When Maria Monk made her escape, as she states, from the Hotel Dieu
Nunnery, she took refuge in the house of a woman named Lavalliere in
Elizabeth street, Montreal, the second or third door from the corner of
what is commonly called "the Bishop's Church." Madame Lavalliere
afterward admitted, that Maria Monk did arrive at her house at the time
specified, in the usual habiliments of a Nun, and made herself known as
an eloped Nun; that she provided her with other clothing; and that she
afterward carried the Nun's garments to the Hotel Dieu Nunnery.
After her escape, Maria Monk narrates that she went on board a
steamboat for Quebec, intending thereby to avoid being seized and again
transferred to the Nunnery, that she was recognised by the Captain, was
kept under close watch during the whole period of the stay of that boat
at Quebec, and merely by accident escaped the hands of the Priests, by
watching for an unexpected opportunity to gain the shore during the
absence of the Captain, and the momentary negligence of the female
attendant in the cabin. The woman was called Margaret ----, the other
name is forgotten. The name of the Master of the steamboat is probably
known and he has never pretended to deny that statement, that he did
thus detain Maria Monk, would not permit her to go on shore at Quebec,
and that he also conducted her back to Montreal; having suspected or
ascertained that she was a Nun who had clandestinely escaped from a
Convent.
7. _Corroborative evidence unintentionally furnished by the opponents
of the book_.--After her flight from the steamboat, she was found early
in the morning, in a very perilous situation, either on the banks, or
partly in Lachine Canal, and was committed to the public prison by Dr.
Robertson, whence she was speedily released through the intervention of
Mr. Esson, one of the Presbyterian ministers of Montreal. Upon this
topic, her statement coincides exactly with that of Dr. Robertson.
But he also states--"Although incredulous as to the truth of Maria
Monk's story, I thought it incumbent upon me to make some inquiry
concerning it, and have ascertained where she has been residing a great
part of the time she states having been an inmate of the Nunnery.
During the summer of 1832, she was at service at William Henry; the
winters of 1832-3, she passed in this neighborhood at St. Ours and St.
Denis."
That is most remarkable testimony, because, although Papists may justly
be admitted to know nothing of times and dates, unless by their
Carnivals, their Festivals, their Lent, or their Penance--yet
Protestant Magistrates might be more precise. Especially, as it is a
certain fact, that no person at Sorel can be discovered, who is at all
acquainted with such a young woman in service in the summer of 1832. It
is true, she did reside at St. Denis or St. Ours, as the _Roman Priests
can testify_; but not at the period specified by Dr. Robertson.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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