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 see, among
many other instances that might be quoted, a fine example of her
enthusiasm for Heaven when, cast out of her convent in the heart of the
winter by a conflagration which consumed everything, she knelt upon the
snow with her Sisters, and thanked God for not having taken from them,
together with their properties, their lives, which might be useful to
others.

If Madame de la Peltrie and Mother Mary of the Incarnation occupy a
large place in the history of Canada, it is because the institution of
the Ursulines, which they founded and directed at Quebec, exercised the
happiest influence on the formation of the Christian families in our
country. "It was," says the Abbé Ferland, "an inestimable advantage for
the country to receive from the schools maintained by the nuns, mothers
of families reared in piety, familiar with their religious duties, and
capable of training the hearts and minds of the new generation." It was
thanks to the efforts of Madame de la Peltrie, and to the lessons of