Page:On papal conclaves (IA a549801700cartuoft).djvu/89

 and unexplained delay, the Cardinals., who had formally entered Conclave as long ago as the 5th, proceeded to a first ballot on the 9th April, when the suffrages were found divided between Caraffa (Paul IV.), Ferrara, and Cervini, Cardinal by the title of Sta. Croce, and in the end the victorious candidate. The second of these Cardinals was particularly obnoxious to the Imperialists; but his following was considerable, his influence formidable, and his elevation to the Papal chair, out and out the result most deprecated from an Imperialist point of view, seemed not merely possible, but was considered likely to be assured if the election were protracted another four-and-twenty hours. To defeat Ferrara's chance of success became, accordingly, the object above every other of the efforts of those Cardinals who had at heart the Emperor's interest. To this end they quickly concerted to throw their influence without loss of time on the side of Cervini as the most generally popular candidate, even though there were grounds why he could not be specially agreeable to the Emperor, whom he had displeased during his presence as Legate at the Council of Trent. But the danger of Ferrara's eleva-