, 1876-12-24

minute description of the manner in which
the Apostolic head Of the Roman Catholic
Church is chosen The information is time
", for it can hardly be expected that Pope
P1us *, who is the only successor Of st.
PETER who has outlived quarter Of q
century in the Papa1 chair, will exercise his
authority very much longer. The old
Cardinals, nearly all Of whom have been
created by the present Pope, have been
dying one by one, and their chief and patron
will soon follow them. The choice Of sue
cessor to P1us X. will not have as much
temporal importance as the election Of Pope
heretofore, because it has been during the
present reign that the Papacy has been strip
ped of the last Of its provinces, possessions,
aud temporal power. Nor does the Pope any
longer exert his old-time influence in inter-
national relations and diplomacy. Many of
the Governments that were formerly subject
to his influence have become almost hostile,
and nearly all have been emahcipated from
the tolerance Of any interference in their af-
fairs by Papa1 authority But the Pope is
still the absolute and supreme spiritual head
Of the Church, the earthly Vicar-Genera1 of
tho Savior, the wielder Of the dread power Of
anathema. the only infal1ible of all poor NOR
tality, and the recognized sovereign Of al
the Catholic dignitaries. As such, the cleo
ton Of q Pope is the most important crisis
that can occur in the Church.
However absolute the Pope may be in his
own person, and however despotic his rule
may be regarded, his selection is in keeping
With the theory Of the purest democracy.
He is chosen by two-thirds vote of the
College Of Cardinals, and no interference is
possible with the individual preferences Of
these Cardinals. There is no chance for
fraud, for stuhng the ballot-bo1es, for re-
peating, for intimidation, violence, or @'bull~
dozing"; every Cardinal votes for whom he
pleases, except himself only, and may con-
tinue voting in this manner without limit Of
time or choice of candidates. The election
occurs in the Pauline Chapel in the Vatican,
and the manner Of proceeding is described
as follows:
Here the Cardinals assemble every morning and
afternoon during the interreguum, living the rest
Of the time in Of the Palace, called for the
moment 'scells, :" and give their votes until some
one nerson has received two thirds Of all the votes
nreacnt and. unless he has voted for himself,
which is forbidden, becomes Pope. There are two
other methods of election By compromise and by
ccc,amation Int both NAV be considered set aside
IN modern times in favor of the ballot Each Car
dina1. sitting at his own table under canopy,
writes in the middle Of prepared sheet Of paper
the name Of his candida,e.-who may, OF course,
he ANYBODY or at all events any male baptized per-
son whatsoever, but who Is III modern times
Invariably a Cardinal.-and at the bottom OF
the naper his own name. This paper is
folded. 20 sealed that the name of the writer is
hidden. md carried TO the altar by the Cardinal
himse1f. who kneeliue, pronounces in Latin the
following:solemn oath: II call to witness cnR1sr
our Lord. who will be my judge, TINT am elect
Ing him whom before GOD I .n'nk ousn. 70 oe
~ .'.s- trhsro the scrntator a1raVs ~,
eminent Cardinal, either the Cardinal camerenso
(secretary Of state) or the head Of one Of the
monasae oraeFs mixes tnem up ,a.a aoge'ner, aho
hs,,at;nssnansrs ; ,re mt eona1 IN number to the
number Of Cardinals present. the votes a.e burned;
but this rarely happens The scrutators then, sit