Page:On papal conclaves (IA a549801700cartuoft).djvu/211

 Rh to ballot on the 13th June, they appeared divided into one compact body at the beck of Cardinal Lambruschini, and an opposition, not so compact as to vote systematically together, but yet sufficiently united in hostility to the late Secretary, not to give him any votes; while a small flying troop, under the command of Altieri, acted like shrewd electors on the look-out for a profitable windfall. The first ballot gave at once the measure of Lambruschini's following, and led to the crisis that decided the election against him. To have thus revealed from the very first the full strength of his forces was an error in electoral tactics eminently characteristic of this Cardinal's inability to control his passions. Instead of exercising the virtue of patience until the arrival of reinforcements to his party, known to be on their way, Cardinal Lambruschini, driven by an irresistible avidity to clutch the coveted prize, ventured upon an attempt to snatch its possession by a coup de main—impossible of success under the circumstances, and which had for sole effect to determine his final and immediate defeat by the instantaneous coalition of all his enemies in a