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Voyage of Pehr Kalm to Canada, 1 August 1749. Entering religion.

202

There is a convent of sisters, here in the city [Montréal] and a half-formed convent beyond the city limits; it is well founded, but has not yet received confirmation by the pope. One cannot merely enter the convent at one’s will, but the young woman or her parents must beforehand pay a sum of money and not a small sum at that. The sum of money is usually in the amount of 500 ecus, but some may enter for the sum of 300. As such, they will be in a way the servants of the former. No poor person can enter without having the means to pay.

Source: Kaml, Pehr, "Travels of Pehr Kalm in Canada in 1749" (Montréal: Pierre Tisseyre, 1977), p. 202. Notes: Annotated translation of the travel diary by Jacques Rousseau and Guy Béthune with the collaboration of Pierre Morisset

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