We'll begin this progressive election again, and start from the very
bottom--that is, the nation. The Italians have a peculiar fancy for
municipal liberties. The Pope knows this, and, as a good prince, he
resolves to accommodate them. The township or commune wishes to choose
its own councillors, of which there are ten to be elected. The Pope
names sixty electors--six electors for every councillor. And observe,
that in order to become an elector, a certificate from the parish and
the police is necessary. But they are not infallible; and, moreover,
it is just possible that in the exercise of a novel right they may
fall into some error; so the Sovereign determines to arrange the
election himself. Then, his Communal Councillors--for they are indeed
_his_--come and present him with a list of candidates for the
Provincial Council. The list is long, in order that the Holy Father
may have scope for his selection. For instance, in the province of
Bologna he chooses eleven names out of one hundred and fifty-six; he
must be unlucky indeed not to be able to pick out eleven men devoted
to him. These eleven Provincial Councillors, in their turn, present
four candidates, out of whom the Pope chooses one. And this is how the
nation is _represented_ in the Financial Council.
Still, with a certain luxury of suspicion, the Holy Father adds to the
list of representatives some men of his own choice, his own caste, and
who are in habits of intimacy with him.
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