rilliant qualities, and adding riches to beauty, she
was happy in possessing these advantages only because they allowed her
to offer them to the Most High, who had given them to her. She devoted
herself to the Christian education of young girls, and passed in Canada
the last thirty-two years of her life. The Abbe Casgrain draws the
following portrait of her: "Her whole person presented a type of
attractiveness and gentleness. Her face, a beautiful oval, was
remarkable for the harmony of its lines and the perfection of its
contour. A slightly aquiline nose, a clear cut and always smiling mouth,
a limpid look veiled by long lashes which the habit of meditation kept
half lowered, stamped her features with an exquisite sweetness. Though
her frail and delicate figure did not exceed medium height, and though
everything about her breathed modesty and humility, her gait was
nevertheless full of dignity and nobility; one recognized, in seeing
her, the descendant of those great and powerful lords, of those perfect
knights whose valiant swords had sustained throne and altar. Through the
most charming simplicity there were ever manifest the grand manner of
the seventeenth century and that perfect distinction which is
traditional among the families of France. But this majestic _ensemble_
was tempered by an air of introspection and unction which gave her
conversation an infinite charm, and it gained her the esteem and
affection of all those who had had the good fortune to know her." She
died on November 18th, 1671, only a few days after the departure for
France of the apostolic vicar.

[Illustration: The Ursuline Convent, Quebec

Drawn on the spot by Richard Short, 1761]

Her pious friend, Mother Mary of the Incarnation, first Mother Superior
of the Ursulines of Quebec, soon followed her to the tomb. She expired
on April 30th, 1672. In her numerous writings on the beginnings of the
colony, the modesty of Mother Mary of the Incarnation has kept us in the
dark concerning several important services rendered by her to New
France, and many touching details of her life would not have reached us
if her companion, Madame de la Peltrie, had not made them known to us.
In Mother Incarnation, who merited the glorious title of the Theresa of
New France, were found all the Christian virtues, but more particularly
piety, patience and confidence in Providence. God was ever present and
visible in her heart, acting everywhere and in everything. We s