Servata centum clavibus: et mero
Tinget pavimentum superbo
Pontificum potiore coenis.”
Modern popes have always had a reputation for abstemiousness; but this same Mr. Stephens—who must have been somewhat of a slander-monger—in his same apology for Herodotus (what about the apology for Stephens?) mentions a popular little song of the day, which commenced:—
Le Pape qui est à Rome
Boit du vin comme un autre homme,
Et du l’Hypocras aussi.
And I can recall a cheery, albeit most likely libellous, song, which some of us used to sing at school, beginning:—
The Pope he leads a joyous life.
It appears to be a fact that many former popes drank hard; and if Petrarch is to be believed, the long stay made by the court of Rome at Avignon was on account of the excellence of the French wines; and that it was merely for that {13} reason that they stayed so long in Provence, and removed with so much reluctance.