It
is, however, some comfort to reflect, that if, as devout Catholics
assert, the Papacy is eternal, then in Rome, at least, lotteries are
eternal also. In truth, the lottery is a great, I might almost say _the_
great Pontifical institution. It is a trade not only sanctioned, but
actively supported, by the Government. Partly, therefore, as a matter of
literary interest, and partly as a curious feature in the economics of
the Papal States, I have made various personal researches into the
working of the lottery-system, and shall endeavour to give the
theoretical not the practical result of my investigations; the latter
result being, I am afraid, of a negative description.
Murray, who knows everything, states that in Rome alone fifty-five
millions of lottery-tickets are taken annually. Now though I would much
sooner doubt the infallibility of the Pope than that of the author of the
most invaluable of hand-books, I cannot help thinking there is some
strange error in this calculation. The whole population of Rome is under
180,000, and therefore, according to this statement, every living soul in
the city, man, woman, priest and child, must, on an average, take one
ticket a day, to make up the amount stated. If, however, without
examining the strict arithmetical correctness of this statement, you take
it, just as the old Romans used "sex centi" for an indefinite number, as
an expression of the fact, that the number of the lottery-tickets taken
annually in Rome is quite incredible, you will not be far wrong.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111