nd all the rest will kiss his
feet; one will be sovereign, the others his subjects; one the shepherd,
and the others his flock....

While we have been thus sketching, hastily and imperfectly, one of many
who passed almost unnoticed in the solemn procession to conclave, on the
2d of September, 1823, we may suppose the doors to have been inexorably
closed on those who composed it. The conclave, which formerly used to
take place in the Vatican, was on this occasion, and has been
subsequently, held in the Quirinal palace. This noble building, known
equally by the name of Monte Cavallo, consists of a large quadrangle,
round which run the papal apartments. From this stretches out, along a
whole street, an immense wing, its two upper floors divided into a great
number of small but complete suites of apartments, occupied permanently,
or occasionally, by persons attached to the Court.

During conclave these are allotted, literally so, to the cardinals, each
of whom lives apart, with his attendants. His food is brought daily from
his own house, and is examined, and delivered to him in the shape of
"broken victuals," by the watchful guardians of the turns and lattices,
through which alone anything, even conversation, can penetrate into the
seclusion of that sacred retreat. For a few hours, the first evening,
the doors are left open, and the nobility, the diplomatic body, and in
fact all presentable persons, may roam from cell to cell, paying a brief
compliment to their occupants, perhaps speaking the same good wishes to
fifty, which they know can be accomplished in only one.

After that all is closed; a wicket is left accessible for the entrance
of any cardinal who is not yet arrived; but every aperture is jealously
guarded by faithful janitors, judges and prelates of various tribunals,
who relieve one another. Every letter even is opened and read, that no
communications may be held with the outer world. The very street on
which the wing of the conclave looks is barricaded and guarded by a
picket at each end; and as, fortunately, there are no private residences
opposite, and all the buildings have access from the back, no
inconvenience is thereby created.

While conclave lasts, the administrative power rests in the hands of the
Cardinal Chamberlain, who strikes his own coins during its continuance;
and he is assisted by three cardinals, called the "Heads of Orders,"
because they represent the three orders in the sacred college,