treated her as a visionary. Yet as she persisted in asking advice, he
spoke of her in Paris to persons more enlightened than himself. Those
with whom he conversed did not fail to recognize something remarkable in
her vocation, and she was accordingly introduced to the Duchess at the
Hotel de Bullion. As this lady was already laboring for the colonization
of Montreal she took a lively interest in Jean, retaining her for some
time as a confidential attendant in her own household. In this capacity
the Duchess could not but admire the special designs of God, manifested
in her well-formed habits of virtue. She encouraged her to go with the
volunteers to the New World, and remain faithful to her vocation. As the
day appointed for the embarkation drew near, after giving her a
well-filled purse to supply her wants, she exacted a promise to apply to
her in future for assistance in carrying on whatever good works Divine
Providence might appoint for her. She then took an affectionate leave of
Jean, and sent her to M. Dauversiere at Rochelle. On her arrival he
desired to test her zeal and courage as a postulant, and represented the
difficulty of such an enterprise for a young, friendless girl. He spoke
of his intention to found Ville-Marie, but added that it might be
reddened with human blood, if the savages should attack the colonists,
and that she might possibly have to attend alone in the hospital on the
wounded and dying. Finding that such pictures of horror only increased
her zeal, he blessed the inscrutable ways of God, and joyfully permitted
her to embark with the others. He did not hesitate even to enrol her
name among the Associates, and she eventually became a most useful
instrument in the hands of Divine Providence for completing the
establishment of the Hotel-Dieu of St. Joseph at Ville-Marie.

The events we have just recorded delayed the sailing of the fleet until
the end of June, at which time it left the port of Rochelle, but did not
arrive at Quebec until the close of September. The season was then too