_A Nun_. Most reverend Bishop, since you are writing out the absolution for the magician, be so good as to furnish me with a paper likewise,--you know for what. Here is my rosary; it is worth fifteen ducats; I shall have, therefore, something in bank until another absolution becomes necessary. Ferrara wrote, and the Pope signed his name beneath. _Devil_. Does your holiness imagine that Satan will pay any regard to these scraps of paper? The grand inquisitor snatched his hand out of the bosom of an abbess, and screamed, with stammering tongue: "I smell heresy! Who is the atheist? who has uttered that blasphemy?" The Pope pressed his forefinger softly upon the mouth of the Devil, and said, "Cavalier, these are state secrets: handle them not; for if you do, I myself, with all my authority, shall not be able to protect you." Every male in the assembly now opened his purse, either from a wish to pay his court to the Pope, or to quiet his conscience. The Bishop had so many applications, that he was soon obliged to call in other secretaries, to assist him in expediting absolutions. Each applicant took away his particular license, and each sought and found an opportunity of using it during the remainder of the night. Never were sins committed with more quiet minds. Ferrara of Modena, the next day, caused this tariff to be fairly copied; he then sent it to the press, {249} and caused it to be secretly circulated throughout Christendom. Caesar Borgia did not forget the promise which he had made to his sister. Alphonso of Arragon was dispatched on the steps of the Gonfalonier's palace, at the moment he was about to enter, in order to be present at a play to which all the nobility of Rome had been invited, and which represented the victories of the great Caesar, whom Borgia intended henceforward to imitate, if not excel. This latter personage shortly after marched out of Rome with his army; and, within the space of a few months, the Devil purloined from the Pope's pocket the following letter, which he gave Faustus to read: "REVEREND FATHER,--