That gentleman did so return to Quebec, since which he has again
visited New York; and he stated, that upon his arrival in Quebec, he
went to the Convent, and instantly removed his daughter from the
Ursuline Nunnery; from whom he ascertained, as far as she had been
initiated into the mysteries, that Maria Monk's descriptions of
Canadian Nunneries, are most minutely and undeniably accurate.
We have already remarked, that Mrs. ----, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Hogan, and Mr.
Smith, who was a Papist Priest, with scores of other persons who
formerly resided in Montreal, all express their unqualified belief of
the statements made by Maria Monk. Mr. Ogden's acquaintance with the
facts, as Attorney General, and that of other officers of the
Provincial Government, have also been noticed. The ensuing additional
circumstances are of primary importance to a correct estimate of the
value which should be attached to the crafty silence of the Roman
Priests and the impudent denials of infidel profligates.
Mr. Bouthillier, one of the Montreal Magistrates, called at Mr.
Johnson's house where Maria Monk stayed, in the month of August, 1835,
when visiting Montreal.
He addressed her and said:--"There is some mystery about Novices--What
is it? and asked how long a woman must be a novice before she can take
the veil?" Having been answered, Mr. Bouthillier then desired Maria
Monk to describe the Superior of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery. As soon as it
was done, he became enraged, and said--"Vous dites un mensonge, vous en
savez. You lie, you know you do?"--Mr. Bouthillier next inquired--"Was
Mr. Tabeau in the Holy Retreat when you left the Convent?" She answered
"Yes." To which he replied in French--"Anybody might have answered that
question." Something having been said about the Hotel Dieu Nuns being
confined to their convent, Mr. Bouthillier declared, that they were
allowed to go about the streets. He was told that could not be the
case, for it was a direct violation of the rules for Nuns to depart
from the Hotel Dieu Nunnery. He replied--"Ce n'est pas vrai. That is
not true," Mr. Bonthillier then became very angry, and applied to Maria
Monk some very abusive epithets, for which a gentleman in the room
reproved him. It was evident, that he lost his temper because he had
lost his argument, and his hopes of controverting her statements.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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