Page:On papal conclaves (IA a549801700cartuoft).djvu/213

 Rh candidate he did not approve of. That Cardinals, and especially foreign ones, were on the road who would go along with Lambruschini was a fact perfectly known. Consequently the immediate feelings on the part of the opposition were of alarm lest the arrival in time for voting of these Cardinals should confirm Lambruschini's ascendency, and of instinctive desire by drawing together in quick support of the same man to carry the election by the very stratagem of surprise which Lambruschini had vainly sought to ply. Who that man might be, most properly, was sufficiently indicated under the circumstances by the morning's poll; and thus by general consent Cardinal Mastai, from the mere fact of the votes that had been recorded in his favour, in part probably without serious intentions, came to occupy the position of a natural candidate for the opposition. The afternoon's poll already gave experience of the work that had been in operation in the interval of a few hours. Cardinal Lambruschini's following had been broken in upon; two of his adherents had been induced to fall away; and while he now counted only thirteen votes, Mastai came out with his numbers raised to