founded the Ursulines at Quebec, came to Ville-Marie to offer her
services to Mlle. Mance, who admired her generosity and good will
without accepting her assistance. The members of the Association
resident in Paris labored meanwhile very earnestly to establish the
hospital in Montreal, but declined the interference of outsiders. The
Duchess de Bullion had already made large advances for its support, and
in 1648 donated an additional fund of sixty thousand livres. With this
money M. de Maisonneuve assisted Jean Mance in building a wing of 60 by
24 feet for the nurses, who were _still wanting_, and whose services it
was time to secure, as the number of patients was constantly increasing.
The ladies of the Hotel Dieu at Quebec, on hearing of the crowded state
of the hospital, presented themselves as nurses, and two remained in
Ville-Marie a considerable length of time to watch how matters would be
arranged. Even the French court approved of them as nurses, but
Providence ordained otherwise, as at that very time the Associates in
France were making their _own_ arrangements, and disappointed those who
wished to press the matter in Montreal.

There existed at La Fleche a new congregation of Hospital Sisters,
partly secular, who by simple vows added the service of the sick to the
ordinary duties of a religious community. They were in their first
fervor, the members applying themselves with zeal and edification to
serve the poor invalids in the Hotel Dieu of St. Joseph, lately
established in their city. Dauversiere, who was acquainted with their
piety, asked and obtained a few Sisters to go to Ville-Marie and
establish the Hotel Dieu of Canada. As soon as his proposal was made
known, these pious women strove who should be first to claim the sacred
honor of expatriating themselves for the cause of charity, and sacrifice
life, if necessary, in a strange land, among wild savages who would most
likely, in return, confer on them the crown of martyrdom. The French