This good Pope never knew what Money was, nor the Value of it; but gave away all that he had, and especially to the Poor, for whose Relief he sold all the Presents he received. He could never understand how a Piece of Gold could be sometimes worth less than a Piece of Silver; and I have been told, that one Day, as he was selling some Presents he had received from the Emperor of _China_, to his unworthy _Beneventines_, one of them offered thirty Crowns for a thing that was perhaps worth five hundred. Another came and offered a gold Crown-piece. The Pope, surprized at the golden Proffer, said to him that had offered the thirty Crowns, ‘I am sorry I can’t let you have the Thing; you offered me only Silver, but here’s one offers me Gold; what I sell, is for the Poor, and I will not wrong them.’ Accordingly, he that held out the gold Coin had the Preference; and thus did those Knaves juggle together to trick the Pope. They had one common Purse, and what they bought of the Holy Father at their own Price, they sold afterwards in ROME, and shared the Profit.
At the Beginning of his Pontificate, the Governor of ROME having complained to him that _Pharao_ and _Basset_ proved the Ruin of a great many People, he answered him smartly, _Alas! are not you the Governor? Send the Gamesters to the Gallies._ He never loved to talk of State Affairs, and would never read the Relations given by Nuncios, who, he said, were only Newsmongers and Spies, with whom he did not care to have any Concern; nor would he ever advance them to the Purple, but always put them back, tho’ perhaps the Term of their Nunciature had been long expired.
This holy Pope, for I really believe him a Saint, lived in the very midst of ROME, and of his Court, like a Hermit, always at Prayer, or employed in the Functions of the Priesthood. He was an Enemy to Luxury and Pageantry, would never suffer a Clergyman to kneel at his Feet, but always made him rise, and sit down by him; being as humble as ’twas possible for any mean Priest, and perhaps too humble for his Character. He went out every Day in a sorry Coach, with only a Pair of Horses, without Guards, without any Companion, as I said before, besides a Brother of his Order, _viz._ the _Dominican_, to the Rules of which he always adher’d, and without any Attendants but a Couple of Footmen, and six of his _Swiss_ Guards. If he happened to meet with any Carriage in a narrow Street, he bade his Coachman stop, saying, he did not desire to fall out with any body. So much is enough for _Benedict_ XIII. who was a pious Pope, and would have been a good Prince too, if his Ministers had been Men of Honour. I now return to the _Vatican_.