"How does it happen," said he to me, "that you have never been embroiled with the Inquisition? Some time ago I was told that you were Vicar of the Holy Office; but I have since, on better authority, learned that you were merely Vicar of the Sacred Palace. And I was glad that it was so,--it would have grieved me much to have heard that you were an agent of the Inquisition." "Oh! I had neither inclination nor ability for the office: treachery, deceit, and malice are the necessary qualifications for its agents. An Inquisitor must be suspicious, prone to judge amiss, to convert shadows into substance, and to see everything in the darkest colours. In the eyes of an Inquisitor every individual is evil, and deserving of punishment. How could I be led to form injurious opinions respecting my brethren, when I am naturally disposed to see things in a charitable point of view, and as far as possible to make excuses for others? An Inquisitor, besides, is one who is lost to all sentiments of humanity, without heart or feeling, and more indifferent than a stoic. God preserve me from the temptation of ever connecting myself in the slightest degree with the Inquisition." "As far as I see, then, it appears you have never entertained the least desire for such an office, I give you joy. The Inquisition is injurious to the Dominicans, who are prompted by an insane ambition to become Inquisitors, and this entails on them the hatred of the whole world. The Franciscans are too prudent to connect themselves with it. The Jesuits, more cunning than the rest, act as the monkey did when he made use of the cat's paw to get the chestnuts." "How! do the Jesuits meddle with the Inquisition?"