Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal

Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal

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Title: Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal
Author: Sarah J Richardson
Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5734] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on August 18, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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A brief note about the Project Gutenberg edition of Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal.
Life in the Grey Nunnery was first published in Boston, in 1857 by Edward P. Hood, who was credited as the book's editor. It is likely that this account is by Sarah J. Richardson "as told to" Edward Hood, though it may in fact be completely fictional. It is clearly an anti-Catholic book, an example of the genre of fiction referred to as "the convent horror story." Anti-Catholic sentiments were common in the United States during the middle part of the 1800s probably directed at the relatively large number of Catholic immigrants arriving from Germany, and particularly Ireland during this period. These sentiments resulted in riots and the burning of churches, including the destruction by a mob of the Ursuline convent and girl's school in Charlestown Massachusetts. During this period a powerful nationalist political party the "Know Nothings" also emerged, and won a number of influential positions in the 1850s, particularly in New England. They succeeded in creating legislation hostile to the Catholic church, barring Catholics from various positions and requiring Catholic institutions to submit to hostile "inspections." The interested reader is encouraged to use a literature search for the terms MARIA MONK or KNOW NOTHINGS to learn more about this genre of literature and the social circumstances in which it was created.

LIFE IN THE GREY NUNNERY AT MONTREAL
An authentic narrative of the horrors, mysteries, and cruelties of convent life by Sarah J. Richardson, an escaped nun.
Edited by Edward P. Hood

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PARENTAGE--FATHER'S MARRIAGE
CHAPTER II
THE WHITE NUNNERY
CHAPTER III
THE NURSERY
CHAPTER IV
A SLAVE FOR LIFE
CHAPTER V
CEREMONY OF CONFIRMATION
CHAPTER VI
THE GREY NUNNERY
CHAPTER VII
ORPHAN'S HOME
CHAPTER VIII
CONFESSION AND SORROW OF NO AVAIL
CHAPTER IX
ALONE WITH THE DEAD
CHAPTER X
THE SICK NUN
CHAPTER XI
THE JOY OF FREEDOM
CHAPTER XII
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
CHAPTER XIII
LANDLADY'S STORY CONTINUED
CHAPTER XIV
THE TWO SISTERS
CHAPTER XV
CHOICE OF PUNISHMENTS
CHAPTER XVI
HORRORS OF STARVATION
CHAPTER XVII
THE TORTURE ROOM
CHAPTER XVIII
RETURN TO THE NUNNERY
CHAPTER XIX
SICKNESS AND DEATH OF A SUPERIOR
CHAPTER XX
STUDENTS AT THE ACADEMY
CHAPTER XXI
SECOND ESCAPE FROM THE NUNNERY
CHAPTER XXII
LONELY MIDNIGHT WALK
CHAPTER XXIII
FLIGHT AND RECAPTURE
CHAPTER XXIV
RESOLVES TO ESCAPE
CHAPTER XXV
EVENTFUL JOURNEY
CHAPTER XXVI
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX I ABSURDITIES OF ROMANISTS APPENDIX II CRUELTY OF ROMANISTS APPENDIX III INQUISITION OF GOA--IMPRISONMENT OF M. DELLON, 1673 APPENDIX IV INQUISITION OF GOA, CONCLUDED APPENDIX V INQUISITION AT MACERATA, ITALY APPENDIX VI ROMANISM OF THE PRESENT DAY APPENDIX VII NARRATIVE OP SIGNORINA FLORIENCIA D' ROMANI

LIFE IN THE GREY NUNNERY.
CHAPTER I
.
PARENTAGE.--FATHER'S MARRIAGE.
I was born at St. John's, New Brunswick, in the year 1835. My father was from the city of Dublin, Ireland, where he spent his youth, and received an education in accordance with the strictest rules of Roman Catholic faith and practice. Early manhood, however, found him dissatisfied with his native country, longing for other scenes and distant climes. He therefore left Ireland, and came to Quebec.
Here he soon became acquainted with Capt. Willard, a wealthy English gentleman, who, finding him a stranger in a strange land, kindly opened his door, and gave him employment and a home. Little did he think that in so doing he was warming in his bosom a viper whose poisonous fangs would, ere long, fasten on his very heart-strings, and bring down his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. His only child was a lovely daughter of fourteen. From what I have heard of her, I think she must have been very beautiful in person, quiet, gentle and unassuming in her deportment, and her disposition amiable and affectionate. She was exceedingly romantic, and her mental