About 1820 or 1821，Madame de Genlis，who was at that time editing a little periodical publication called l'Intrepide，asked to be allowed to enter the convent of the Petit-Picpus as lady resident.The Duc d'Orleans recommended her.
Uproar in the hive；the vocal-mothers were all in a flutter；Madame de Genlis had made romances.But she declared that she was the first to detest them，and then，she had reached her fierce stage of devotion.
With the aid of God，and of the Prince，she entered.
She departed at the end of six or eight months，alleging as a reason，that there was no shade in the garden.
The nuns were delighted.
Although very old，she still played the harp，and did it very well.
When she went away she left her mark in her cell.
Madame de Genlis was superstitious and a Latinist.
These two words furnish a tolerably good profile of her.
A few years ago，there were still to be seen，pasted in the inside of a little cupboard in her cell in which she locked up her silverware and her jewels，these five lines in Latin，written with her own hand in red ink on yellow paper，and which，in her opinion，possessed the property of frightening away robbers：——
Imparibus meritis pendent tria corpora ramis：[15]
Dismas et Gesmas，media est divina potestas；
Alta petit Dismas，infelix，infima，Gesmas；
Nos et res nostras conservet summa potestas.
Hos versus dicas，ne tu furto tua perdas.
[15]On the boughs hang three bodies of unequal merits：Dismas and Gesmas，between is the divine power.
Dismas seeks the heights，Gesmas，unhappy man，the lowest regions；the highest power will preserve us and our effects.
If you repeat this verse，you will not lose your things by theft.
These verses in sixth century Latin raise the question whether the two thieves of Calvary were named，as is commonly believed，Dismas and Gestas，or Dismas and Gesmas.
This orthography might have confounded the pretensions put forward in the last century by the Vicomte de Gestas，of a descent from the wicked thief.However，the useful virtue attached to these verses forms an article of faith in the order of the Hospitallers.
The church of the house，constructed in such a manner as to separate the Great Convent from the Boarding-school like a veritable intrenchment，was，of course，common to the Boarding-school，the Great Convent，and the Little Convent.
The public was even admitted by a sort of lazaretto entrance on the street.
But all was so arranged，that none of the inhabitants of the cloister could see a face from the outside world.
Suppose a church whose choir is grasped in a gigantic hand，and folded in such a manner as to form，not，as in ordinary churches，a prolongation behind the altar，but a sort of hall，or obscure cellar，to the right of the officiating priest；suppose this hall to be shut off by a curtain seven feet in height，of which we have already spoken；in the shadow of that curtain，pile up on wooden stalls the nuns in the choir on the left，the school-girls on the right，the lay-sisters and the novices at
the bottom，and you will have some idea of the nuns of the Petit-Picpus assisting at divine service.
That cavern，which was called the choir，communicated with the cloister by a lobby.
The church was lighted from the garden.
When the nuns were present at services where their rule enjoined silence，the public was warned of their presence only by the folding seats of the stalls noisily rising and falling.
BOOK SIXTH.——LE PETIT-PICPUS
Ⅶ SOME SILHOUETTES OF THIS DARKNESS
During the six years which separate 1819 from 1825，the prioress of the Petit-Picpus was Mademoiselle de Blemeur，whose name，in religion，was Mother Innocente.
She came of the family of Marguerite de Blemeur，author of Lives of the Saints of the Order of Saint-Benoit.She had been re-elected.She was a woman about sixty years of age，short，thick，'singing like a cracked pot，'says the letter which we have already quoted；an excellent woman，moreover，and the only merry one in the whole convent，and for that reason adored.She was learned，erudite，wise，competent，curiously proficient in history，crammed with Latin，stuffed with Greek，full of Hebrew，and more of a Benedictine monk than a Benedictine nun.
The sub-prioress was an old Spanish nun，Mother Cineres，who was almost blind.
The most esteemed among the vocal mothers were Mother Sainte-Honorine；the treasurer，Mother Sainte-Gertrude，the chief mistress of the novices；Mother-Saint-Ange，the assistant mistress；Mother Annonciation，the sacristan；Mother Saint-Augustin，the nurse，the only one in the convent who was malicious；then Mother Sainte-Mechtilde（Mademoiselle Gauvain），very young and with a beautiful voice；Mother des Anges（Mademoiselle Drouet），who had been in the convent of the Filles-Dieu，and in the convent du Tresor，between Gisors and Magny；Mother Saint-Joseph（Mademoiselle de Cogolludo），Mother Sainte-Adelaide（Mademoiselle d'Auverney），Mother Misericorde（Mademoiselle de Cifuentes，who could not resist austerities），Mother Compassion（Mademoiselle de la Miltiere，received at the age of sixty in defiance of the rule，and very wealthy）；Mother Providence（Mademoiselle de Laudiniere），Mother Presentation（Mademoiselle de Siguenza），who was prioress in 1847；and finally，Mother Sainte-Celigne（sister of the sculptor Ceracchi），who went mad；Mother Sainte-Chantal（Mademoiselle de Suzon），who went mad.
There was also，among the prettiest of them，a charming girl of three and twenty，who was from the Isle de Bourbon，a descendant of the Chevalier Roze，whose name had been Mademoiselle Roze，and who was called Mother Assumption.
Mother Sainte-Mechtilde，intrusted with the singing and the choir，was fond of making use of the pupils in this quarter.
