LETTER XXXIV.
SIR,Rome, October 10, 1731.
This being in all Appearance the last Letter I shall write to you from Rome, I shall now give you the best Answer I can to the Questions you put to me in your last.
You desire, Sir, that I should give you a faithful Character of the Holy Father; but do you consider well what it is you require? Is it likely that such a private Man as I, who only see the Pope thro’ a Perspective in all his Glory and Grandeur, shou’d be able to paint him? No, Sir, the Successors of St. Peter are not like other Princes: None but such of their Domestics as are their most intire Confidents can know them thoroughly; and these, either out of their Zeal or Policy, paint them always, if not as they are, at least as they ought to be. You will tell me, that in all Courts ’tis the same Case; and that, notwithstanding this, one may judge of Princes by their Actions. ’Tis very true, yet this gives us but an imperfect Idea of Princes, who often do Good or Harm without meaning either.
To judge by outward Appearances, Clement XII. may be rank’d among the greatest Popes that ever the Church had: He had always, even before he was Pope, the Reputation of an honest Man, and all his Pride is to merit that Character: He is rigid; and, if I may venture to say it, sometimes blunt in his Answers: His earnest Application to the retrieving of the Finances, which were very much disorder’d by the Ministers of Benedict XIII. renders him an Œconomist, perhaps more than suits with his Dignity: He has the Interests of the Holy See very much at heart; but is accus’d of being more troubled for the Loss of the Duchy of Parma, (which they give out here was devolv’d to the Holy See by the death of the Duke Francis Farnese) than for the Disturbances owing to the Affair of the Constitution in France: He is a great Admirer of Persons of Quality, but he does them little good: His good Husbandry extends even to his Nephews, whom he has loaded with Honours and Titles; but he has hitherto given them
very little Money. When he was a Cardinal, his House was open to every body; he liv’d magnificently, and it was expected he would rather be a prodigal Pope, than a saving one: He was civil and affable, but not very ready to do Services; for if he made his Friends welcome, he thought that was enough; Business was what took up little of his Time, and he bent his Thoughts more to noble Living than to Affairs of State. And the Romans, who had other Reasons not to be pleas’d with his Election, said he rose to the Pontificate from a Game at Picquet.
Since he is become a Pope, he is quite another sort of a Man: He is desirous to know every thing that passes, and is fond of being his own Minister. But ’tis his Misfortune, that his Memory begins to fail him, and he is almost blind; besides which, as he never was employ’d in State Affairs, he knows them not so much by Experience as Theory: Yet for all this it were to be wish’d, for the sake of the Ecclesiastical State, that he had been chose Pope in the place of Benedict XIII. But ’tis the Unhappiness of this Country, that its Princes are commonly more harass’d with their bodily Infirmities, than with the Cares of Government: ’Tis pity that the Pope is so old; for he has the very Qualities that constitute a great Prince. Notwithstanding his great Age, he has had the good Luck to make ten Cardinals, tho’ he has not been sixteen Months in the Pontificate; but his last Promotion of five Cardinals was not generally approv’d of. Among other coarse Pasquinades that were utter’d upon that Occasion, this Inscription was affix’d to several Gates of the Pontifical Palace, Nostro Signora fa una bella Promotione, quatro Matti, ed un Minchione, i. e. Our Lord, has made a fine Promotion, four Madmen and one Fool. Those five Cardinals were Signior Guadagno, the Pope’s Nephew,
formerly a barefooted Carmelite; Signior Doria Maestro di Camera, Archbishop of Benevento; Signior Gentili, a Datary, who had been formerly Secretary of the Congregation of the Bishops, and the Regular Clergy, a Post which, tho’ the very next Step to a Cardinal’s Cap, the Pope had made him resign for the Office of a Datary, which is but a mean Commission; Signior Ferrayo, and Signior Bichi, both Nuncios in Portugal.
The last is noted for the Broils that he occasion’d between the Holy See and the Court of Lisbon: The King of Portugal being disgusted with this Nuncio for having defrauded him of the Customs, by entring Goods upon his own Account, which he sold afterwards to the Prejudice of the Portuguese Merchants, and being moreover exasperated with this Prelate for assuming more Authority to himself, than his Predecessors had ever done, demanded of Clement XI. to recall him; and upon that Pope’s Death he repeated his Instances to Innocent XIII. who at length consented to his Demand: But then the King, for what Cause I know not, alter’d his Mind, and declared he was not willing that Bichi should leave his Court till the Term of his Nunciature was expired. And as the Pope had nominated M. Ferrayo to relieve Bichi, and was obstinate for the Return of the latter to Rome, the King order’d his Ambassador to demand of the Pope for what Reason he recall’d Bichi; and in case the Holy Father should declare that it was to punish his Nuncio, He injoin’d him to say, that this Minister was intirely innocent of the Matters laid to his Charge in Portugal; but that if, on the contrary, the Pope should give him to understand, that he recall’d Bichi, to give him such an Office in the Apostolical Palace as might secure him a Cardinal’s Hat, he the Ambassador should then make Answer, that His Portuguese Majesty
was of Opinion, the Dignity of Nuncio at his Court ought to procure the Purple for all those who resided with him in that Quality; and that therefore his Majesty would never suffer M. Bichi to depart from Lisbon, till he was declared a Cardinal.
The Pope exclaimed against the King’s new Demand, repeated his Orders to Bichi to return to Rome, and sent away M. Ferrayo for Portugal. But the King would not let Bichi go out of the Kingdom, nor Ferrayo come into it; and Bichi himself refus’d to obey the Holy Father, who threaten’d him with Excommunication, but the Prelate, being sure of the King’s Protection, did not much value the Apostolical Censures. The King in short continu’d to solicit the Hat for him strenuously; but Innocent XIII. would not hear it mention’d, alledging that it was not proper for him, who, in Quality of Cardinal Protector of Portugal, had impeach’d Bichi at the Holy See, to advance him to the Purple. Benedict XIII. who was of a beneficent and pacific Disposition, no sooner came to the Pontificate, but he wrote a Letter with his own Hand to the King of Portugal, wherein he promis’d him the Hat for Bichi. The Sacred College, when they were inform’d of the Pope’s Intentions, made smart Remonstrances to him, and every Cardinal in particular represented to him how unworthy Bichi was of the Purple. Cardinal Corsini, the present Pope, was the Man that declar’d himself against that Prelate with the greatest Warmth; for he told the Pope, that notwithstanding his Respect for his Holiness, he would never consent that Bichi, that dishonourable, that faithless Man, (which were the Epithets wherewith he honour’d him) should be one of his Brethren. In a Word, the whole Sacred College shew’d so much Disgust at the Thoughts of this Promotion, that the Pope was oblig’d to revoke the Promise
he had made to the King of Portugal. That Monarch, incensed to see himself made a Jest of by the Priests, recalled his Ambassador and Envoy then at Rome, and ordered his Subjects to leave that City, and to have nothing more to do with the Holy See. And the Pope, in his Turn, recalled Ferrayo, who still continued in Spain, on the Frontier of Portugal, and summoned Bichi to Rome, whither at last he was determined to return.
During this, Benedict XIII. died, and Clement XII. succeeding him, Bichi, who is his Kinsman, went to Sienna, the Place of his Birth. There it was that he heard of his Promotion, which was made on the 24th of September last, but not without strong Debates in the Sacred College. A great number of the Cardinals put the Holy Father in mind, that he was formerly the most zealous Stickler against Bichi: And in the Consistory wherein the Pope propos’d him, a Cardinal gave his Opinion, that the Prelate might be admitted into the Sacred College in Quality of a Penitent, The Pope happening to say, that he knew of no other Way to come to an Accommodation with the King of Portugal, than by making Bichi a Cardinal; one of the Cardinals made Answer, ‘I question whether the promoting of Bichi will set us to Rights with Portugal; but let it happen as it may, ’twill be, at the worst, but one Hat more ill bestow’d.’
The Romans actually pine for an Accommodation with Portugal; for the Ambassadors of that Crown have always expended great Sums here, especially since the Accession of the present King, who has caus’d a great deal of Money to be laid out here in Statues, Pictures, and other Things of Value. ’Tis reckon’d upon the whole, that the Absence of the Portuguese is a Loss to the City of
Rome of above a Million of Roman Crowns in a Year.
The Pope’s Nephews are like their Uncle, Men of great Sincerity, Honour and Probity; but whether ’tis owing to the Indolence of their Tempers, or to their Want of Interest with their Uncle, they serve nobody, and know not the Pleasure of doing Good. The Cardinal, who should naturally have the most Credit, is he that has the least: He is penurious to the last Degree[16]. Before he was made a Cardinal and Minister, People conceiv’d a high Idea of him; they believ’d that a Person who had travelled so much as he had done, and who had been many Years employ’d by the Great Duke in France, and at the Congress of Cambray, must needs be well versed in Business; therefore they apply this Verse to him,
Tel brille au second rang, qui s’eclipse au premier.
i. e.
He shines so much in the second Class, as eclipses him in the first.
Every body allows he is an upright Man; but they don’t look upon him as a Minister. He is so reserved, that ’tis quite disgusting; and when he grants any Favour, he does it in so strange a Manner, that they who receive it are sorry they were beholden to him. I question whether he will
have very many humble Servants left, when his Uncle dies.
In the same Consistory wherein the Pope made Bichi a Cardinal, the Holy Father talk’d a great deal about the Succession of Parma. He complain’d in general Terms of the Emperor, for arrogating to himself those Prerogatives relating to the Dominions of Parma, which were only due to the Holy See. He acquainted the Sacred College with every thing that he had done for maintaining the Rights of the Church; he said, that as soon as he was informed that the Duchess of Parma was really not with Child, he ordered his Nuncio at Parma to take Possession of the Dominions, that were devolved to the Holy See by the Extinction of the Male Line of the Farnese Family; that his Nuncio had executed his Orders; but that Stampa, the Emperor’s General and Commissary, had caus’d an Edict to be publish’d, whereby, in the Name of the Emperor, he forbad all the Subjects of Parma from owning any other Sovereign, but him to whom his Imperial Majesty shou’d give the Investiture of the Duchy. The Pope said, he was sorry when he heard Stampa had taken that Step; but that he expected from the Emperor’s Justice and Piety, that he wou’d not approve of the Conduct of his General, and that he wou’d not do any thing contrary to the incontestable Claim of the Holy See to the Dominions of the Farnese Family. The Cardinals returned a very modest Answer to the Pope, thanking him for the Endeavours he had us’d to maintain the Rights of the Holy See, and praying him to continue them. The Cardinals Cienfuegos and Bentivoglio, being inform’d of all the Complaints which the Pope intended to make in this Consistory, took care not to be there. These Gentlemen are extremely angry with the
Emperor; ‘What! said they, to have no more Respect for the Pope and the Holy See, to invade the Estates of the Church, and dispose of them as he pleases, are these Actions becoming an Emperor, Protector of the Catholic Faith?’ Really, to hear how they talk, one wou’d think the Emperor had actually taken all they had from ’em; tho’ I am persuaded, that if he would but give them the Duchy of Parma, they wou’d consent to his being a Jansenist.
You desire, Sir, to be inform’d of the Reception that is given here to Ambassadors. I shou’d have done this long before you desired it, if I had seen any Ambassador go to an Audience of the Pope, besides the Maltese, who has not so grand a Reception here as the Ambassadors of Crown’d Heads. ’Twas on the second Sunday in Lent, in the Afternoon, that the Ambassador of Malta, who has resided here six Years in Quality of Ambassador of that Order, made his Entry as Tributary Ambassador Extraordinary. This Minister, repairing without any Retinue to the Vineyard of Pope Julius, without the Gate del Popoli, was complimented there, on the Part of the Pope, by the Major Domo, and the oldest Prelate; and on the Part of the Cardinals, and principal Nobility, by their Gentlemen. After this, the Cavalcade was made with more Order than is commonly observ’d here at public Ceremonies. First came the several Coaches and Six of the Cardinals, Princes, and other Persons of Distinction, following one another without Observation of the respective Ranks of their Owners. Then came two of the Ambassador’s Grooms on Horseback, who were follow’d by four cover’d Waggons, and a Couple of Field Carriages, cover’d with Tapestry, that was embroidered with his Excellency’s Coat of Arms. Next came the Ambassador’s
Master of the Horse, follow’d by six led Horses, two Trumpets, with the Lackeys, Valets de Chambre, Pages, and Gentlemen belonging to the Ambassador, all on Horseback. These were follow’d by the chief Lackeys of the Cardinals riding upon Mules, and carrying their Master’s red Hats flung over their Shoulders; and after these came the Cardinals Gentlemen, who were follow’d by a Detachment of Light-horse. The Chamberlains of Honour follow’d riding upon Mules. The Knights of Malta on Horseback rode just before the Ambassador, who was supported by the Major Domo, and Signior Colonna, the oldest Prelate. His Excellency was preceded by twelve running Footmen in his Livery, and he walked in the Middle of a Couple of Files of the hundred Switzers of the Pope’s Guard. Three of the Ambassador’s Coaches and Six clos’d the March. The whole Train pass’d thro’ the chief Streets of Rome, and accompany’d the Ambassador to his Palace, where his Excellency treated all the Company with Refreshments.
On the Day of Audience, the Ambassador went in his Equipage to the Palace of Monte-Cavallo, attended by the Coaches of the Cardinals and the Nobility. He was receiv’d at the Top of the Stairs by the Major Domo, who conducted him into that called the Prince’s Apartment. The Ambassador having waited there a little Time, two Masters of the Ceremonies came to acquaint him, that his Holiness was ready to admit him to an Audience in the Consistory then sitting. The Ambassador went thither, conducted by the Masters of the Ceremonies; and Signior Acquaviva, the Major Domo, received him at the Entrance of the Hall of the Consistory, and conducted him to the Entrance of the Court fronting the Pope. The Ambassador fell on his Knees, and
made a profound Obeisance to the Pope, who gave him his Blessing. Then he fell on his Knees again in the Middle of the Court, and the third Time at the Pope’s Feet, to whom he made his Speech kneeling. In this Posture he also delivered the Letter from the Grand Master to the Holy Father, who gave it to a Prelate, ordering him to read it. The Ambassador arose, and having crossed the Court, saluting the Cardinals on the Right and Left, he fell on his Knees at the Entrance of the Court, opposite to the Holy Father. There he heard the Grand Master’s Letter read, and afterwards a very long Speech in Latin, which an Abbat, who was a Knight of Malta, made in the Name of the Order, upon his Knees. The Prelate had no sooner read the Letter, but he answered the Speech in Latin. The Ambassador, who was still on his Knees, arose, after the Prelate had ended his Speech; went and kneel’d again at the Pope’s Feet, which he kiss’d, and then presented to his Holiness the Knights of Malta, who had accompany’d him to the Audience, and who all kiss’d the Holy Father’s Feet. The Pope, rising from his Seat, retir’d to his Apartment; but the Ambassador stay’d in the Hall of the Consistory, till all the Cardinals were gone out. He then returned to his Palace, where he gave a grand Repast to the Knights of his Order. The next and the following Days, he made his Visits of Ceremony to the Cardinals. Their Eminencies don’t give Precedence to the Ambassadors; but bating that only, they treat them as their Equals.
I have been assured, that the Ambassadors Extraordinary of Kings are lodged three Days in the Pontifical Palace, during which they have the Honour to dine once with the Holy Father. If I continue here till the Arrival of the Duke of St. Aignan, the Ambassador of France, who is every
Day expected, I will give you an Account how he is received; for tho’ these Ceremonies are printed here, I shall be willing to have ocular Demonstration of the Things that I write to you.
Of all the public Functions at this Place, there is none more august, and more solemn, than the Procession with the Holy Sacrament, when ’tis carry’d by the Pope. Upon Corpus Christi Day, the Holy Father was placed in an Arm-chair, without a Back to it, with a Desk before him, upon which he laid the Pyx that contained the Holy Sacrament. His Cope, which was very long, and very wide, so cover’d the Desk and the Chair, that the Pope seemed to be kneeling. His Head was uncovered, and in this Posture he was carry’d by eight Men. In my whole Life, I never saw any thing more exemplary than the Countenance of the Pope during the Ceremony, his Face being the very Picture of Contrition and Devotion. The Procession set out from St. Peter’s Church, attended by all the Fraternities, the Monastic Orders, the Roman Nobility, the Conservators of Rome, the Governor of Rome, the Chapter of St. Peter, and all the Prelates and Bishops. Three Tiara’s, and as many Mitres, adorn’d with Pearls and Diamonds, were carry’d before the Holy Father. The Pope was environed with the hundred Swiss of his Guards, all in Armour, and by the Officers of his Chamber; and the Procession was clos’d by the Light-horse, and Cuirassiers on Horseback. The Colonnade of St. Peter, and the Streets, were hung with Tapestry, and cover’d with Canvas, to keep off the Heat of the Sun. As the Pope passed by the House where the Family of the Stuarts liv’d, he gave to those Princes the Blessing of the Holy Sacrament. The Holy Father’s Nieces were in a neighbouring House; but
they did not receive that Honour, it being reserved only for Sovereigns.
You seem, Sir, to be so much prejudiced against the holy Office of the Inquisition, that I must endeavour to convince you of the mistaken Notion, which, I presume to say, you have conceived upon that Head. Honest People have no more Reason to dread this Tribunal, than any of the other Courts of Justice. They tell a thousand Stories of it in our Part of the World, and especially among the Protestants, which are absolute Falsehoods. Be but an honest Man; speak of God and the Saints with all due Respect, or at least don’t offer to insult them; give no public Scandal; and you have nothing to fear from the Holy Office. To speak the Truth, will not a Man in all the Christian Countries, that is notoriously impious in Word or Deed, will he not be taken to Talk by the Consistories, and by the Law? I own, for my part, that I don’t see wherein that Barbarity, and that Inhumanity consists, which the Holy Office is charg’d with in Protestant Countries; on the contrary, it seems to me to be the mildest Tribunal in the World. Let me be guilty of the greatest Injuries to God and Religion, in Thought, Word or Deed; if I do but go and confess my Crimes to the Holy Office, and tell them I repent of my Wickedness and Folly, the Father Commissary will represent the Horror of my Sins to me, will exhort me, for the Salvation of my Soul, to behave and think better for the future, and at last will absolve me. Where now is that Protestant Tribunal, which is content with a voluntary Confession? Instead of absolving the Penitent, don’t they condemn him to Imprisonment, and bodily Pains?
For these sixteen Months that I have been at Rome, I have not heard of any one’s being arrested
by the Holy Office; on the contrary, I have seen Acts of Clemency perform’d by this Tribunal, so much run down, which perhaps the Consistory of Geneva would never have done. I had not long been here, but there came one Pallas, a Native of Toulon, and Captain in France, who brought a young Woman with him, whom he said he had ravish’d; he desir’d a License of the Vicar to marry her, which was granted. But some Months after, there comes a Woman, who appear’d to be the Wife of Pallas, and the Mother of the young Creature that he had but just married, and who was ready to lie in. Pallas, perceiving his Crime on the Brink of being detected, goes and reveals the whole to the Holy Office, which first gave him Protection for his Person, and in a few Days after acquitted him, injoining him at the same time to take his first Wife again. This Pallas dying not many Days after, his two Wives went to Law for their Jointure. I question now whether this Officer would have been acquitted by a Parliament of France.
The Congregation of the Holy Office was established by Pope Paul III. at the Solicitation of the Cardinal John Peter Caraffa, who afterwards, becoming Pope, by the Name of Paul IV. made a remarkable Addition to the Authority of this Tribunal. That Holy Pontiff, Pius V. reduced it to its present State. This Congregation consists of a dozen Cardinals, besides a Number of Prelates, and a great many Divines of different Orders, who are called Consultori & Qualificatori del Santo Officio. Among those are included a Conventual, the General of the Dominicans, the Master of the Sacred Palace, the Commissary of the Holy Office, the Fiscal, and the Assessor, which last must always be a secular Prelate. This Tribunal takes Cognizance of the Causes of Heresy,
and of such novel Opinions as are repugnant to the Soundness of the Catholic Faith; as also of Matters of Apostasy, Witchcraft, the Abuse of the Sacraments, and other wicked Actions; and it likewise takes Cognizance of prohibited Books. It sits twice a Week, viz. on Wednesdays in the Convent of Minerva, and on Thursdays in Presence of the Pope, who is the Head of it. The oldest Cardinal has the Title of Secretary of the Holy Office, and is the Keeper of its Seals. None but Cardinals can vote in it, and they admit of no Proposals but what they think proper.
The Palace of the Holy Office is close by St. Peter’s Church, and there live the Assessor, the Father Commissary, the Fiscal, the Notary, and other Officers. There also the Prisoners are kept, and there they are try’d, according as the Case requires. The Officers of the Holy Office acknowledge no other Judges in the first Instance, but the Assessor of the Tribunal whereof they are Members; and they appeal for the Definitive Sentence to the Cardinals who are Members of the Congregation.
I will conclude my long Letter with a Remark, which I have made upon the Romans in particular, and the Italians in general, I mean its to the reciprocal Hatred of the Inhabitants of the different States of Italy. That the Romans hate the Florentines, I think I have told you more than once; but that’s not all, for they as heartily hate the Neapolitans and the Genoese. They commonly say, that there must be seven Jews to make one Genoese, and seven Genoese to make one Florentine. ’Tis unaccountable how the People of Italy can so hate one another. I can’t imagine that they should be so blind as not to see the Prejudice it does them; for, in short, ’tis not barely the Hatred of one Province to another, but it diffuses its Poison to the Towns
that are subject to one and the same Sovereign. These People don’t consider that they form one and the same Nation; and that if they did but unite together, they would be both rich and powerful; but being jealous of one another, they only seek to ruin each other, and by that means deprive themselves of the most solid Support of their Liberty.
To my mind, we act much more rationally; for tho’ our Germany is divided into many more Dominions than Italy is, we do however form a Body against Foreigners, who have a Design upon our Estates and our Liberties. The lesser Princes comply with the Emperor’s Will; and their own Interest, and that of the Empire, is all one. Our Princes visit and associate with one another, and maintain a Sort of common Friendship; the Italian Princes on the contrary never visit one another; and when by chance a Sovereign of four or five Leagues of Country comes to have an Interview with such another Sovereign as himself, it takes up as much Negociation to adjust it, as was necessary to settle the Interview between Philip IV. and Lewis XIV. But is it not ridiculous to see such petty States act towards one another with as much Finesse and Craft as the most powerful Kingdoms? ’Tis this Diffidence, this reciprocal Hatred between the Governments and Towns of Italy, that has made them for a long time the Sport of Foreigners; whereas, if these People did but keep up a good Understanding with one another, they would soon drive them out; for Nature has furnish’d them with Ditches and Walls, which if they don’t defend, ’tis their own Fault: But it seems as if Providence, by which the Fate of all Dominions is determin’d, would not have it so.
Adieu, Sir, for the present: I cannot be sure when I shall write to you again, much less when I
shall have the Pleasure of embracing you, tho’ there’s scarce a Day passes over my Head but I do it in Imagination. Do you but render me like for like, and be assur’d that nobody in the World is more strictly than I am, Yours, &c.
