"This religious community, is the Third Order of St. Francis, of Assisi, instituted in Europe by this saint in 1221. It was established for persons married or single living in the world, united by certain pious exercises, compatible with a secular state. It soon spread over all Europe, and even kings and queens on their thrones vied with the poorest peasants in eagerly entering this order, to share the labors of the mission within its sphere, and to participate in its spiritual benefits. Among the persons of this order, who were expelled from their cloister homes during the revolution which agitated Europe in 1848, was Sister Teresa Hackelmayer. This nun, at the proposal of a missionary father in America, and by permission of her Superior, came to New York in the winter of 1851, to establish a community of her order in that State. But meeting with disappointment there, she finally established a convent at Oldenburg, in the State of Indiana. In 1851, a second convent of this order was founded at Nojoshing, four miles from Milwaukee, on Lake Michigan. In 1853, the Rev. J. B. Weikamp founded, in West Chicago, the third convent of this order, and also formed a community of Brothers;--and in October 1855, with the understanding of Bishop Baraga, then Vicar Apostolic of Upper Michigan, he transferred those two communities to 'Cross Village'--his present location. "The company having ranged through the building, as observed, took a walk outside. From the south side of the convent, a broad walk is laid out reaching to an inclosure of some forty feet square, at the distance of about fifteen rods. Another and narrower walk through the centre of this inclosure leads to a small square building, on the opposite side, having a four-sided roof meeting in a point, and surmounted by a cross. On entering this building, a lounge or settee, stands in front, and on the wall above it, hangs a piece of board or canvass, painted black, on which are human skulls of different sizes, each with two cross bones painted in white. A trap-door is raised from the floor, and a deep, spacious vault is opened to view: this is the place of burial for the Superior of the convent. On the outside, the spaces on either side of the little walk are intended to be the last resting-places of the brothers and sisters. It is a solemn thought to see men thus prepare deliberately for _Death!_ But as the party retraced their steps in such cheerful, good humor, loitering toward the convent, one might have supposed that the beautiful weather, the bright sunshine, and the bracing air had, for the time, scattered away all thoughts of death. Among the questions proposed to the Superior was, 'Whether at any time the brothers and sisters were allowed to have social, familiar intercourse with each other?' The Superior answered, in substance, that they were not; nor even allowed to speak to each other, without permission of the Superior. 'Then according to