The Poet Of Cambridge Also Tells Us That The
Lives Of The Great Are So Many Models, And That As They Have Left Their
Footprints On The Sands Of Time, So May We By Following Their Noble
Example Render Our Lives Illustrious.
These reflections of the philosopher
and poet extend no doubt to those of the fairer sex, in whom exalted
virtue was manifested, and whose devotion in the pursuit of noble deeds
awakens the spirit of emulation in all hearts.
From the earliest period of
time heroic women have appeared. The mother of the Maccabees, the mother
of the Gracchi, the grand prophetesses whose actions are recorded in that
sublimest of books, the Bible - these and many others adorn the pages of
history, whether sacred or profane, and afford living, ever-present
proofs, that the pathway of glory and honour may be pursued by even the
weaker members of the human race.
In Canada, youthful though her record may be, there have appeared
actresses on the great stage of humanity, whose virtues appeal for
admiration, whose nobility of soul provokes general reverence, and whose
impress upon the future destinies of the country is of a more profound
nature than may be imagined at first sight.
Foremost among such heroic women, may be regarded the foundress of the
Ursuline Convent in Quebec, the Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation.
Gifted by nature, burning with zeal for the welfare of souls, imbued with
the greatest confidence in the mercies of a bountiful Creator, she fully
realized the great idea of Blessed Angela de Merici, that the preservation
of the world from innumerable evils, largely depended upon the correct
training of youth. Born in sunny France, she braved the dangers of the
deep, so that on our virgin soil she might plant the pure, untainted flag
of Christian education; and, now that the Province of Quebec has emerged
from the lowliness of its early condition - now that the settlers by the
banks of the St. Lawrence have become a great people, with a literature
all their own, rich in its very youthful exuberance, with their language
preserved, and the free exercise of their religion guaranteed no less by
the faithful adherence to treaty obligations, than by their own hardy
devotion, we can calmly review the past, and gratefully acknowledge the
blessings bestowed on the country through the instrumentality of that lady
who founded that holy sisterhood in our midst, which daily labours to
honour the Intelligence of God, by the cultivation of intellectual graces.
Few, indeed, are the families in Quebec which have not experienced the
value of the Ursuline community in our city. One of the crowns of
womanhood is gained in Christian education - an education which falls upon
the soil of the soul, like freshening dew, and adorns the heart and mind
with the flowers of virtue. Hence the life of the Venerable Mother Mary
should be carefully studied and pondered over; hence her deeds should be
proclaimed and her saintly legacies preserved, and therefore, it is, that
the writer humbly calls attention to a new work, written by a daughter of
Erin, written lovingly and sweetly in the quiet precincts of the Ursuline
Convent, Blackrock, Cork, and in which may be found the story of the
devoted French woman, whose name is now inseparably linked with that of
Canada, told in chaste language worthy alike of the virtuous theme, and of
the ability which marks the narration.
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