The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-24 00:00:00

THURSDAY EVENING,

LITERATURE.

THE FEMALE JESUIT; or, The Spy in the

Family.
This is one of the most interesting and extraordi-
nary narratives ever presented to the public, and is
doubly interesting at the present time, when the in-
trigues of that most truth-despising order, the:Jesuists,
are at length beginning to attract attention. The
author of this work, in his preface, says—
" The startling assertion that' truth is stranger than
fiction' has seldom been more fully verified than in the
details of this volume. The heroine whose extraordinary
scheme of deception is here recorded, introduced herself
to the Rev. as an orphan, with no near rektives
but a Jesuit uncle and an aunt, also a religeuse.' She
stated that she had been an inmate of various convents
in connexion with the Faithful Companions of Jesus'
for seventeen years. These she represented as an order
of Female Jesuits. She described herself as having been
for two years a postulant in their Order, and as about to
be removed to Paris, there to take upon her vows from
which there could be no escape. Having long been con-
vinced of the errors of the system, and having acciden-
tally heard Mr. L 's name and character, she had
contrived to get to him in order to throw herself on his
kindness for advice. As will subsequently appear, she
was received into his family, and thence obtained a situa-
tion as a governess. She returned to Mr. L----'s
house on account of supposed dangerous illness, and con-
tinued there till the discovery of her plots. She is still
at large, and has been seen in London. Who and what
she is remain a mystery. Whether she is self-taught
and self-prompted in the art of deception, or whether the
almost supernatural ability she displays, has been ac-
quired in the school of the Jesuits, must be left for the
Judgment of the reader to decide, and the publication of
this volume to elicit.

" The statements in the Introduction' relating to the
laws and mechanism of the' Community' which Marie
had auitted, and to her escape, were
furnished by herself. For these and for her Auto-
biography,' the writer cannot be answerable. All the
remainder of the book is strictly and literally true."
So startling are the events recorded in this work, that
we were at first almost inclined to doubt this last
assertion, that,a// the remainder of the book is strictly
and literally true ; but we have instituted inquiries
which leave no doubt upon our minds of the truth of
every assertion made by the Rev. S. L. That gentle-
man is an excellent and exemplary minister of the
Gospel, whose name, if mentioned, would be to the
world sufficient guarantee of the truthfulness of every
word he asserts • indeed we rgret that his kind-
heartedness, and his unwillingness to hurt the
feelings of the relations of the wicked im-
poster whose career of iniquity is recorded in this
volume, should' have so far prevailed as to
induce him toqidopt the quasi incognito of initial?.
The Rev. S. L. has no cause for concealment, for his
own straightforwardness and innate love of truth
enabled him to discover and expose one of the most cun-
ning schemes that it ever entered into the heart of
Jesuit to concoct, whilst, as regards the heroine, Marie
Lucille G., the duty he owes to the public de-
mands that her names and her aliases, so
far as he knows them, should be given
in full length, in order that the public may be placed
on their guard against the machinations of
an impostor, who, to the wickedness of an Eliza-
beth Canning, unites-the blasphemous hypocrisy of a
Joanna Southcott, and the unabashable impudence of
a Princes Carraboo. Marie L. G. introduced herself,
as above stated, to the Rev. S. L. towards the close of
the year 1848, or the beginning of 1849.
She said that she was a postulant at the
Convent of 1., in the neighbourhood of Lon-
don, and that she had also been an inmate
of the convent of S. The sister of the Rev. S. L.
went down by the appointment of Marie to the gate
of the convent in a cab, and Marie, saying she had
effected her escape, jumped into it, and became domi-
ciled with the Rev. S. L. and his family. She related
to him her history, and stated thatshe had an uncle, the
Very Reverend Henry Constable Clifford, who was a
Jesuit, and who was stationed at Manotte, who was
very high in the Church of Rome, and with whom she
at once commenced a correspondence. She stated her
age to be 25, and her health seemed to be very deli-
cate. Soon after she came to reside with the Rev.
S. L. she commenced her autobiography, in which
she relates her experience of 17 years of convent life
in connexion with " the Faithful Companions of Jesus.,"
and enlarges upon the reasons which induced her to
quit the Roman Catholic faith. The following is the
account given of Marie's manner of writing her auto-
biography, and we beg particular attention
to it, because, by collating it . with some
subsequent passages of the narrative, we
may be enabled to offer at least some conjecture
as to the objects of those, for there were clearly
several parties concerned, who were engaged in this
nefarious transaction :

" Marie determined upon preserving a record of the
principal events in her life, and in particular of her some-
what singular mental history. This was an undertaking
of no small difficulty, for having, as she said, been alto-
gether unused to English composition, except when
writing notes at the dictation of the Very Reverend
Mother, she knew neither how to form nor to arrange
her sentences. Her deficiency in habits of order and
method was another obstacle. Her recollections of the

past, as they came to mind, were recorded on sundry
scraps of paper of all eorts and sizes, in ink or in pencil,
cros►ed and interlined, as the convenience of the moment
dictated. When seated by Mrs. L-- to review her
daily or weekly task, it was often the business of nearly
half an hour to collect and arrange from desk, pocket,
and portfolio, the various parts; and when fairly stitched
tegether, to prevent the truant pieces from again wan-
dering, they presented an amusing variety of s za and
quantity. It was a further exercise of patience to deci-
pher the half rubbed out pencil scrawl, or all but ille-
gible ink crossing; and then each sentence had to be
re-made, and put in its proper place. She frequently
declared that nothing but the hope of doing good would
induce her to persevere, and that as this was her first,
the public might be assured it would be her last, piece
of authorship. As she proceeded, however, the work of
composition became easier, and the latter half of the
narrative required very little correction. The introduc-
tory account of her escape was written for her by Mrs.
L-: all the incidents relating to the convent being sup-
plied by herself, and those which related to her arrival,
oy her Protestant friends."
Shortly after the completion of this autobiography,
her friends procured for her the situation of a
governess in the family of Mr. and Mrs. S., but she
soon becomes ill, and under pretence of ill-health

endeavoured again to reinstate herself in the family
of the Rev. J. L., failing in which, she told a most
transparent falsehood, evidently for the purpose of
securing her dismissal and her consequent return to the
residence of the Rev. S. L. Once again located in
the hospitable mansion of the Reverend Gentleman,
she took care to have periodical returns of vomiting
and spitting blood, so as absolutely to preclude the
idea not only of removing her, but of harassing her
by any allusions to her adventures as a governess.
In the meantime the uncle, the Rev. Herbert C.
Clifford, entered into a correspondence with Mr. L.,
and in the course of it stated that Marie would be en-
titled to a large property in Staffordshire. In the course
of this correspondence he frequently expresses a de-
sire to have her original MS. of her autobiography,
of which it should be observed Mrs. L. had made a
fair copy. But it boots not to pursue the tale of in-
trigue and deceit, proceed we to the discovery. The ill-
ness of Marie was all sham ; she was in the habit of
applying leeches to her gums to produce tha appear-
ance of bleeding at the mouth, and the bulk of the
fluid which she had appeared to have vomited up was
bullock's blood, purchased by her from a butcher, and
mixed with warm water ; her pulse she lowered by,
taking doses of digitalis, and she never would sub-
mit to be examined by the stethoscope. The letters
she herself acknowledged were forgeries, but we had
better let the author himself relate the events of the
morning of June 18, 1850, the trial morning :--
" Tuesday, June 18th, dawned in almost cloudless
beauty. Marie came down to breakfast, little thinking
of the dark cloud which was lowering over her, prepar-
ing in one short hour to burst upon her. She had ar-
ranged to walk across the Park to Mrs. Y---'s, and
Elizabeth was to accompany her. As soon as breakfast
was over, she ran up stairs to get ready. In a few
minutes more she would have been a A knock was
heard at the door. Elizabeth ran up to her, Marie, a
gentleman wants to speak to you.'
" She turned pale. .‘ Who is it?' she asked anxiously.
" ` It is only Mr. K-.'
" Marie seemed relieved, and went down to the draw-
ing-room.
" According to pre-arrangement, while Mr.
engaged her in conversation, Mr. S- and Mr. A'B--
arrived. Mr. L-- was watching for them, and he
opened the door before they knocked. They ascended
the staircase as noiselessly as possible, and opened the
drawing-room door. There they stood ! Mr. in
whose family she bad lived, Mr. L-- whose kindness
she had abu:ed, Mr. A'B-- with whose profession .1
character she was well acquainted, and Mr. K their
confidential friend. Why had they all assembled at
that hour to confront ker ? She saw it at a glance. She
bent her head, and there she sat, calm, modest, self-
possessed, without any of the excitement so well feigned
in earlier days. She did not faint, she did not move.
In former days the slightest incident would throw her
into a state of excitement which alarmed her friends.
Now, when any one else would have been agitated, she
sat unmoved. If there was a struggle within, there was
no manifestation of it without. Her examiners betrayed
more emotion than herself.
"Two of the gentlemen placed their chairs between
Marie and the door, and they all seated themselves in

silence.
" Mr. 1.-- spoke. He said he had invited these
friends to be present, while he entered upon matters too
important for conference with her alone, and wishing
them also to hear any explanation which she might have
to give..
" He then stated that two facts had come to his know.
ledge. Her previous acquaintance with the contents of
Cap(ain Kenyon's letter, and inquiries for it at the post.
office; and her correspondence with Mr. Viall, lull of
misstatements, which had come into his possession.
Can y ou,' he inquired, explain either of these?' -
" Marie seemed about to maintain the veracity of her
statements to Mr. Viall, till assured by Mr. K--- that
the whole matter had been thoroughly investigated, and
that such asseverations were useless. She was silent.
repeated the question, whother oho could
exPisiwthege circumstsucw.