The formula of acceptance was as follows: "We accept with all possible respect and submission, the rules which have been given us by Monsigneur, the illustrious and Right Reverend Bishop of Quebec. After having diligently read and examined them, we judge them to be proper for the welfare of our community, and resolve to practice them with all possible exactness. In virtue of which acceptance we hereunto affix our names, on this 24th day of June, 1698." Then follow the signatures of Sister Assumption, superior, Sister St. Ange, assistant, Sister Lemoine, mistress of novices, Margaret Bourgeois, and others then assembled, to the number of twenty-five persons. It may not be inappropriate to say a few words in explanation of the austerities that were mitigated by the wise prelate, the _observance_ of which he and others considered too severe, and the _non-observance_ of which the mortified and penitential Foundress regarded as a relaxation. The Sisters, including the saintly woman who founded them, had accustomed themselves to sleep on straw mattresses, with _pillows_ of the same material, to wear none but low shoes; to make their simple dress without plaits, and as scant as convenience for working would allow; not to be ashamed of patches, no matter how numerous or inelegant; to eat only broken bread; in short to live in every respect like the poorest classes of society. These, and innumerable other practices of mortification, were constantly observed by the greater part of the community from the beginning. But in a severe climate like Canada, such rigors became _impossibilities_ after a time, and the Sisters were _obliged_ to mitigate them, in order to preserve health, without which they could not discharge the arduous functions of their institute. It was this _unavoidable_ relaxation that Sister Bourgeois regarded as a falling away from their first fervor. She had so long lived on the heights of Calvary that she could not endure to breathe a less crucified atmosphere; but in her Congregation, allowance had eventually to be made for less gifted souls. To return again to the rule. The act of profession of the simple vows was made with all possible solemnity, on the 25th of June, 1698, and was followed by a most touching exhortation from Monseigneur, exhorting them to persevere in the glorious work they had undertaken for the benefit of religion, and the salvation of souls. On the 1st of July following, the Sisters, in the presence of the Right Reverend Bishop, made their solemn vows for life, with as much more solemnity as the latter vows exceeded the former. All the ceremonies and authenticated acts, with the illustrious signatures attached to them, are carefully preserved in the archives of the community, and the flight of nearly two hundred years has only rendered them more sacred in the eyes of the ever young and vigorous Congregation that to-day fills the place of the glorious dead. Sister