Were we to give our readers some account of these discovered thefts, romance would lose half its charms of enchantment, truth being more powerful and impressive than fiction. To do this would be to betray the secrets of the office and to stimulate the rogues to form new plans of avoiding detection, as well as in their system of thieving. These agents, as we have observed, keep themselves aloof from the general business of the office, and not unfrequently mystify those with whom they occasionally come in contact. They are not the tempters of the clerks by _meaningly_ employing the decoy-letter practice, but the silent workers of justice in pursuit of the guilty: hence the honest employees of the office can boldly say with Macbeth,— “Thou canst not say I did it; never shake Thy gory locks at me.” or with Hamlet,— “Let the galled jade wince, Our withers are unwrung.” _WHAT IS REQUIRED OF A SPECIAL AGENT._ 1. He should have a thorough knowledge of the laws and regulations of the department. 2. Apart from his special duties, he is to report and make known to the department any unnecessary expenditure on the part of those who have control of the mails, and at the same time report where there is any deficiency of agents, &c. 3. He is intrusted with keys to the several mail-locks in use, and is, by virtue of his commission, authorized to open and examine the mails whenever and wherever. 4. He is also empowered to enter and examine any post-office which, in his judgment, may lead to the success of his investigations. 5. He should, when travelling, attract as little attention as possible, and conceal his official character from observation as much as possible. 6. He must make himself acquainted with mail-routes, and their connection with the office of a special agent. It is not possible for the department to instruct an agent in the particular means to be employed in discovering the exact locality of an ascertained robbery of the mail, or in ferreting out and arresting the perpetrators. These must be as various as the circumstances which surround each case, and he must exercise his own ingenuity and acuteness to effect his purpose. We have, probably, furnished our readers with sufficient information upon this peculiar branch of the postal department. A writer speaking upon this subject says,—