"Well, these disputes were settled by the Provincial and by myself, and it was arranged that the Inquisitors should thenceforth sing in the choir, and be subject to the Prior, as to all the duties of the monastery; the Prior, on the other hand, was to be considered under the obligation of treating the Inquisitors with civility, and allowing them the same advantages as were enjoyed by the rest of the brotherhood. At Spoleto, the Inquisitor not being inclined to take his dinner at the usual hour with the rest of the community, the Prior frequently obliged him to go without any at all. The Inquisitor complained to the General of the Order at Rome, and he wrote me word to accommodate the matter between the parties. It was proposed that a certain sum should be allowed by the Prior, for the dinner and supper of the Inquisitor. Fifteen _baiocchi_ (sevenpence halfpenny) were all that was offered by the liberal-minded Prior for the daily expenses of the Inquisitor, and it was not without much trouble that I got the sum raised to seventeen baiocchi and a half. I mention this matter to show how little profit accrues to an Inquisitor, if the duties of his office are honestly discharged. An Inquisitor once told me in confidence, that he found it necessary, in order to live, to abstract a little money occasionally from the office, by augmenting, in his accounts with it, the amount of his expenses. Another lost his situation at Perugia, because it was discovered that he had regularly charged double for the maintenance of the prisoners under his care; and another, at Faenza, seized upon a poor shoemaker, and imprisoned him, that he might be obliged to work for him; and when he wanted his clothes to be mended, he laid hold of some tailor, whom he shut up till they were done, on pretence that he indulged in a habit of profane swearing." "What a shame! How base they become! How degraded is that faith which requires the support of such a race! The office itself is too degrading to be exercised by any person of probity or honour. At one time the Inquisition was greatly enriched by fines and confiscations; and many spontaneous offerings were made to it by the rich, who freely opened their purses to get out of trouble. Money also came in from numerous patents: in short, the Inquisition was enabled to allow a good salary even to its clerks. But the times are altered; the Holy Office has lost its credit, and consequently its officials are bankrupts." "But how," I suggested, "have the Jesuits become connected with the Inquisition? We have departed from our original question."