manifestation of this betting propensity. The false rumour happened suddenly to run through Rome that Cardinal Farnese was assured of his majority, and that his elevation was going to be proclaimed. Thereupon the people rushed together in such numbers that, from Campo di Fiori, where is the Farnese Palace, to the Vatican, 'it 'Was possible to walk but in a crush, and at risk of being trampled upon by the throng of men and horses;' and the Conclave itself had to be hurriedly protected from invasion and sack by a reinforced guard. This excitement of course infected the speculators in the Banchi, so that the Farnese stock ran up that night to seventy gold crowns, with so eager a demand for it, from the firm conviction that the Cardinal's proclamation was beyond doubt, that the contemporary reports declare it due only to the forced cessation from business by the advent of night, that its value did not go to a yet higher figure. The following morning, when the election was found to be still in suspense, the inevitable reaction brought down the Farnese quotation to 10 and 12[1]
- ↑ Letter from an anonymous correspondent to Duke Ottavio Farnese, in Lettere di Principi, Venice, 1581,
