This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan with help fromCharles Franks and Distributed ProofersA brief note about the Project Gutenberg edition of Lifein the Grey Nunnery at MontrealLife in the Grey Nunnery was first published in Bostonin 1857 by Edward P Hood who was credited as the bookseditor It is likely that this account is by Sarah JRichardson as told to Edward Hood though it may infact be completely fictional It is clearly anantiCatholic book an example of the genre of fictionreferred to as the convent horror story AntiCatholicsentiments were common in the United States during themiddle part of the 1800s probably directed at the relativelylarge number of Catholic immigrants arriving from Germanyand particularly Ireland during this period Thesesentiments resulted in riots and the burning of churchesincluding the destruction by a mob of the Ursuline conventand girls school in Charlestown Massachusetts Duringthis period a powerful nationalist political party theKnow Nothings also emerged and won a number ofinfluential positions in the 1850s particularly in NewEngland  They succeeded in creating legislation hostileto the Catholic church barring Catholics from variouspositions and requiring Catholic institutions to submitto hostile inspections The interested reader isencouraged to use a literature search for the terms MARIAMONK or KNOW NOTHINGS to learn more about this genre ofliterature and the social circumstances in which it wascreatedLIFE IN THE GREY NUNNERY AT MONTREALAn authentic narrative of the horrors mysteriesand cruelties of convent life by Sarah J Richardsonan escaped nunEdited by Edward P HoodTABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER I     PARENTAGEFATHERS MARRIAGECHAPTER II    THE WHITE NUNNERYCHAPTER III   THE NURSERYCHAPTER IV    A SLAVE FOR LIFECHAPTER V     CEREMONY OF CONFIRMATIONCHAPTER VI    THE GREY NUNNERYCHAPTER VII   ORPHANS HOMECHAPTER VIII  CONFESSION AND SORROW OF NO AVAILCHAPTER IX    ALONE WITH THE DEADCHAPTER X     THE SICK NUNCHAPTER XI    THE JOY OF FREEDOMCHAPTER XII   STRANGER IN A STRANGE LANDCHAPTER XIII  LANDLADYS STORY CONTINUEDCHAPTER XIV   THE TWO SISTERSCHAPTER XV    CHOICE OF PUNISHMENTSCHAPTER XVI   HORRORS OF STARVATIONCHAPTER XVII  THE TORTURE ROOMCHAPTER XVIII RETURN TO THE NUNNERYCHAPTER XIX   SICKNESS AND DEATH OF A SUPERIORCHAPTER XX    STUDENTS AT THE ACADEMYCHAPTER XXI   SECOND ESCAPE FROM THE NUNNERYCHAPTER XXII  LONELY MIDNIGHT WALKCHAPTER XXIII FLIGHT AND RECAPTURECHAPTER XXIV  RESOLVES TO ESCAPECHAPTER XXV   EVENTFUL JOURNEYCHAPTER XXVI  CONCLUSIONAPPENDIX I    ABSURDITIES OF ROMANISTSAPPENDIX II   CRUELTY OF ROMANISTSAPPENDIX III  INQUISITION OF GOAIMPRISONMENT OF              M DELLON 1673APPENDIX IV   INQUISITION OF GOA CONCLUDEDAPPENDIX V    INQUISITION AT MACERATA ITALYAPPENDIX VI   ROMANISM OF THE PRESENT DAYAPPENDIX VII  NARRATIVE OP SIGNORINA FLORIENCIA              D ROMANILIFE IN THE GREY NUNNERYCHAPTER IPARENTAGEFATHERS MARRIAGEI was born at St Johns New Brunswick in the year1835 My father was from the city of Dublin Irelandwhere he spent his youth and received an education inaccordance with the strictest rules of Roman Catholicfaith and practice Early manhood however found himdissatisfied with his native country longing for otherscenes and distant climes He therefore left Irelandand came to QuebecHere he soon became acquainted with Capt Willard awealthy English gentleman who finding him a strangerin a strange land kindly opened his door and gave himemployment and a home Little did he think that in sodoing he was warming in his bosom a viper whose poisonousfangs would ere long fasten on his very heartstringsand bring down his grey hairs with sorrow to the graveHis only child was a lovely daughter of fourteen Fromwhat I have heard of her I think she must have been verybeautiful in person quiet gentle and unassuming in herdeportment and her disposition amiable and affectionateShe was exceedingly romantic and her mental powers werealmost if not entirely uncultivated still she possessedsufficient strength of character to enable her to forma deep ardent and permanent attachmentThe young stranger gazed upon her with admiring eyesand soon began to whisper in her ear the flattering taleof love This of course her parents could not approveWhat give their darling to a stranger Never no neverWhat could they do without her Grieved that their kindnessshould have been thus returned they bade him go his wayand leave their child in peace He did go but like athief he returned In the darkness of midnight he stoleto her chamber and bore away from the home of herchildhood a fathers joy a mothers prideWho can tell the anguish of their souls when they enteredthat deserted chamber How desolate their lonelyhearthstone How dark the home where her presence hadscattered rainbow hues A terrible blow it was to CaptWillard a very bitter thing thus to have his cherishedplans frustrated his brightest hopes destroyed to seethe very sun of his existence go down at midday in cloudsand darkness Yes to the stern father this sad eventbrought bitter bitter grief But to the motherthattender affectionate mother it was death Yea more thandeath for reason at the first shock reeled and totteredon its throne then as days and weeks passed by andstill the loved one did not return when every effort tofind her had been made in vain then the dread certaintysettled down upon her soul that her child was lost toher forever Hope gave place to despair and she becamefrom that time a raving maniac At length death cameto her relief and her husband was left aloneSix weary years passed over the lonely man and then herejoiced in the intelligence that his child was stillliving with her husband at St Johns He immediatelywrote to her imploring her to return to her old homeand with the light of her presence dispel the gloom ofhis dwelling Accordingly she left St Johns and incompany with her husband returned to her father I wasthen about a year and