The number of thieves was so great, and their audacity such, that no one could with safety pass the gates of the town; soon it was not even safe within them.

No house, no castle, availed for defence.
Right and justice no longer existed.

Money, farce, pleasure, ruled supreme.
Still, the gold was melting as in a furnace at these Fetes; and, by Heaven's just punishment, Alexander and Caesar were beginning to covet the fortunes of those very men who had risen through their simony to their present elevation.

The first attempt at a new method of coining money was tried upon the Cardinal Cosenza.

The occasion was as follows.
A certain dispensation had been granted some time before to a nun who had taken the vows: she was the only surviving heir to the throne of Portugal, and by means of the dispensation she had been wedded to the natural son of the last king.