y be, is still a man. It
is very difficult for him at last not to be affected for the poor girl,
who tells him everything, and obeys him implicitly. Female authority
perceives it instantly, observes him, and follows him closely. He sees
his penitent but little, very little, but it is always thought too
much. The confession shall last only so many minutes: they wait for
him, watch in hand. It would last too long, nay, for ever, without
this precaution. To the poor recluse, who received from every one else
only insult and ill-treatment, a compassionate confessor is still a
welcome refuge.

We have known superiors demand and obtain several times from their
bishops a change of confessors, without finding any sufficiently
austere. There is ever a wide difference between the harshness of man
and the cruelty of a woman! What is, in your opinion, the most
faithful incarnation of the devil in this world? Some inquisitor?
Some Jesuit or other? No, a _female Jesuit_,--some great lady, who has
been converted, and believes herself born to rule, who among this flock
of trembling females acts the Bonaparte, and who, more absolute than
the most absolute tyrant, uses the rage of her badly-cured passions to
torment her unfortunate defenceless sisters.

Far from being the adversary of the confessor in this case, he has my
best wishes. Whether he be priest, monk, or Jesuit, I am now on his
side. I entreat him to interfere, if he can. In this hell, where the
law cannot penetrate, he is the only person who can say a word of
humanity. I know very well that this interference will create the
strongest and most dangerous attachment. The heart of the poor young
creature is wholly given up beforehand to him who defends her.

The priest will be removed, driven away, and ruined, if it be
necessary. Nothing is easier to an active influential superior. He
dares not venture there, is afraid of disturbance, and retires timidly.
You will find neither priests nor prelates in these cases mindful of
their power, as confessors and spiritual judges; nor will they refuse
absolution to the tyrant of the nuns, as Las Casas did to those of the
Indians.

There are, fortunately, other judges. The law sleeps, but it still
lives.[7] Some courageous magistrates have been willing to do their
duty.[8] No doubt they will be permitted. The nights of the guilty
have been troubled; they know that every violence which is committed
there, every blow