resent every other ambition in
comparison with this! How ignoble was the soldier's heroism when placed
beside the martyrdom of the priest! With consummate art she displayed
before my boyish fancy all that was attractive, all that was
picturesque, in the missionary's life. To glowing descriptions of
scenery and savage life succeeded touching episodes of deep interest
and passages of tenderest emotions, the power of the Church--whether
as consoler or comforter, as healing the sick or supporting the
weak-hearted--being never forgotten. If she saw that my mind dwelt with
pleasure on pictures of splendor, she lingered on scenes of greatness
and royal power, when priests associated with monarchs as their guides
and counsellors. If, at another moment, the romance seemed to engage my
attention, she narrated incidents of the most affecting kind. At these
moments it was strange to mark how the cold and almost stern reserve of
the cloister seemed lost in the glowing enthusiasm of the devotee. It
was not the nun broken down by fasting, wasted by penance, and subdued
by prayer, but the almost inspired daughter of the Church, glorying and
exulting in its triumph. She gave me books to read,--lives of saints and
martyrs, of devoted missionaries and pious fathers. If in some instances
the sufferings they endured seemed more than mere humanity could
support, the triumphant joy of their victories appeared to partake of
a celestial brilliancy. Day by day, hour by hour, did she pursue
the theme, till the subject, like a river fed by a thousand rills,
overflowed all else in my mind, and left no room for aught but itself.

It was not difficult for her to show that the frightful condition of
France at the period--its lawless confiscations, its pillage, and its
bloodshed--all dated from the extinction of the Church. The task was an
easy one to contrast past peace and happiness with present anarchy
and suffering. I reflected long and deeply on the subject. If doubts
assailed me, I came to her to solve them; if difficulties embarrassed
me, I asked her to explain them. I applied the question to the
circumstances of my own position in life, and began to believe that it
was exactly the career to suit me. I eagerly inquired, next, how
the fitting education might be obtained, and learned that since the
destruction of the religious societies of France and the Low Countries,
many had emigrated to Spain and Italy, and some to England. Sister
"Ursule" was