themselves. The details would be voluminous, even of those portions
which have been collected since the heat of the controversy which the
book long ago excited. Suffice it to say, that undesigned and collateral
evidence in corroboration of it has been increasing to the present day;
and that the following brief review of some of the early events will
afford a fair specimen of the whole.

In the year 1835, Maria Monk was found alone, and in a wretched and
feeble condition, on the outskirts of New York city, by a humane man,
who got her admitted into the hospital at Bellevue. She then first told
the story in outline, which she afterwards and uniformly repeated in
detail, and which was carefully written down and published in the
following form:--she said she was a fugitive nun from the Hotel Dieu of
Montreal, whence she had effected her escape, in consequence of cruelty
which she had suffered, and crimes which were there committed by the
Romish priests, who had the control of the institution, and to which
they had access, by private as well as public entrances. Having
expressed a willingness to go to that city, make public accusations, and
point out evidences of their truth in the convent itself, she was taken
thither by a resolute man, who afterwards suffered for an act of great
merit; but she was unable to obtain a fair hearing, apparently through
the secret opposition of the priests. She returned to New York, where
her story was thought worthy of publication; and it was proposed to have
it carefully written down from her lips, and published in a small
pamphlet. Everything she communicated was, therefore, accurately written
down, and, when copied out, read to her for correction. But the amount
of important material in her possession, proved to be far greater than
had been supposed, and many pages of notes were accumulated on numerous
topics brought up to her attention in the course of conversation and
inquiry. All those were submitted to persons fully competent to decide