over he wrote as follows to his brother John:

"DEAR BROTHER JOHN: This day, with the special grace of God, I have
taken the holy vows of the Catholic religion, which are obedience,
poverty, chastity, and final perseverance. These vows bind me to the
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer for my natural life, and the
Congregation in the same manner to me. Thanks to God for His kind
Providence. My vocation is once for all, for ever settled, firmly
fixed. During the year and more of my novitiate I have not had any
temptation against my vocation, nor any desire on my part to return
to the world.

"As you were not certain whether I would return after the novitiate
or not, I suppose you left my name in connection with yours and
brother George's in the firm. But now that this (separation) is
certain, would it not be best for you to destroy that agreement we
made with each other some time ago, that no future difficulty can or
may arise? All this I leave to your judgments; and as for me, dear
brothers John and George, in respect to the business, you may regard
me as though I had never been connected with it, nor had any title or
claim upon it whatever. I am simply your dear brother Isaac, who
loves you from the depth of his heart. This love, be assured, will
never be diminished by any event; whatever happens will only give me
new motives to love you the more. My conduct is under your
inspection, yours especially, dear John, as being the eldest of us
three, and I trust your sincere love for me will not let any word or
action of mine pass unnoticed which may be the least unpleasant to
you.

"My love, my gratitude, and my prayers to and for you all. Remember
me to all my friends.

"Your brother, ISAAC.

"St. Trond, October 15, 1846.

"I have forgotten to say that if you have not already made use of the
things that I left, such as clothing, you should do so."

In bidding adieu to the novitiate we think Father Hecker's
last meeting with his old novice-master, as we find it recorded
in the memoranda, will be of interest: "Pere Othmann was one
of my best friends. Shortly before he died I happened to be in
France (this was after leaving the Redemptorists), and I heard
that he was extremely ill at the Redemptorist house at Nancy.
I wrote to him that if he wished I would call and see him. He
answered me at once, begging me to come immediately, as he
desired above all things to see me before he died. So I made a
journey to Nan