Note A — XXXIV. To Mother Marie Jacqueline Favre, Superior at Lyons.

We read in the inedited "Foundations of the First Monastery of Paris": "In the years 1619 and 1620 God permitted a terrible plague to break out in Paris. Terror drove away not only the court but almost the entire population, who sought safety in flight. So deserted did this great city become that we are told the grass grew in the streets. As might be expected in such circumstances, the alms upon which our newly established Community subsisted entirely ceased, and to add to our misfortunes we were surrounded by infected houses. All day long we could hear the tinkle of the little bell that announced the passing of the death waggon in front of the house."