The news from Rome is of little importance. The Cardinals
have decided that the Conclave shall be held in Rome, within the Vatican, and that it shall commence on the 20th, and we have given elsewhere an account of the fierce conflict said to have preceded the decision. It must be remembered, however, that accounts of ecclesiastical proceedings in Rome are rarely trustworthy, as the Cardinals, who alone know them tho- roughly, keep them carefully secret. There is no doubt, however, about the main fact, and no doubt that the true contest will be between the moderates and the zealots,
or that among the latter we must class Cardinal Manning. The Romans ring the changes on all manner of names, but there is nothing whatever in this particular election to remove the uncer- tainty which prevails before every Conelave. Each Government instructs some special Cardinal to inform the whole body of its wishes—Cardinal Hohenlohe, for instance, representing Ger- many—but the Conclave is not bound to attend to any Govern- ment, and probably will not. The right of veto has not been abandoned, but it will not be exercised, and the Cardinals will be left to their own choice. A very long sitting is expected, but there is no more evidence for it' than for a short one, and till the name is finally proclaimed all rumours should be totally disregarded. The last one, that Cardinal Canossa will be elected, probably originated in a pun.
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