THE ELECTION OF A NEW POPE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 54, 4 March 1878, Page 4

THE ELECTION OF A NEW POPE.

As considerable interest ia at the present time felt aa to the mode of election of a new Pope, we subjoin below extracts from a work written by the late Cardinal Wianinan, entitle! "The Laßfc Four Popes," in which Uie writer, in his description of the election of Pope Leo XII, states : —

The interval between the c!o3<) of one pontificate and the commencement of another is a perioJ of eoino excitement, and neeeo^rily of much anxieiy, I remember being at Paris when Louid XVII. died, and Charles K. succeeded to him. Chateaubriand published a pamphlet wilh the title, "La Koi esi more, vive le Roi." There is no interregnum in successive monarchy : at that title to a book consi-sta of words uttered hy Borne inursual or herali, and the close of the royal funeral, as he flrat pointe with his baton into the vault, and then risosJnto the air.

But in an elective monarchy, and in the only one surviving in Europe, there is of course a period ot provisional arrangements, foreseen and pre-dis-posed. Time is. required for the electors to assemble from distant provinces, or even foreign countries ; and thia is occupied ia payiug the last tribute of respect and affection to the departed Pontiff. His body is embalmed, clotbe.l in the robes of hisoUice, of the pcnileutial colour, and laid on a couch of state within one of the chapels in St. Peter's, uo mat the faithful may no! only see it, iutkiss its feet. This hist act of ieverence to ibe mortal remains of the ituoaortal Pius, the writar well recolects performing.

These preliminaries occupy three dayß : during whioh rises, us if by magic, or from the erypta below, an imineuae catafalque, a colossal architectural structure, wlieh fills the nave of that basilica, illustrated by inscriptions, and adorned by statuary. Before this huga monument, for nine days, funeral rit-a are performed, cloaed by a funeral oration. For the body of the last, Pope there is a uniform resting-placs in St. Feter'a, — a plain sarcophagus, of marble stucco, hardly noticed by the traveller, over a door beside the choir, on which ia simply painted the title of the latest Pontiff. This change takes place in the evening, and is considered private. I cannot recollect whether it was on this or on a subsequent occasion that I witnessej it, with my college compaciouß. In the afternoon of tha last day of the novendiali, as they are called, the cardinals assemble in a church near the Quirinai Palace, and walk theuce in .procession, accompanied by their conciavisti, a secretary, a chaplain, and a servant or two, to thß great gate of that royal residence, ia which one will rointiia a3 master and supreme lord. Oi course the hill is crowded by persons lining the avenue kept open for the procession. Cardinals never before seen by them, or not; for many years, pass before them ; eager eyes scan aod measure them, and try to co- jecture, from fancied omens in eye, figure, or expression, who will shortly be the sovereign of their fair city, or what is much more, the Head of ths Catholic Church from the rising to the setting Bun. Equal they pass the threshold of that gate ; they shara together the supreme rule, temporal and spiritual; the is still em bosoinad within {ham all the voice, yet silent, that sooa will sound, from one tongue, over all the world, and the dormant germ of that, authority which will soon again be concentrated in one man alone. To-day they are all equal ; perhaps to-morrow one will sit enthroned, and all tha rest will kiss his feet; one will bo sovereign, the others his subjects ; one the shepherd, the others his flock. This is a singular and a deeply interesting moment ; a scene not easily forgotten. During conclave, apartments are allotted io the cardinals, each of whom lives apart with hit? attendants. His food is brought daily from bis own faouee, and ia examined, and delivered him in the shape of" broken victuals " by the watchful guardiana of the turns and lattices, through which aloue anythiug, even conversation, can penetrate into the seclusion of that sucred retreat. For a few hours, the first evening, the doors are left open, and the nobility, the diplomatic body, and ia fact, all presentable persons, may roam from cell to cell, paying a brief compliment to their occupants, psrhaps speaking the flame good wishes to fifty, which can be accomplish ci in only oue. After that all is closed ; a wicket is left expressly for the entrance of any cardinal who has not yet arrived ; but every aperture is jealously guarded by faithful janitors, or judges and prelate's of various tribjnale, who relieve one another. Every letter even is opened and read, that, no communications may be held with tha outer world. The vary street on which the wing of the conclave looks, is barricaded aud guardod by a picquct at each end ; end, »>s, fortunutely, tuers are no privute residences opposite, sn:l all the bui!.!iogs have access from the back, no iucoave^ifcoct) it* I lie re by create '.

While conclave lusts, ihe a.innobU\> liyo power rests in the hinds of Cm Cardinal Chamberlain, who siiikeo bi3 own coius during i(s continuance ; and tie is assisted by three cardinals, called the " H'ja.j of Ciders," because they represent the three orders iv ihe sacred college, of bishops, priesla, and desconp. The Binbassadord of the great powers receive fresh credentials to the conclave aud projeed ia state, to present them to this delogauoa, at Ihe grille* An address, carefully pre-

pared, ia delivered by th.9 envoy, and receives a well - pondered reply from the presiding cardinal. Twice a day the cardinals meet in the chnpel contained wilhin the palace, and there, on tickets so arranged that fch-3 voter's name caauot be seen, write the name of him for whom they give their suffrage. Thi'se papers are exau)iu3il ia their presence, an I if the number of votes given to auy one do not constitute the majority, they are burnt in such a rasnuer that the 3moke, issuing through a flue, ia visible to the crowd usually assembled iv the square outside. Sorao day, instead of this usual signal to disperse, tha Bound of a pick and hammer ia heard. e.ud a small opening is seen in the wall which had temporarily blocked up tho great window over the palace gateway. At last the masons of tho conclave have opened a rude door, through which steps on the balcony the first Cardinal Deaeoa, and proclaims to the many, or to the few, who may happen to be waiting that thay a^aia possess v sovereign nnd a Pan tiff,