"In other countries," a Roman once said to me, "you have one man who lives in wealth and a thousand who live in comfort.

Here the one man lives in comfort, and the thousand live in misery." I believe this picture is only too true.

The middle classes, who live by trade or mental labour, must have a hard time of it.

The professions of Rome are overstocked and underpaid.

The large class of government officials or "impiegati," to whom admirers of the Papacy point with such pride as evidence of the secular character of the administration, are paid on the most niggardly scale; while all the lucrative and influential posts are reserved for the priestly administrators.