at Mass on Sunday; which was a favor not usually accorded to the
passengers. After sailing for some days they arrived at Saumur, where
they made a short stay, as the boat needed repairs. Here also a public
humiliation awaited this extraordinary woman. On presenting herself at
the inn, in company with so many men, suspicion again closed the door
against her. She was told plainly that an honest woman would not travel
as she did, and that the credit of the house would be injured, by
receiving her as a guest; nor did the companions of her journey
sympathize with her in the least, on receiving the insult, although she
had edified them very much since they left Orleans. Such marks of man's
inconstancy frequently occur in every grade of society. However, a
charitable citizen of Saumur, who was present, being touched with
compassion by the modesty and meekness with which she received the
affront, offered her the hospitality of his home, which she gratefully
accepted. It is remarkable that these cruel insults cooled neither her
determination nor her fervor; on the contrary, she interiorly rejoiced
at the high honor God conferred upon her, by permitting her to share in
the contempt and humiliation of His divine Son, whom the Jewish rabble
maligned and cursed, and almost as extraordinary is the fact that she
completely regained her influence over her inconstant fellow-travellers,
when they again met on the boat to continue their route. They arrived at
Nantes three or four days afterwards. One of the party was a young man
who had determined to enlist in M. de Maisonneuve's regiment for Canada.

He had many opportunities of noticing the exalted virtue of Margaret
Bourgeois during the week, and politely offered to carry her little
package when they left the boat. Even this attention of Christian
charity drew upon her a fresh humiliation. Accompanied by the stranger,
she enquired for the residence of M. le Coq, merchant of Nantes, which
was the address given her by M. de Maisonneuve, but the gentleman was