Then begins the conclave. Each cardinal comes in state with his two
_conclavistas_, or conclave-companions, usually prelates, and always
chosen with a view to the services they may be able to render in the
approaching struggle; the mass of the Holy Spirit is solemnly said, if
not always devoutly listened to; the ambassadors of the Catholic powers
utter their official exhortations to harmony and a single eye to the
good of the Church; and when they withdraw, the mason of the conclave
steps gravely forth, trowel in hand, to build up a solid wall of brick
and mortar betwixt the electors and that world which still looks forward
with curious interest, although with diminished faith, to the result of
the election.
The conclave, as the name indicates, is a room, and when the
constitution of the customary circular letters announcing his election,
the new Pope, John XXI., better known, if known at all, by his
"Thesaurus Pauperum" than by his administration of the Holy See, issued
a Bull confirming the suspension of the obnoxious constitution, as
containing things "obscure, impracticable, and opposed to the
acceleration of the election.
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