Page:On papal conclaves (IA a549801700cartuoft).djvu/131

 Rh night before polling-day. Hither hie, then, all the ambassadors, and envoys, and political agents in Rome, to snatch the last opportunity afforded for unrestricted conference, to give the last stroke to eager appeals of soft persuasion, or deterring menace, the last touch to cunning combination, and particularly to deposit in the hands of an intimate confederate the knowledge of those whose nomination their Courts will absolutely not brook, before, at the third ringing of a bell, three hours after sunset, the Master of the Ceremonies makes his appearance, and calling aloud 'Extra omnes,' obliges strangers to withdraw beyond the sacred precincts. Then is every ingress jealously walled up, except the door at the head of the principal staircase, on which bars and bolts are drawn, and heavy locks are turned, with due formality—those on the outside in presence of the Prince Marshal—those within, of the Camerlengo and his three Cardinal colleagues; and now is proclaimed the commencement of that solemn confinement, which by law should be absolute until a new Pope has been created, or at all events, according to the constitution of Gregory until a vote of two-thirds of the