The Papal Conclaves. By the Rev. A. R. Pennington. (S.P.C.K.)—This
volume, reprinted, with additions, from the Quarterly Review, gives an excellent account of its subject. Fresh sources of information are now available, the Italian archives being now accessible to students. Some day an exhaustive account of the Conclaves from the beginning will be published. Here we have a sketch, filled in with a few details. The veto of the three Powers (Austria, France, and Spain) is a strange thing, certainly illogical when we consider what the Conclave is supposed to be and to do. In 1828 Austria excluded Cardinal Severoli, who, however, had his revenge by nominating Della Gauge at the request of the majority. In 1831 Spain vetoed Giustiani, who was supposed to be favourable to the claim of Don Carlos to the Succession. Pius IX. would have been vetoed by Austria but that the Cardinal who brought the docu- ment was too late. There are some curious facts about the Cardinals The practice of appointing mere lads to the office lasted long. Clement XII., who was elected in 1730, made Luigi di Borboni a Cardinal at the age of eight; even in this century Pius VII. gave the office to another Luigi di Borboni at twenty-three. A Pope may be a layman. Adrian V. actually died without receiving any orders, election being in theory ordination by the Holy Ghost.
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