ve, and my speaking French, having made me already a great
favourite with the older part of all the three communities, who
unanimously declare colonel Rivers to be _un tres aimable homme_,
and have given me an unlimited liberty of visiting them whenever I
please: they now and then treat _me_ with a sight of some of the
young ones, but this is a favor not allow'd to all the world.

There are three religious houses at Quebec, so you have choice; the
Ursulines, the Hotel Dieu, and the General Hospital. The first is the
severest order in the Romish church, except that very cruel one which
denies its fair votaries the inestimable liberty of speech. The house
is large and handsome, but has an air of gloominess, with which the
black habit, and the livid paleness of the nuns, extremely corresponds.
The church is, contrary to the style of the rest of the convent,
ornamented and lively to the last degree. The superior is an
English-woman of good family, who was taken prisoner by the savages
when a child, and plac'd here by the generosity of a French officer.
She is one of the most amiable women I ever knew, with a benevolence in
her countenance which inspires all who see her with affection: I am
very fond of her conversation, tho' sixty and a nun.

The Hotel Dieu is very pleasantly situated, with a view of the two
rivers, and the entrance of the port: the house is chearful, airy, and
agreeable; the habit extremely becoming, a circumstance a handsome
woman ought by no means to overlook; 'tis white with a black gauze
veil, which would shew your complexion to great advantage. The order is
much less severe than the Ursulines, and I might add, much more useful,
their province being the care of the sick: the nuns of this house are
sprightly, and have a look of health which is wanting at the Ursulines.

The General Hospital, situated about a mile out of town, on the
borders of the river St. Charles, is much the most agreeable of the
three. The order and the habit are the same with the Hotel Dieu, except
that to the habit is added the cross, generally worn in Europe by
canonesses only: a distinction procur'd for them by their founder, St.
Vallier, the second bishop of Quebec. The house is, without, a very
noble building; and neatness, elegance and propriety reign within. The
nuns, who are all of the noblesse, are many of them handsome, and all
genteel, lively, and well bred; they have an air of the world, their
conversation is easy, sp