Benedict XIII. died on the 21st of February, and though his death was confidently reported in the afternoon, yet operas were exhibited, that they, who had been at the charges of them, might not lose the benefit of the last day of the carnival. In the Alberti theatre the celebrated Caristini was singing an air, in which the words Lasciate mi, i. e. 'Let me alone' frequently occurred, when some Sbirri came in and gave notice of the pope's decease; a signal was made to the performer, that the should leave off, by pulling him by the sleeve, &c. but he was so lost in raptures, that he still went on singing the words Lasciate mi, to the great diversion of the spectators. At length the news being made publick by the messenger, and the opera interrupted, instead of expressing any concern for the death of his holiness, the house rung with peals of clapping, and viva Caristini,  'long live Caristini’.