laid down, and they certainly were carefully obeyed, for I never heard
an allusion made to that subject during my subsequent stay in the
Convent, except that, when alone, the Superior would herself sometimes
say a little about it.

There were numbers of young ladies who entered awhile as novices, and
became weary or disgusted with some things they observed, and remained
but a short time. One of my cousins, who lived at Lachine, named Reed,
spent about a fortnight in the Convent with me. She, however, conceived
such an antipathy against the priests, that she used expressions which
offended the Superior.

The first day she attended mass, while at dinner with us in full
community, she said before us all: "What a rascal that priest was, to
preach against his best friend!"

All stared at such an unusual exclamation, and some one inquired what
she meant.

"I say," she continued, "he has been preaching against him who gives him
his bread. Do you suppose that if there were no devil, there would be
any priests?"

This bold young novice was immediately dismissed: and in the afternoon
we had a long sermon from the Superior on the subject.

It happened that I one day got a leaf of an English Bible, which had
been brought into the Convent, wrapped round some sewing silk, purchased
at a store in the city. For some reason or other, I determined to commit
to memory a chapter it contained, which I soon did. It is the only