The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-01 00:00:00

THE ELECTION OF A POPE.

To each of the ten days succeeding the death
of the Pope, a particular business is assigned to
be disposed of by the Cardinals who may happen
to be in Rome ; this business relates either to the
obsequies of the deceased, or to the preparations
for the coming election. On the evening of the
tenth day, the electors, with au improved suite of
attendants, enter the conclave. This is in a por-
tion of the palace in which the late Pope died,
usually the Quirinal, and is so called from the in-
mates being locked in together until their task is
completed. Within this portion small cells are
constructed for the use of each cardinal and his
two conclavists, to whom a third is added in extra-
ordinary cases, as in that of the Penitentiary,
and others, whose office entails a large corres-
pondence. One of the conclavists is always a
cleric, and often enjoys great influence with a
master who not having been resident in Rome,
may be unacquainted with the state of parties in
the city. Besides the electors and their concla-
vists, the enclosure contains a sufficient staff of
masters of ceremonies, physicians, and other
necessary attendants. Any cardinal who was ab-
sent from Rome when his brethren entered the
conclave is admitted upon his arrival ; but the
rule which forbids the entrance of strangers is
strict and absolute, in practice as well as in theory.
The passage of correspondence between the inner
and the outer world is forbidden in theory-, but in
practice means are sometimes found to elude the
vigilance of the guards; the rule absolutely prohi-
biting it is as obsolete as that which limits the
number and quality of the dishes supplied to the
table of the electors.

Three possible forms of election are recognized
by the writers on the subject—by acclamation, by
compromise, and by scrutiny and accession, which
last is alone now in use. We have already seen
an instance of election by compromise in the t er-
mination of the famous contest of Viterbo. An
election by acclamation supposes that all the elec-
tors unanimously adopt the suggestion of one of
their number, who names as Pope a person to
whom no vote had previously been given. Such
is said to have been the election of St. Fabian in
238, and of St. Gregory VII. in 1073. In more
modern times many elections have been carried by
this kind of unanimous acclamation, and confirmed
afterwards by a regular vote. Such was the case
with Sixtus V., in 1585 ; the cardinals had agreed
in saluting him as Pope, and in the subsequent
scrutiny he was found to have united all the votes
except his own. The prudence of the regular
practice was, however, illustrated in the stormy
conclave which followed the death of Innocent
XI., in Dec., 1591. The Cardinal Santa Severina
was named by what might have passed for unani-
mous acclamation ; but it seemed well to pro-
ceed to scrutiny, in which Santa Severina failed to
secure the requisite number of votes, and at length
Cardinal Aldobrandini was chosen, as St. Philip
Neri had long before predicted to him, and as-
sumed the name of Clement VIII.

It remains to describe briefly the mode of elec-
tion by scrutiny and accession, by which all elec-
tions have been conducted since the time of
Gregory XV. The voters are the cardinals pre-
sent in the conclave, including even those whose
"mouths have not been opened," but excluding
such as have been deposed from their dignity. It
is said that no censure—not even excommunication
—would have the effect of depriving a cardinal of
his voice in conclave ; but there can be no doubt
that an express sentence of deposition by the
reigning Pontiff would effectually deprive the
guilty person of all the privileges belonging
to the cardinalate. Any Catholic man what-
ever is eligible to the Popedom, neither the
lay state nor the marriage bond being recognised
by the canonists as an impediment. There is,
however, little chance that this doctrine will ever
receive a practical confirmation. By an usage
which has now continued without interruption for
five centuries, the Pope is chosen from among the
body of the cardinals, the latest instance to the
contrary being the election of Urban VI., in 1378.
The choice generally falls upon a cardinal who has
attained that dignity after passing through the
regular carriera of judicial and diplomatic em-
ployment which is open in Rome to persons dis-
tinguished for their acquaintance with the Canon
Law. The career of the reigning Pontiff, Pius
IX., commenced with his being sent on a diplo-
matic mission to the Republic of Chili. No other
Pope has ever set foot in the New World.

The vote by scrutiny is taken twice every day,
in the chapel of the palace in which the conclave
is held; this is, of course, within the enclosure.
The cardinals alone are present. A bland form of
voting paper is supplied to each, which he fills up
with his own name and the name of his nominee.
These papers are then folded and sealed, so that
neither name is visible, and are deposited by the
electors in turn in a large vase placed upon the
altar to receive them. The formula of election is
extremely simple—,4 I, N—, elect for Sovereign
Pontiff. M—." When all have voted, the names
of the nominees are opened by three of the cardi-
nals deputed by lot for the purpose, and the votes
are counted. if one name be found to have united
more than two. thirds of the votes, the election is
complete ; if the votes for one person are precisely
two-thirds of the whole number, the names of the
voters are inspected, that it may be ascertained
that the vote of the person himself has not con-
curred to give him this canonical majority, for
none is allowed thus directly to co-operate to his
own elevation. If the requisite concurrence is not
found to have been attained, recourse is had to the
accession. This is a second vote, in which every
voter is at liberty either to retain his former
choice, or to transfer his vote to some other of
those who had been nominated. The formalities
are precisely the same as those of the scrutiny
which has preceded. If still no election has been
carried, the proceedings are adjourned to the time
appointed for the next scrutiny. The voting
papers are burnt, the name of the voter remaining
unopened.--The Month.

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