Note A — XVII. To Madame de Gouffier.

Madame de Gouffier, a religious of the Order of the Holy Ghost, was attracted to greater devotion by reading the "Introduction to a Devout Life," and made a long journey to confer with its author, St. Francis de Sales. The Sister annalist of the Order tells us that Madame de Gouffier, on arriving, "Devoutly ferreted out all she could about the rising Congregation to see if it might not be the promised land designed by God for her, in which she hoped to find rivers flowing with milk and honey. Full of admiration for the new Institute, Madame de Gouffier wished to become a member, but insurmountable impediments opposed her design, and she could only obtain permission to wear the religious habit within the enclosure, where she was known under the name of Sister Marie Elizabeth. With tireless energy the new benefactress gave a helping hand to the foundations of Lyons, Moulins, and Paris, in all of which houses she successively sojourned, ever seeking to make herself useful to the Sisters, whose virtue was indisputably made manifest by the thorns without number with which, all unwittingly, she strewed their paths. Towards the end of 1621 Madame de Gouffier quitted her exile here below for the true Promised Land."