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Cardinal Penitentiary, who is the official depositary of the special spiritual power vested in the Pope, attends him in his last moments, accompanied by the Pope's Confessor; and the Sacristan of the Pope's chapel administers extreme unction. When death has done his work, the fact is immediately made known to the Cardinal Camerlingo* by the Secretary of the State. The Camerlingo hastens to hold an inquest on the reported demise of the Pope. Proceeding to the death-chamber, the Cardinal strikes the door with a gilt mallet, calling on the Pope by name. On receiving no reply, he enters the room, when he taps the corpse on the forehead with another mallet of silver, and falling on his knees before the motionless body, proclaims the Pope to be in truth no more. After this he forwards to the Senator the notification for the ringing of the great bell of the Capitol, which is to announce to the Romans that their spiritual sovereign is dead. This bell is rung only on the death of the Pope, and on the opening of the Carnival. The deathbeds of many of the Popes have been attended by circumstances of painful neglect. No relatives are allowed to be near. At times there are gentlemen in the city of Rome who think the sooner a sick Pope gets out of the way the better, without its being generally known that his death was likely to take place.

The last Pope, Gregory XVI., who did not like the subject of death to be mentioned in his hearing, died, in a manner, unattended. Those who should have ministered to him the last rites of the Church could not be summoned to his chamber ere he breathed his last.

The body of the deceased Pope is carried to St. Peter's, where a funeral service is performed for him with

great pomp during nine days, and the Cardinals attend there every morning. Three days are given for the Pope to die, to be embalmed, etc.

Strange scenes have sometimes been witnessed at the funeral of a Pope. On the removal of Paul IV., of the house of Caraffa, an aristocratic armed band, defeated in its purpose to secure the remains, proceeded to knock off the head of one of the late Pope's statues, which, after parading it about the streets, they threw into the Tiber. Alexander VI., whose life was a disgrace to Italy, and, of course, no credit to the Roman Church, after his death was most scandalously dealt with. The corpse was borne into St. Peter's by four beggars; the Clergy, according to custom, preceding and the Canons walking by the side of the bier which being set in the midst of the church a number of drunken soldiers of the palace guard snatched the torches from the Clerks; whereupon the Clergy defended themselves with their torches, and the soldiers made use of their weapons; so that the Clergy, becoming frightened, rushed in a body into the Sacristy, and left the Pope's corpse in the hands of the ruffians.

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On the death of the Pope the usual machinery of Government is suspended, and remains so until the creation of a new one calls it again into activity. The Cardinal Camerlingo forthwith receives the late Pope's 'piscatorial ring'; so called because it has engraved upon its stone the figure of St. Peter, drawing in his fisherman's net. On the following day the Cardinals hold their general meeting, when the ring is broken. Messengers are then at once despatched to all the Catholic sovereigns to acquaint them with the fact of the death of the Pope, that the Cardinals in their dominions may

*The Cardinal who governs the ecclesiastical state and administers justice: he holds the most important office at the court of Rome and is at the head of the treasury.

hasten to Rome for the election of the future Pope, if they choose to attend the Conclave. Most of the great functionaries in the Court of Rome hold their offices only for the Pope's lifetime. His decease produces therefore an instantaneous suspension of authority.

The Camerlingo possesses great power during the vacancy of the Holy See. He coins money with his own arms upon it; lodges in the Pope's apartments, and is attended by a body guard, and all the edicts issued during the interregnum run in his name. One of his first acts is to take an inventory of all effects in the Apostolical Palace, because in olden time it was an established custom, during this season, for the mob to rifle the Pope's palace. Down to a comparatively recent period, the interregnum was a time of riot and brawl which made the streets unsafe for quiet citizens. Most of the prisoners were set at liberty, who abused their newly-acquired freedom by strange, wanton doings; and many of the populace banded themselves together, some for frolic, and others for all manner of wickedness. Doors were thrown down and many houses were broken into at night and despoiled. Day after day brawls and murders were perpetrated. Men and women were found killed in various parts of the city and suburbs, and not a few were picked up who had been thrown headless into the Tiber. There was no law in Rome but that of violence, and the holy city' was turned into a pandemonium. These lawless men were the dread of all classes: since the Cardinals could not dispense with their services, and had to buy their good humour and assistance, the townspeople were at the mercy of their recklessness. This state of things continued till the Cardinals in Conclave elected another

Pope.

death, the Cardinals who are then in Rome, and in a competent state of health, meet in the Chapel of St. Peter's, which is called the Gregorian Chapel, where a sermon, on the choice of a Pope, is preached to them, and mass is said for invoking the grace of the Holy Ghost. Then the Cardinals proceed to the Conclave in procession, two and two, and take up their abode there. Pius VII. expired in the Quirinal; and, in accordance with the letter of the law prescribing a Conclave to be held in the very palace in which the Pope dies, the Cardinals congregated there. Since that time the Conclave has been held in the Quirinal for each successive election. At a more distant period the elections were held in the Vatican. Wooden booths were constructed for each Cardinal and his attendants. In the Quirinal Palace, where the last Conclave was held, there is probably the longest corridor in the world, upon which opens, at regular distances, a range of doors, exactly like those of monks' cells in the corridor of a monastery. Each of these leads into three or four apartments. Here the Cardinals have to live during the Conclave. A number is put to each door, and small papers with corresponding numbers are put into a box. Every Cardinal, or some one for him, draws out one of these papers, which determines in which room he is to lodge. Two attendants are allowed to each Cardinal, and three to Cardinal Princes. These attendants are persons of some rank, and generally very confidential; but they have to carry in their master's meals, wait on him at table, and perform all the offices of a menial servant. Two physicians, two surgeons, an apothecary, and some other necessary officers, are also chosen by the Cardinals to be in attendance.

So it takes no small number to constitute a Conclave. Before the

On the tenth day after the Pope's Cardinals enter on their business, it

is customary for every person of rank in Rome to pay his respects to each Cardinal in his cell. Thither go all the Ambassadors, Envoys and Political Agents in Rome; not merely for friendly greetings or Court etiquette, but to make known the fact that certain nominations will not be approved of by the Powers which they represent. A bell rings three hours after sunset, when all visitors withdraw.

There are three modes in which a Pope can be lawfully created by inspiration; by compromise; and by ballot. A Pope is created by inspiration when all the Cardinals, without any previous conference, simultaneously proclaim the same individual. Very few of the Popes have been created by inspiration. Pope Clement V., in 1305, was elected by a small Committee. It was impossible for the Cardinals assembled to agree upon any candidate, they therefore intrusted the selection to a delegation out of their own body. The election is by ballot; and no election is effectual, until two thirds vote for the same person. The Cardinals meet in a chapel twice every day for giving their votes. The voting papers are square, and folded so as to have at each end a sealed portion. Every Cardinal writes his own name on one end of the paper, which is folded and sealed, and can only be opened under special circumstances. In the other fold a motto from Scripture is written; which once adopted must be the same at all ballots: this sentence the voter must remember, as it serves for identification of the vote. In the middle space a conclavist writes the name of the person for whom his master

votes.

The voting papers being prepared, each Cardinal enters the chapel and advancing to the altar, offers a short prayer in silence, takes an oath aloud, to the effect that the vote about to be given is dictated by conscientious con

victions alone, and then drops his paper into the chalice on the altar. When all have voted, two Cardinals number the votes, and if they are more or less than the number of Cardinals present, the voting must be repeated. If the numbers agree, then the Cardinal appointed for the purpose reads the motto and the name under it of the Cardinal voted for; so that each voter hearing his own sentence, and the name joined with it, knows that there is no mistake. The names of all the Cardinals voted for are taken down in writing. Should any candidate's name come out with just the majority of two-thirds, it then becomes necessary to open the upper folded portions of the ballot papers, with the view of ascertaining that this majority is not due to the candidate's own vote, it being not lawful for a Pope to be the actual instrument of his own creation. If the legal majority is not obtained, then the Cardinals vote a second time; and so they continue to vote till the legal majority is obtained, or one of the other modes of election is adopted.

The Papal throne has been vacant for months and even years, when the Cardinals could not agree in their choice of a Pope. Clement IV. died at Viterbo on November 29th, 1268. Then the Cardinals assembled, eighteen in number. At the end of one year and nine months, no Pope was elected. The inhabitants of the city were wearied with the company of the jarring Cardinals. They unroofed the episcopal palace in which the Conclave was held, and left its inmates exposed to wind and weather. Kings remonstrated with the Prelates, and all Romish Christendom was tired of the intolerable state of things; but for the space of another year, the refractory Cardinals continued to quarrel among themselves. At last the ballot was abandoned and a Pope was created by compromise. Six out of their body were endowed with the absolute power of nominating a Pope,

whom the others stood pledged to acknowledge.

The Sovereigns of France, Austria and Spain have the power to veto an election, that is to say, they can each exclude one Cardinal. When a Pope is on the eve of election, and the represen ative of one of those Powers protests against his election, he cannot be made Pope. The latest instance of exclusion occurred in 1831. Cardinal Giustiniani was visibly on the verge of election: on the day's ballot he counted twenty-one votes, and only twenty-nine were wanted to secure his triumph, when Cardinal Marco-y-Catalan said he was charged to exclude him by order of the King of Spain. The Cardinal declared that he was very thankful that he had escaped election, but the historian tells us that his disappointment was so sore as to cause an attack of fever.

There have been times when the election of this or that Cardinal as Pope might break or establish the peace of Europe. Emperors have vied with each other to sway the Conclave. When two Catholic powers have been at war, each hostile Sovereign has striven to secure the influence of the Pope. Three hundred years ago the election of a Pope was a matter of paramount importance to the crowns of Europe.

The place where the Conclave was held was often the battle-ground of nations : and the history of Conclaves is the history of contending faction, of intrigue and bribery. In the Conclave of 1829, Cardinal Castiglioni's name came out of the ballot with thirtyfive votes, against twenty for Cardinal Gregorio, and twelve for Capellari, afterwards Gregory XVI. On examining the papers, the scrutators found two votes dropped into the afternoon ballot with mottoes that did not tally with any amongst the morning votes. Two Cardinals were suspected of having perpetrated this trick, probably with the vain hope of

defeating Castiglioni's election. All it effected was to vitiate the ballot of that day, and on the following morning Castiglioni became Pius VIII. by an increased majority.

During the time the Cardinals are in Conclave, there is great excitement in the city. Crowds of idlers gather under the window of the chapel where the voting papers are burnt, and as the smoke issues through the funnel many a disrespectful pun is made concerning the doings of the Cardinals. These comments and witticisms, which are matters of general amusement, originate mostly with the lower Clergy, who, by their intelligence and their access to the sources of information, are considered the only classes qualified to conceive and concoct each well-adapted censure. That class also best knows the comparative strength of the currents of interest, of animosity, or of preference which agitate those who have to determine who shall be Pope. Not a few bets are made as to who will be the successful candidate. The Conclave has been designated 'the Epsom, the true Derby' of the Roman populace, bets being made and accepted as regularly as upon an English racecourse. The shopkeepers and merchants of Rome enter into the game with a passion which resembles the habits of speculation in stock which have made the Funds a subject of palpitating interest. The spirit of gambling was so prevalent and popular, that Pius IV. issued a Bull against it, declaring that all wagers made on a pending Papal election shall be held and deemed altogether null and void in court and out of the same. But at the last election many a wager was laid and not a few hundreds of pounds changed hands; yet it is only fair to say that in this respect things are not so bad as they were two or three hundred years ago.

When a Pope is chosen, and has

accepted the election, for no man is lifted to the Papa throne against his will, the Conclave is declared at an end; the doors are thrown open to the public, and the assembled Cardinals present to the newly-elected Pope the first act of adoration. Then from the balcony the Cardinal Dean proclaims the new Pope, and couriers are sent off with the news to all parts of Christendom. When the present Pope was elected, he was conveyed to St. Peter's amid great pomp, and, seated on the high altar, was adored by the higher Clergy, during the chanting of the Te Deum. The Pope had his foot and hand kissed by each Cardinal in succession, whom he in return embraced and kissed on both cheeks. The Pope is crowned in St. Peter's amid all the grandeur which wealth and artistic taste can command. He is carried in procession up the cathedral aisle to the chapel of St. Gregory, and as he issues from it, a master of the ceremonies suddenly steps forward, and arresting the Pope's progress, on bent knee, holds up to him a silver rod tipped with a bundle of tow, which a clerk sets on fire from a taper in his hand; then the officer holding the silver rod sings aloud Sancte Pater, sic transit gloria mundi.' In olden times another singular piece of symbolism was performed before the newly-elected Pope. When he arose on the first morning after his election, a bronze cock was carried to him in procession, to call to his mind, at that solemn moment of elevation, the frailty which Peter himself betrayed, and to which human nature is still exposed.

The present Pope, at his corona

tion, received the Communion seated on his throne, raised high above human heads, by four dignitaries of the Church. The elements were brought from the altar and offered to him by two Cardinal Deacons.

The last ceremony which the newly-chosen Pope has to perform, is to take possession of the Lateran Basilica. On this occasion, the Pope traverses the whole city of Rome in solemn procession, accompanied by all the Cardinals. Down to a very recent period it was customary for the Pope to ride a white steed, and to be escorted by the Sacred College on horseback. But as many of the Cardinals are old men, and not the most expert equestrians, this practice has been abandoned.

Formerly it was the custom of the Jews to line the portion of the way between the Arch of Titus and the Coliseum, and there to present to the Pope, in sign of homage, a copy of their law. But since the time of Pius VI. the Jews have been excused from this service.

SO

Since the last election vital changes. have come to pass in the Papacy. The Pope is no longer numbered among the crowned heads of Europe. The inhabitants of what were lately called the States of the Church now acknowledge another King. The changes which may follow the demise of Pius IX.; the part which the Courts of Europe may play in the election of his successor; and the revolutions which may attend the elevation of the new Pope, events alone can declare. And all who have true sympathy with human progress and freedom will look with deep interest on these important events.

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