from the women; what the father will not disclose, the son will reveal; and what the master of the house may be desirous to hide, the servant may bring to light. The spy has need of frequent and lengthened research; whereas the Jesuit arrives at the fact at once. As has been before observed, the spy is deceived by false statements, which is not the case with the Jesuit. The confessional leads to many important discoveries; and where this is insufficient, much is learned even from the children in the schools. The police daily sends forth its numerous spies, who disperse themselves throughout the whole of Rome, and pursue their investigations, not only by day, but by night also. Frequently, overcome with the fatigue that the incessant labour of one day has produced, they are obliged to devote the whole of the succeeding one to a complete state of rest. It is different with us Jesuits. You know the church of the _Gesu_. Every morning at break of day, as the doors are opened, twelve Reverend Fathers ascend the steps of the sacred edifice, dressed in their robes and surplices, and seat themselves in their confessional chairs. Who are they who present themselves at that early hour, to give an account of their sins? Servants of both sexes, and all the old men and women who are stirring betimes in the morning, shopkeepers and workpeople; all those, in short, who are better acquainted with other people's business than with their own. So that in less than an hour all the transactions and gossip of the city are related at these twelve confessionals; from whence, at the termination of the audience, they are taken home, as you may imagine, to be examined, discussed, and, with due caution, registered as _cases of conscience_, &c.