On Sunday, August 10, Reverend Beecher preached anti-Catholic sermons at three different Boston churches, in part railing specifically against Catholic schools set up to educate Protestant children. On Monday, August 11, a group of selectmen was admitted to the convent and given a detailed tour by Sister Mary John. As they left the convent, the men were subjected to verbal abuse by the school's students, inquiring if they had found the supposedly missing woman. The selectmen then prepared a statement for publication the next day, that was intended to reassure the public that the woman was in good health, that she was not being held against her will, and that the convent was fit to live in.