that there was a very good chance of carrying his election by a sudden "adoration" at the very outset of the Conclave. But the Cardinal Saoli himself was unwilling to risk it. He was fully persuaded, says the conclavist, that Aldobrandino's illness would compel him to quit the Conclave, in which case he would have been sure of his election by the ordinary means of voting. He was mistaken in his calculation, and lost a chance which, the conclavist thinks, would have in all probalbiity turned out successful by his timidity. Some whisper, however, of the projected step had reached Aldobrandino and his friends, and kept them in great anxiety all the first day and all the first night; so much so that Cardinal Cesi went to him about ten o'clock at night, and told him that he must get up, ill as he was, and go round among their friends and show himself. Had he not done so, the conclavist thinks, the attempt at adoration would have been made by Saoli's friends. The Aldobrandino faction, however, "in order to give the opposite faction something to chew," as the conclavist expresses it, in the meantime put about a rumour that very possibly an "adoration" of Cardinal Tosco, a favourite candidate of their own, would be attempted in the course of the night; and this had the effect of causing many of the allies to quit their beds and remain on the alert.

The next morning after mass, said by the oldest Cardinal, Como, the Conclave proceeded to the first scrutiny, in which, to the general surprise, fourteen votes were given to Cardinal Bellarmine.

The only names in all the Conclave that have retained any place in history, besides that of the successful can

didate, were the Cardinals Baronius, Bellarmine, and Borromeo. All three of them belonged to the party of Aldobrandino. This unexpected result of the scrutiny puzzled the majority of the assembly exceedingly. The Conclave, says the conclavist, was all in the dark; for though Bellarmine was of the Aldobrandino or Clementine faction, that party had not thought of making him Pope. Though he was much beloved, and his character stood high, still, as our author remarks, his being a Jesuit, and being known to be "delicate of conscience," did not recommend him for the Papacy. The fact was that the motion of putting him forward had originated, not with his own party, but with that of Montalto and the allies. Sforza was his relative by the mother's side; and to Acquaviva, a nephew of the General of the Jesuits, his quality of Jesuit was a recommendation. The plan was originated by these two, who easily persuaded several of their own party to join them by the considerations that, as matters stood, there was no hope of electing Saoli; that it was certain that the elevation of Bellarmine would not suit the views of Aldobrandino; and that, let the matter turn either way, they could not but be gainers; for if a sufficient number of his own party joined them to elect him, they would have the merit of having given him the Papacy; and if, on the other hand, the attempt failed, they would in all probability cause disunion among the Clementines, and very likely obtain Bellarmine's support for their own candidate Saoli. The whole of that day was spent in the intrigues to which this unexpected move gave rise. Baronius was an intimate friend of Bellarmine, and was known to have spoken with Bor

romeo, who was also favourable to him, of the expediency of such an election, though without any idea of realising it. Sfondrato, one of the knot of the allies who had started the candidature of Bellarmine, went to Baronius and persuaded him to go, as on his own idea, to Aldobrandino, and point out to him that if he and his friends would vote for Bellarmine, he might be sure of sufficient support from the party of the allies to elect him. Aldobrandino cautiously requested to know from Baronius his grounds for such an opinion; to which the latter replied that he might trust him, as his information was from a perfectly trustworthy source. Aldobrandino, however, divining how matters really stood, as soon as ever Baronius had left him, sent Cardinal San Giorgio to Bellarmine to assure him of his (Aldobrandino's) perfectly favourable disposition towards him; but, at the same time, to point out to him that the move in his favour was merely a trick of the other party, set on foot with the hope of sowing division among them, and to beg of him not to play into their hands, and be duped by lending any encouragement to their project. He, at the same time, sent two other of the younger cardinals round to all his adherents to warn them that the proposal to elect Bellarmine was only a trick of the adversaries, and to advise them "to go to bed and pay no attention to any rumours on the subject." All the cardinals belonging to the monastic orders were already astir, we are told, at the first report of a possibility of the election of Bellarmine, ready to exert themselves to the utmost to prevent the choice of a Jesuit Pope.

Cardinal Sfondrato in the meantime, as soon as he

had sent Baronius to Aldobrandino, as has been seen, himself proceeded to the cell of Montalto, the leader of his party, who was just sitting down to supper, and told him that intrigues were on foot in the Conclave for the election of Cardinal Como. The object of this falsehood was, the conclavist tells us, to prevent Montalto from hurrying off to prevent the election of Bellarmine if any rumour of it should reach him. But the precaution was needless, our historian assures us, "for Montalto, seduced by the sight of the good things before him, replied that they might intrigue for any one they liked, for he did not mean for his part to leave his supper!" So Sfondrato left him; but on returning to his colleagues in the attempt to elect Bellarmine found that Aldobrandino's vigilance and activity had put an end to all hopes of success. So there was an end to the chance of a Jesuit Pope, and of the first day of the Conclave.

The next move was another attempt on the part of the allies to put forward Cardinal Camerino, who, though one of themselves, was thought not to be strongly objectionable to many of the other party. Aldobrandino had a conference with Montalto on the subject, and pretended to be desirous of inducing his party to accept this new candidate. But Montalto was not deceived by his professions. He saw that the Clementines did not intend to allow the elevation of Camerino, and dropped the attempt; not, however, without determining to avenge himself by opposing any candidate of Aldobrandino to the utmost of his power.

Hitherto the active tentatives had been all on the part of the allies. Aldobrandino and his friends had as

yet contented themselves with standing on the defensive. But the real and earnest wish of the late cardinal nephew and minister was to bring about the election of Cardinal San Clemente, his intimate friend and confidant. He had begun by securing the co-operation of the French party in return for his promise to insure the exclusion of the cardinals especially objected to by France. He had next applied to the Spaniards; and as San Clemente was not among those whom they had orders to exclude they also promised their assistance. This seemed, therefore, to offer a better chance of coming to an election than any that had been yet proposed to the Conclave. But, as has been seen, all the Clementines, united to all the French and all the Spaniards, only amounted to thirty-eight votes-two short of the number requisite. If, therefore, the allies held firmly together, they could prevent the possibility of San Clemente's election. And upon this occasion they not only seemed inclined to do so, but, not content with that, succeeded in inducing Cardinal Sordi, one of the French party, to break his engagement with Aldobrandino, and join them. They determined, moreover, to take the violent step of openly and by solemn resolution excluding San Clemente, declaring frankly that it was their determination not to vote for him—a very strong and decisive measure, because the cardinals taking part in it having thus declared themselves hostile to San Clemente, were definitively bound to struggle to the last against the election of a Pope in the person of one whom they had already rendered their enemy.

Aldobrandino, therefore, was extremely anxious to