| Citation |
VGW(RI.775.012
16 Feb 1775:21 (458 Supplement)
London, December 7. Anecdote of the late Pope. The Pope
before the last, though he sacrificed, in a great measure,
to his belly, and other private vices, was, however, a
strict observer of ceremonies. Amongst other institutions
of his, he ordered, that even during the carnival, there
should be no dancing or making merry in the streets as
usual. When the late Pope came to the chair, one of the
cardinals, thinking the Pope's temper the same as the last,
and willing to ingratiate himself into his favour,
complained to him one day of some of the common people of
Rome trespassing this institution, which he exaggerated in
high terms, but his Holiness very coolly replied, "Let the
people be as merry as their circumstances will admit of, it
will keep the more mischief out of their minds."
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