"As it was stated at the time of the finding of the skeletons that one of them was supposed to be that of a nun of the Hôtel Dieu, Mr. Bédard applied to the authorities of that institution for information on the subject and received an answer from the records which conclusively proves that the nun in question was buried in the vault of the Jesuits' Church and not in their Chapel." Though a considerable sum had been granted to foster Jesuit establishments at Quebec by a young French nobleman, René de Rohault, son of the Marquis de Gamache, as early as 1626, it was on the 18th March, 1637, only, that the ground to build on, "twelve arpents of land, in the vicinity of Fort St. Louis" were granted to the Jesuit Fathers. In the early times, we find this famous seat of learning playing a prominent part in all public pageants; its annual examinations and distribution of prizes called together the _élite_ of Quebec society. The leading pupils had, in poetry and in verse, congratulated Governor d'Argenson on his arrival in 1658. On the 2nd July, 1666, a public examination on logic brought out, with great advantage, two most promising youths, the famous Louis Jolliet, who later on joined Father Marquette in his discovery of the Mississippi, and a Three Rivers youth, Pierre de Francheville, who intended to enter Holy Orders. The learned Intendant Talon was an examiner; he was remarked for the erudition his Latin questions displayed. Memory likes to revert to the times when the illustrious Bossuet was undergoing his Latin examinations at Navarre, with the Great Condé as his examiner; France's first sacred orator confronted by her most illustrious general. How many thrilling memories were recalled by this grim old structure? "Under its venerable roof, oft had met the pioneer missionaries of New France, the band of martyrs, the geographers, discoverers, _savants_ and historians of this learned order: Dolbeau, de Quen, Druilletes, Daniel, de la Brosse, de Crepieul, de Carheil, Bréboeuf, Lallemant, Jogues, de Noue, Raimbeault, Albanel, Chaumonot, Dablon, Ménard, LeJeune, Massé, Vimont, Ragueneau, Charlevoix, [58] and crowds of others." Here they assembled to receive from the General of the Jesuits their orders, to compare notes, mayhap to discuss the news of the death or of the success of some of their indefatigable explorers of the great West; how the "good word" had been fearlessly carried to the distant shores of Lake Huron, to the _bayous_ and perfumed groves of Florida, or to the trackless and frozen regions of Hudson's Bay. Later on, when France had suppressed the order of the Jesuits, and when her lily banner had disappeared from our midst, the College and its grounds were appropriated to other uses--alas! less congenial.