by
the obedience of the cardinals; that it is lawful for the cardinals, the
clergy and the people of Rome to refuse obedience to a pope so elected.
On all which Monsignor Spondano in his ecclesiastical annals, remarks,
with a naivete of hypocrisy which is irresistibly amusing, that inasmuch
as there would be considerable difficulty in applying the remedy
proposed, God has specially provided that there should never be any need
of it. How far Monsignor Spondano can have supposed that such was the
case will become evident from the account of the doings of a conclave
which I propose giving to the reader presently.

Together with the cardinals there are shut up in the conclave two
attendants, called "conclavisti," for each cardinal, or three for such
of them as are ill or infirm; one sacristan, two masters of the
ceremonies, one confessor, two physicians, one surgeon, one carpenter,
two barbers and ten porters. Any conclavist who may leave the conclave
cannot on any account return. The different cells prepared in the
Quirinal, Vatican or other place in which the conclave may be held are
assigned to the cardinals by lot. The election may be made in the
conclave in either of three different manners--by scrutiny of votes, by
compromise, or by acclamation. A vote by scrutiny is to be taken twice
every day in the conclave--once in the morning and once in the
afternoon. All the cardinals, save such as are confined to their cells
by infirmity, proceed to the chapel, and there, after the mass, receive
the communion. They then return each to his cell to breakfast, and
afterward meet in the chapel again. The next morning at 8 A.M. the
sub-master of the ceremonies rings a bell at the door of each cell; at
half-past eight he rings again; and at nine a third time, adding in a
loud voice the summons, "_In capellam Domini!_"

The arrangement of the Pauline Chapel at the Vatican, in which the
voting takes place, is as follows: The floor is raised by a boarding to
the level of the pontifical throne, which stands by the side of the
altar, and which is left in its place in readiness for the newly-elected
pope to seat himself and receive the "adoration" of his electors. All
around the walls of the chapel are erected as many thrones as there are
cardinals, and over each of them a canopy, so arranged that by means of
a cord it can be suddenly let down; so that at the moment the election
is pronounced all the canopies are suddenly made to fall ex