesse of Normandy. Seventeen years later she was a young lady, abundantly wilful18 and superabundantly enthusiastic,—one who, in other circumstances, might perhaps have made a romantic elopement 169 and a mésalliance. [3] But her impressible and ardent19 nature was absorbed in other objects. Religion and its ministers possessed20 her wholly, and all her enthusiasm was spent on works of charity and devotion. Her father, passionately21 fond of her, resisted her inclination22 for the cloister23, and sought to wean her back to the world; but she escaped from the chateau24 to a neighboring convent, where she resolved to remain. Her father followed, carried her home, and engaged her in a round of fêtes and hunting parties, in the midst of which she found herself surprised into a betrothal25 to M. de la Peltrie, a young gentleman of rank and character. The marriage proved a happy one, and Madame de la Peltrie, with an excellent grace, bore her part in the world she had wished to renounce26. After a union of five years, her husband died, and she was left a widow and childless at the age of twenty-two. She returned to the religious ardors of her girlhood, again gave all her thoughts to devotion and charity, and again resolved to be a nun2. She had heard of Canada; and when Le Jeune's first Relations appeared, she read them with avidity. "Alas28!" wrote the Father, "is there no charitable and virtuous29 lady who will come to this country to gather up the blood of Christ, by teaching His word to the little Indian girls?" 170 His appeal found a prompt and vehement31 response from the breast of Madame de la Peltrie. Thenceforth she thought of nothing but Canada. In the midst of her zeal33, a fever seized her. The physicians despaired; but, at the height of the disease, the patient made a vow34 to St. Joseph, that, should God restore her to health, she would build a house in honor of Him in Canada, and give her life and her wealth to the instruction of Indian girls. On the following morning, say her biographers, the fever had left her.
[3] There is a portrait of her, taken at a later period, of which a photograph is before me. She has a semi-religious dress, hands clasped in prayer, large dark eyes, a smiling and mischievous35 mouth, and a face somewhat pretty and very coquettish. An engraving36 from the portrait is prefixed to the "Notice Biographique de Madame de la Peltrie" in Les Ursulines de Québec, I. 348.
Meanwhile her relatives, or those of her husband, had confirmed her pious purposes by attempting to thwart37 them. They pronounced her a romantic visionary, incompetent38 to the charge of her property. Her father, too, whose fondness for her increased with his advancing age, entreated39 her to remain with him while he lived, and to defer40 the execution of her plans till he should be laid in his grave. From entreaties41 he passed to commands, and at length threatened to disinherit her, if she persisted. The virtue42 of obedience43, for which she is extolled44 by her clerical biographers, however abundantly exhibited in respect to those who held charge of her conscience, was singularly wanting towards the parent who, in the way of Nature, had the best claim to its exercise; and Madame de la Peltrie was more than ever resolved to go to Canada. Her father, on his part, was urgent that she should marry again. On this she took counsel of a Jesuit, [4] who, 171 "having seriously reflected before God," suggested a device, which to the heretical mind is a little startling, but which commended itself to Madame de la Peltrie as fitted at once to soothe46 the troubled spirit of her father, and to save her from the sin involved in the abandonment of her pious designs.
[4] "Partagée ainsi entre l'amour filial et la religion, en proie aux plus poignantes angoisses, elle s'adressa à un religieux de la Compagnie de Jésus, dont elle connaissait la prudence47 consommée, et le supplia de l'éclairer de ses lumières. Ce religieux, après y avoir sérieusement réfléchi devant Dieu, lui répondit qu'il croyait avoir trouvé un moyen de tout48 concilier."—Casgrain, Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation, 243.
Among her acquaintance was M. de Bernières, a gentleman of high rank, great wealth, and zealous49 devotion. She wrote to him, explained the situation, and requested him to feign50 a marriage with her. His sense of honor recoiled51: moreover, in the fulness of his zeal, he had made a vow of chastity, and an apparent breach52 of it would cause scandal. He consulted his spiritual director and a few intimate friends. All agreed that the glory of God was concerned, and that it behooved54 him to accept the somewhat singular overtures55 of the young widow, [5] and request her hand from her father. M. de Chauvigny, who greatly esteemed56 Bernières, was delighted; and his delight was raised to transport at the dutiful and modest acquiescence57 of his daughter. [6] A betrothal took place; all was 172 harmony, and for a time no more was said of disinheriting Madame de la Peltrie, or putting her in wardship58.
[5] "Enfin après avoir longtemps imploré les lumières du ciel, il remit59 toute l'affaire entre les mains de son directeur et de quelques amis intimes. Tous, d'un commun accord, lui déclarèrent que la gloire de Dieu y était interessée, et qu'il devait accepter."—Ibid., 244.
[6] "The prudent60 young widow answered him with much respect and modesty61, that, as she knew M. de Bernières to be a favorite with him, she also preferred him to all others."
The above is from a letter of Marie de l'Incarnation, translated by Mother St. Thomas, of the Ursuline convent of Quebec, in her Life of Madame de la Peltrie, 41. Compare Les Ursulines de Québec, 10, and the "Notice Biographique" in the same volume.
Bernières's scruples62 returned. Divided between honor and conscience, he postponed63 the marriage, until at length M. de Chauvigny conceived misgivings64, and again began to speak of disinheriting his daughter, unless the engagement was fulfilled. [7] Bernières yielded, and went with Madame de la Peltrie to consult "the most eminent65 divines." [8] A sham marriage took place, and she and her accomplice66 appeared in public as man and wife. Her relatives, however, had already renewed their attempts to deprive her of the control of her property. A suit, of what nature does not appear, had been decided67 against her at Caen, and she had appealed to the Parliament of Normandy. Her lawyers were in despair; but, as her biographer justly observes, "the saints have resources which others have not." A vow to St. Joseph secured his intercession and gained her case. Another thought now filled her with agitation68. Her plans were laid, and the time of action drew near. How could she endure the distress69 of her father, when he learned that she had deluded70 him with a false 173 marriage, and that she and all that was hers were bound for the wilderness71 of Canada? Happily for him, he fell ill, and died in ignorance of the deceit that had been practised upon him. [9]
[7] "Our virtuous widow did not lose courage. As she had given her confidence to M. de Bernières, she informed him of all that passed, while she flattered her father each day, telling him that this nobleman was too honorable to fail in keeping his word."—St. Thomas, Life of Madame de la Peltrie, 42.
[8] "He" (Bernières) "went to stay at the house of a mutual72 friend, where they had frequent opportunities of seeing each other, and consulting the most eminent divines on the means of effecting this pretended marriage."—Ibid., 43.
[9] It will be of interest to observe the view taken of this pretended marriage by Madame de la Peltrie's Catholic biographers. Charlevoix tells the story without comment, but with apparent approval. Sainte-Foi, in his Premières Ursulines de France, says, that, as God had taken her under His guidance, we should not venture to criticize her. Casgrain, in his Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation, remarks:—
"Une telle conduite peut encore aujourd'hui para?tre étrange à bien des personnes; mais outre que l'avenir fit bien voir que c'était une inspiration du ciel, nous pouvons répondre, avec un savant et pieux auteur, que nous ne devons point juger ceux que Dieu se charge lui-même de conduire."—p. 247.
Mother St. Thomas highly approves the proceeding73, and says:—
"Thus ended the pretended engagement of this virtuous lady and gentleman, which caused, at the time, so much inquiry74 and excitement among the nobility in France, and which, after a lapse75 of two hundred years, cannot fail exciting feelings of admiration76 in the heart of every virtuous woman!"
Surprising as it may appear, the book from which the above is taken was written a few years since, in so-called English, for the instruction of the pupils in the Ursuline Convent at Quebec.
Whatever may be thought of the quality of Madame de la Peltrie's devotion, there can be no reasonable doubt of its sincerity77 or its ardor27; and yet one can hardly fail to see in her the signs of that restless longing78 for éclat, which, with some women, is a ruling passion. When, in company with Bernières, she passed from Alen?on to Tours, and from Tours to Paris, an object of attention to nuns, priests, and prelates,—when the Queen herself summoned her to an interview,—it may be that the profound contentment of soul ascribed to her had its origin in sources not exclusively of the spirit. At Tours, she repaired to the Ursuline convent. The Superior and all the nuns met her 174 at the entrance of the cloister, and, separating into two rows as she appeared, sang the Veni Creator, while the bell of the monastery79 sounded its loudest peal30. Then they led her in triumph to their church, sang Te Deum, and, while the honored guest knelt before the altar, all the sisterhood knelt around her in a semicircle. Their hearts beat high within them. That day they were to know who of their number were chosen for the new convent of Quebec, of which Madame de la Peltrie was to be the foundress; and when their devotions were over, they flung themselves at her feet, each begging with tears that the lot might fall on her. Aloof80 from this throng81 of enthusiastic suppliants82 stood a young nun, Marie de St. Bernard, too timid and too modest to ask the boon83 for which her fervent84 heart was longing. It was granted without asking. This delicate girl was chosen, and chosen wisely. [10]
[10] Casgrain, Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation, 271-273. There is a long account of Marie de St. Bernard, by Ragueneau, in the Relation of 1652. Here it is said that she showed an unaccountable indifference85 as to whether she went to Canada or not, which, however, was followed by an ardent desire to go.
There was another nun who stood apart, silent and motionless,—a stately figure, with features strongly marked and perhaps somewhat masculine; [11] but, if so, they belied86 her, for Marie de l'Incarnation was a woman to the core. For her there was no need of entreaties; for she knew that 175 the Jesuits had made her their choice, as Superior of the new convent. She was born, forty years before, at Tours, of a good bourgeois87 family. As she grew up towards maturity88, her qualities soon declared themselves. She had uncommon89 talents and strong religious susceptibilities, joined to a vivid imagination,—an alliance not always desirable under a form of faith where both are excited by stimulants90 so many and so powerful. Like Madame de la Peltrie, she married, at the desire of her parents, in her eighteenth year. The marriage was not happy. Her biographers say that there was no fault on either side. Apparently91, it was a severe case of "incompatibility92." She sought her consolation93 in the churches; and, kneeling in dim chapels94, held communings with Christ and the angels. At the end of two years her husband died, leaving her with an infant son. She gave him to the charge of her sister, abandoned herself to solitude95 and meditation96, and became a mystic of the intense and passional school. Yet a strong maternal97 instinct battled painfully in her breast with a sense of religious vocation98. Dreams, visions, interior voices, ecstasies99, revulsions, periods of rapture100 and periods of deep dejection, made up the agitated101 tissue of her life. She fasted, wore hair-cloth, scourged102 herself, washed dishes among the servants, and did their most menial work. She heard, in a trance, a miraculous103 voice. It was that of Christ, promising104 to become her spouse105. Months and years passed, full of troubled hopes and fears, when again the voice sounded in her 176 ear, with assurance that the promise was fulfilled, and that she was indeed his bride. Now ensued phenomena106 which are not infrequent among Roman Catholic female devotees, when unmarried, or married unhappily, and which have their source in the necessities of a woman's nature. To her excited thought, her divine spouse became a living presence; and her language to him, as recorded by herself, is that of the most intense passion. She went to prayer, agitated and tremulous, as if to a meeting with an earthly lover. "O my Love!" she exclaimed, "when shall I embrace you? Have you no pity on me in the torments107 that I suffer? Alas! alas! my Love, my Beauty, my Life! instead of healing my pain, you take pleasure in it. Come, let me embrace you, and die in your sacred arms!" And again she writes: "Then, as I was spent with fatigue109, I was forced to say, 'My divine Love, since you wish me to live, I pray you let me rest a little, that I may the better serve you'; and I promised him that afterward12 I would suffer myself to consume in his chaste110 and divine embraces." [12]
[11] There is an engraved111 portrait of her, taken some years later, of which a photograph is before me. When she was "in the world," her stately proportions are said to have attracted general attention. Her family name was Marie Guyard. She was born on the eighteenth of October, 1599.
[12] "Allant à l'oraison, je tressaillois en moi-même, et disois: Allons dans la solitude, mon cher amour, afin que je vous embrasse à mon aise, et que, respirant mon ame en vous, elle ne soit plus que vous-même par7 union d'amour.… Puis, mon corps112 étant brisé de fatigues113, j'étois contrainte de dire53: Mon divin amour, je vous prie de me laisser prendre un peu de repos, afin que je puisse mieux vous servir, puisque vous voulez que je vive.… Je le priois de me laisser agir; lui promettant de me laisser après cela consumer dans ses chastes et divins embrassemens.… O amour! quand vous embrasserai-je? N'avez-vous point pitié de moi dans le tourment que je souffre? helas! helas! mon amour, ma beauté, ma vie! au lieu de me guérir, vous vous plaisez à mes maux. Venez donc que je vous embrasse, et que je meure entre vos bras sacréz!"
The above passages, from various pages of her journal, will suffice, though they give but an inadequate114 idea of these strange extravagances. What is most astonishing is, that a man of sense like Charlevoix, in his Life of Marie de l'Incarnation, should extract them in full, as matter of edification and evidence of saintship. Her recent biographer, the Abbé Casgrain, refrains from quoting them, though he mentions them approvingly as evincing fervor115. The Abbé Racine, in his Discours à l'Occasion du 192ème Anniversaire de l'heureuse Mort de la Vén. Mère de l'Incarnation, delivered at Quebec in 1864, speaks of them as transcendent proofs of the supreme116 favor of Heaven.—Some of the pupils of Marie de l'Incarnation also had mystical marriages with Christ; and the impassioned rhapsodies of one of them being overheard, she nearly lost her character, as it was thought that she was apostrophsizing an earthly lover.
177 Clearly, here is a case for the physiologist117 as well as the theologian; and the "holy widow," as her biographers call her, becomes an example, and a lamentable118 one, of the tendency of the erotic principle to ally itself with high religious excitement.
But the wings of imagination will tire and droop119, the brightest dream-land of contemplative fancy grow dim, and an abnormal tension of the faculties120 find its inevitable121 reaction at last. From a condition of highest exaltation, a mystical heaven of light and glory, the unhappy dreamer fell back to a dreary122 earth, or rather to an abyss of darkness and misery123. Her biographers tell us that she became a prey124 to dejection, and thoughts of infidelity, despair, estrangement125 from God, aversion to mankind, pride, vanity, impurity126, and a supreme disgust at the rites108 of religion. Exhaustion127 produced common-sense, and the dreams which had been her life now seemed a tissue of illusions. Her confessor became a weariness to her, and his words fell dead on her ear. Indeed, she conceived a repugnance128 to the holy man. Her old and 178 favorite confessor, her oracle129, guide, and comforter, had lately been taken from her by promotion130 in the Church,—which may serve to explain her dejection; and the new one, jealous of his predecessor131, told her that all his counsels had been visionary and dangerous to her soul. Having overwhelmed her with this announcement, he left her, apparently out of patience with her refractory132 and gloomy mood; and she remained for several months deprived of spiritual guidance. [13] Two years elapsed before her mind recovered its tone, when she soared once more in the seventh heaven of imaginative devotion.
[13] Casgrain, 195-197.
Marie de l'Incarnation, we have seen, was unrelenting in every practice of humiliation133; dressed in mean attire134, did the servants' work, nursed sick beggars, and, in her meditations135, taxed her brain with metaphysical processes of self-annihilation. And yet, when one reads her "Spiritual Letters," the conviction of an enormous spiritual pride in the writer can hardly be repressed. She aspired136 to that inner circle of the faithful, that aristocracy of devotion, which, while the common herd137 of Christians139 are busied with the duties of life, eschews140 the visible and the present, and claims to live only for God. In her strong maternal affection she saw a lure141 to divert her from the path of perfect saintship. Love for her child long withheld142 her from becoming a nun; but at last, fortified143 by her confessor, she left him to his fate, took the vows144, and immured145 herself with the Ursulines of Tours. The 179 boy, frenzied146 by his desertion, and urged on by indignant relatives, watched his opportunity, and made his way into the refectory of the convent, screaming to the horrified147 nuns to give him back his mother. As he grew older, her anxiety increased; and at length she heard in her seclusion148 that he had fallen into bad company, had left the relative who had sheltered him, and run off, no one knew whither. The wretched mother, torn with anguish149, hastened for consolation to her confessor, who met her with stern upbraidings. Yet, even in this her intensest ordeal150, her enthusiasm and her native fortitude151 enabled her to maintain a semblance152 of calmness, till she learned that the boy had been found and brought back.
Strange as it may seem, this woman, whose habitual153 state was one of mystical abstraction, was gifted to a rare degree with the faculties most useful in the practical affairs of life. She had spent several years in the house of her brother-in-law. Here, on the one hand, her vigils, visions, and penances154 set utterly155 at nought156 the order of a well-governed family; while, on the other, she made amends157 to her impatient relative by able and efficient aid in the conduct of his public and private affairs. Her biographers say, and doubtless with truth, that her heart was far away from these mundane158 interests; yet her talent for business was not the less displayed. Her spiritual guides were aware of it, and saw clearly that gifts so useful to the world might be made equally useful to the Church. Hence it was that she was chosen Superior 180 of the convent which Madame de la Peltrie was about to endow at Quebec. [14]
[14] The combination of religious enthusiasm, however extravagant159 and visionary, with a talent for business, is not very rare. Nearly all the founders160 of monastic Orders are examples of it.
Yet it was from heaven itself that Marie de l'Incarnation received her first "vocation" to Canada. The miracle was in this wise.
In a dream she beheld161 a lady unknown to her. She took her hand; and the two journeyed together westward162, towards the sea. They soon met one of the Apostles, clothed all in white, who, with a wave of his hand, directed them on their way. They now entered on a scene of surpassing magnificence. Beneath their feet was a pavement of squares of white marble, spotted163 with vermilion, and intersected with lines of vivid scarlet164; and all around stood monasteries165 of matchless architecture. But the two travellers, without stopping to admire, moved swiftly on till they beheld the Virgin166 seated with her Infant Son on a small temple of white marble, which served her as a throne. She seemed about fifteen years of age, and was of a "ravishing beauty." Her head was turned aside; she was gazing fixedly167 on a wild waste of mountains and valleys, half concealed168 in mist. Marie de l'Incarnation approached with outstretched arms, adoring. The vision bent169 towards her, and, smiling, kissed her three times; whereupon, in a rapture, the dreamer awoke. [15]
[15] Marie de l'Incarnation recounts this dream at great length in her letters; and Casgrain copies the whole, verbatim, as a revelation from God.
181 She told the vision to Father Dinet, a Jesuit of Tours. He was at no loss for an interpretation170. The land of mists and mountains was Canada, and thither171 the Virgin called her. Yet one mystery remained unsolved. Who was the unknown companion of her dream? Several years had passed, and signs from heaven and inward voices had raised to an intense fervor her zeal for her new vocation, when, for the first time, she saw Madame de la Peltrie on her visit to the convent at Tours, and recognized, on the instant, the lady of her nocturnal vision. No one can be surprised at this who has considered with the slightest attention the phenomena of religious enthusiasm.
On the fourth of May, 1639, Madame de la Peltrie, Marie de l'Incarnation, Marie de St. Bernard, and another Ursuline, embarked172 at Dieppe for Canada. In the ship were also three young hospital nuns, sent out to found at Quebec a H?tel-Dieu, endowed by the famous niece of Richelieu, the Duchesse d'Aiguillon. [16] Here, too, were the Jesuits Chaumonot and Poncet, on the way to their mission, together with Father Vimont, who was to succeed Le Jeune in his post of Superior. To the nuns, pale from their cloistered173 seclusion, there was a strange and startling novelty in this new world of life and action,—the ship, the sailors, the shouts of command, the flapping of sails, the salt wind, and the boisterous174 sea. The voyage was long and tedious. Sometimes they lay in their berths175, sea-sick and woe-begone; sometimes they 182 sang in choir176 on deck, or heard mass in the cabin. Once, on a misty177 morning, a wild cry of alarm startled crew and passengers alike. A huge iceberg178 was drifting close upon them. The peril179 was extreme. Madame de la Peltrie clung to Marie de l'Incarnation, who stood perfectly180 calm, and gathered her gown about her feet that she might drown with decency181. It is scarcely necessary to say that they were saved by a vow to the Virgin and St. Joseph. Vimont offered it in behalf of all the company, and the ship glided182 into the open sea unharmed.
[16] Juchereau, Histoire de l'H?tel-Dieu de Québec, 4.
They arrived at Tadoussac on the fifteenth of July; and the nuns ascended183 to Quebec in a small craft deeply laden184 with salted codfish, on which, uncooked, they subsisted185 until the first of August, when they reached their destination. Cannon186 roared welcome from the fort and batteries; all labor6 ceased; the storehouses were closed; and the zealous Montmagny, with a train of priests and soldiers, met the new-comers at the landing. All the nuns fell prostrate187, and kissed the sacred soil of Canada. [17] They heard mass at the church, dined at the fort, and presently set forth32 to visit the new settlement of Sillery, four miles above Quebec.
[17] Juchereau, 14; Le Clerc, II. 33; Ragueneau, Vie de Catherine de St. Augustin, "Epistre dédicatoire;" Le Jeune, Relation, 1639, Chap. II.; Charlevoix, Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation, 264; "Acte de Reception," in Les Ursulines de Québec, I. 21.
Noel Brulart de Sillery, a Knight188 of Malta, who had once filled the highest offices under the Queen Marie de Médicis, had now severed15 his connection 183 with his Order, renounced189 the world, and become a priest. He devoted190 his vast revenues—for a dispensation of the Pope had freed him from his vow of poverty—to the founding of religious establishments. [18] Among other endowments, he had placed an ample fund in the hands of the Jesuits for the formation of a settlement of Christian138 Indians at the spot which still bears his name. On the strand191 of Sillery, between the river and the woody heights behind, were clustered the small log-cabins of a number of Algonquin converts, together with a church, a mission-house, and an infirmary,—the whole surrounded by a palisade. It was to this place that the six nuns were now conducted by the Jesuits. The scene delighted and edified192 them; and, in the transports of their zeal, they seized and kissed every female Indian child on whom they could lay hands, "without minding," says Father Le Jeune, "whether they were dirty or not." "Love and charity," he adds, "triumphed over every human consideration." [19]
[18] See Vie de l'Illustre Serviteur de Dieu Noel Brulart de Sillery; also études et Recherches Bioqraphiques sur le Chevalier Noel Brulart de Sillery; and several documents in Martin's translation of Bressani, Appendix IV.
[19] "… sans prendre garde si ces petits enfans sauvages estoient sales ou non; … la loy d'amour et de charité l'emportoit par dessus toutes les considerations humaines."—Relation, 1639, 26 (Cramoisy).
The nuns of the H?tel-Dieu soon after took up their abode193 at Sillery, whence they removed to a house built for them at Quebec by their foundress, the Duchesse d'Aiguillon. The Ursulines, in the absence of better quarters, were lodged194 at first in a small wooden tenement195 under the rock of 184 Quebec, at the brink196 of the river. Here they were soon beset197 with such a host of children, that the floor of their wretched tenement was covered with beds, and their toil198 had no respite199. Then came the small-pox, carrying death and terror among the neighboring Indians. These thronged200 to Quebec in misery and desperation, begging succor201 from the French. The labors both of the Ursulines and of the hospital nuns were prodigious202. In the infected air of their miserable203 hovels, where sick and dying savages204 covered the floor, and were packed one above another in berths,—amid all that is most distressing205 and most revolting, with little food and less sleep, these women passed the rough beginning of their new life. Several of them fell ill. But the excess of the evil at length brought relief; for so many of the Indians died in these pest-houses that the survivors206 shunned207 them in horror.
But how did these women bear themselves amid toils208 so arduous209? A pleasant record has come down to us of one of them,—that fair and delicate girl, Marie de St. Bernard, called, in the convent, Sister St. Joseph, who had been chosen at Tours as the companion of Marie de l'Incarnation. Another Ursuline, writing at a period when the severity of their labors was somewhat relaxed, says, "Her disposition210 is charming. In our times of recreation, she often makes us cry with laughing: it would be hard to be melancholy211 when she is near." [20]
[20] Lettre de la Mère Ste Claire à une de ses S?urs Ursulines de Paris. Québec, 2 Sept., 1640.—See Les Ursulines de Québec, I. 38.
185 It was three years later before the Ursulines and their pupils took possession of a massive convent of stone, built for them on the site which they still occupy. Money had failed before the work was done, and the interior was as unfinished as a barn. [21] Beside the cloister stood a large ash-tree; and it stands there still. Beneath its shade, says the convent tradition, Marie de l'Incarnation and her nuns instructed the Indian children in the truths of salvation212; but it might seem rash to affirm that their teachings were always either wise or useful, since Father Vimont tells us approvingly, that they reared their pupils in so chaste a horror of the other sex, that a little girl, whom a man had playfully taken by the hand, ran crying to a bowl of water to wash off the unhallowed influence. [22]
[21] The interior was finished after a year or two, with cells as usual. There were four chimneys, with fireplaces burning a hundred and seventy-five cords of wood in a winter; and though the nuns were boxed up in beds which closed like chests, Marie de l'Incarnation complains bitterly of the cold. See her letter of Aug. 26, 1644.
[22] Vimont, Relation, 1642, 112 (Cramoisy).
Now and henceforward one figure stands nobly conspicuous213 in this devoted sisterhood. Marie de l'Incarnation, no longer lost in the vagaries214 of an insane mysticism, but engaged in the duties of Christian charity and the responsibilities of an arduous post, displays an ability, a fortitude, and an earnestness which command respect and admiration. Her mental intoxication215 had ceased, or recurred216 only at intervals217; and false excitements no longer sustained her. She was racked with constant anxieties about her son, and was often in 186 a condition described by her biographers as a "deprivation218 of all spiritual consolations219." Her position was a very difficult one. She herself speaks of her life as a succession of crosses and humiliations. Some of these were due to Madame de la Peltrie, who, in a freak of enthusiasm, abandoned her Ursulines for a time, as we shall presently see, leaving them in the utmost destitution220. There were dissensions to be healed among them; and money, everything, in short, to be provided. Marie de l'Incarnation, in her saddest moments, neither failed in judgment221 nor slackened in effort. She carried on a vast correspondence, embracing every one in France who could aid her infant community with money or influence; she harmonized and regulated it with excellent skill; and, in the midst of relentless222 austerities, she was loved as a mother by her pupils and dependants223. Catholic writers extol45 her as a saint. [23] Protestants may see in her a Christian heroine, admirable, with all her follies224 and her faults.
[23] There is a letter extant from Sister Anne de Ste Claire, an Ursuline who came to Quebec in 1640, written soon after her arrival, and containing curious evidence that a reputation of saintship already attached to Marie de l'Incarnation. "When I spoke225 to her," writes Sister Anne, speaking of her first interview, "I perceived in the air a certain odor of sanctity, which gave me the sensation of an agreeable perfume." See the letter in a recent Catholic work, Les Ursulines de Québec, I. 38, where the passage is printed in Italics, as worthy226 the especial attention of the pious reader.
The traditions of the Ursulines are full of the virtues227 of Madame de la Peltrie,—her humility228, her charity, her penances, and her acts of mortification229. No doubt, with some little allowance, these 187 traditions are true; but there is more of reason than of uncharitableness in the belief, that her zeal would have been less ardent and sustained, if it had had fewer spectators. She was now fairly committed to the conventual life, her enthusiasm was kept within prescribed bounds, and she was no longer mistress of her own movements. On the one hand, she was anxious to accumulate merits against the Day of Judgment; and, on the other, she had a keen appreciation230 of the applause which the sacrifice of her fortune and her acts of piety231 had gained for her. Mortal vanity takes many shapes. Sometimes it arrays itself in silk and jewels; sometimes it walks in sackcloth, and speaks the language of self-abasement. In the convent, as in the world, the fair devotee thirsted for admiration. The halo of saintship glittered in her eyes like a diamond crown, and she aspired to outshine her sisters in humility. She was as sincere as Simeon Stylites on his column; and, like him, found encouragement and comfort in the gazing and wondering eyes below. [24]
[24] Madame de la Peltrie died in her convent in 1671. Marie de l'Incarnation died the following year. She had the consolation of knowing that her son had fulfilled her ardent wishes, and become a priest.
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1
nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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instructors
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| 指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 ) | |
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scion
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| n.嫩芽，子孙 | |
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wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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cloister
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| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
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chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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26
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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28
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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37
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
defer
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| vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从 | |
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41
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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42
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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43
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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44
extolled
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| v.赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
extol
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| v.赞美，颂扬 | |
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46
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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47
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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48
tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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49
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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50
feign
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| vt.假装，佯作 | |
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51
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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52
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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53
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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54
behooved
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| v.适宜( behoove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
overtures
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| n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲 | |
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56
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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57
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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58
wardship
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| 监护，保护 | |
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59
remit
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| v.汇款，汇寄；豁免（债务），免除（处罚等） | |
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60
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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61
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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62
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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64
misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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65
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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66
accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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67
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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68
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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69
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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70
deluded
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| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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72
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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73
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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75
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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76
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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77
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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78
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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80
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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81
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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82
suppliants
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| n.恳求者，哀求者( suppliant的名词复数 ) | |
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83
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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86
belied
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| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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bourgeois
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| adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子 | |
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88
maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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stimulants
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| n.兴奋剂( stimulant的名词复数 )；含兴奋剂的饮料；刺激物；激励物 | |
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91
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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92
incompatibility
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| n.不兼容 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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94
chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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95
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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ecstasies
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| 狂喜( ecstasy的名词复数 )； 出神； 入迷； 迷幻药 | |
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100
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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102
scourged
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| 鞭打( scourge的过去式和过去分词 )； 惩罚，压迫 | |
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103
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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107
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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112
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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113
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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114
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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115
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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116
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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117
physiologist
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| n.生理学家 | |
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118
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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119
droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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120
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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121
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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122
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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123
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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124
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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125
estrangement
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| n.疏远，失和，不和 | |
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126
impurity
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| n.不洁，不纯，杂质 | |
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127
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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128
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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129
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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130
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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131
predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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132
refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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133
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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134
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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135
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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136
aspired
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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137
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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138
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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139
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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140
eschews
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| v.（尤指为道德或实际理由而）习惯性避开，回避( eschew的第三人称单数 ) | |
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141
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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142
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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143
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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144
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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145
immured
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| v.禁闭，监禁( immure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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146
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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147
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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148
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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149
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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150
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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151
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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152
semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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153
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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154
penances
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| n.（赎罪的）苦行，苦修( penance的名词复数 ) | |
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155
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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156
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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157
amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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158
mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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159
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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160
founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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161
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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162
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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163
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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164
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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165
monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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166
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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167
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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168
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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169
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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170
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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171
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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172
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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173
cloistered
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| adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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174
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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175
berths
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| n.（船、列车等的）卧铺( berth的名词复数 )；（船舶的）停泊位或锚位；差事；船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 )；占铺位 | |
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176
choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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177
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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178
iceberg
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| n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人 | |
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179
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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180
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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181
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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182
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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183
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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184
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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185
subsisted
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| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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186
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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187
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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188
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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189
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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190
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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191
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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192
edified
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| v.开导，启发( edify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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193
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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194
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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195
tenement
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| n.公寓；房屋 | |
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196
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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197
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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198
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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199
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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200
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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201
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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202
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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203
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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204
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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205
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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206
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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207
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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208
toils
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| 网 | |
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209
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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210
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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211
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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212
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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213
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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214
vagaries
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| n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 )；异想天开；异常行为；难以预测的情况 | |
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215
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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216
recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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217
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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218
deprivation
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| n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困 | |
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219
consolations
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| n.安慰，慰问( consolation的名词复数 )；起安慰作用的人（或事物） | |
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220
destitution
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| n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷 | |
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221
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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222
relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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223
dependants
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| 受赡养者，受扶养的家属( dependant的名词复数 ) | |
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224
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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225
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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226
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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227
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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228
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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229
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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230
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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231
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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