INTRODUCTION . There is a history in all men's lives Figuring the nature of the times deceas'd . Shakespeare, Hen. iv, Pt . ii , Act iii.
The Diary of the English communityof the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady at Paris, commonly known as the " Blue Nuns, " is contained in a large folio volume, measuring 17 XII X2 inches . It is divided into seven parts : (1) transcripts of public instruments relating to the foundation of the convent ; (2) the diary of the convent, from 1658 to 1703, in the handwriting of Mother Susanna Hawkins , apparently transcribed from an earlier document, and thenceforward in different hands till its abrupt termination during the French Revolution in 1792 ; (3) transcripts of official documents relating to the election of abbesses and other holders of office in the community, from Feb. 2, 1660, till August 18, 1788 ; (4) the professions of the community from Dec. 8 , 1661, the formulae being transcripts of the originals in the convent archives down to 1690, after which, down to July 16, 1789 , they bear the original signatures of the nun professed , the abbess , officiating priest , superior, and witnesses , one of the latter , on Jan. 30, 1693, being Queen Mary , consort of the deposed King James II ; (5) an obituary of the community from Nov. 19, 1661 , down to May 29, 1793 , and thence forward in the handwriting of Lady Jerningham till the death of the last abbess on April 8 , 1810 ; (6 ) the superiors appointed by the archbishop of Paris, from 1659 till April 3 , 1782 ; (7) the confessors from 1658 till the convent was sold under the decree of the Directory, after which the remnant of the community were driven to seek an asylum in their native country in 1800. After the death of the Abbess Green at Norwichin 1810, the MS . was left in charge of Lady Jerningham at Cossey, by whom it was entrusted in 1812 to Mr. Edward Jerningham to be put in as evidence before the House of Lords in the Stafford Peerage case. About 1817, formal application for the MS . was made by Sr Anne Frances Duffield , the senior survivor of the late community, and it was given up by the Dowager Lady Jerningham in the presence of Mr. White, late servant to Mr. Edward Jerningham , deceased, and confidential agent of the family . Some time after the death of Sr Anne Frances in Dec., 1834, it was purchased in Edinburgh by Mr. William Pickering, the eminent bookseller and publisher in Chancery Lane, by whom sold to Mr. John Gage -Rokewode, of Coldham Hall, Suffolk, itin was Jan., 1839. After the latter's death , in 1842, it lay forgotten in the archives of his nephew, Sir Thomas Rokewode-Gage , Bart. , at Hengrave Hall, till the sale by auction of the contents of that