Page 292

184 From Rome to Naples.

and Decrepid. The many Hospitals,
that are every where erected, serve ra-
ther to encourage Idleness in the Peo-
ple than to set 'em at Work; not to
mention the great Riches that lye use-
less in Churches and Religious Houses,
with the Multitude of Festivals that
must never be violated by Trade or
Business. To speak truly, they are
here so wholly taken up with Mens
Souls, that they neglect the good of
their Bodies; and when, to these na-
tural Evils in the Government and
Religion, there arises among 'em an
Avaritious Pope, that is for making a
Family, it is no wonder if the Peo-
ple sink under such a Complication
of Distempers. Yet it is to this Hu-
mour of Nepotism that Rome owes its
present Splendor and Magnificence,
for it would have been impossible to
have furnish'd out so many glorious
Palaces with such a Profusion of Pi-
ctures, Statues, and the like Orna-
ments, had not the Riches of the Peo-
ple