exclusus semper exclusus' is a saying not absolutely true; for Clement VIII. had been excluded in three Conclaves by Spain, and Innocent X. was elected with a French exclusion suspended over him. As for the category of Cardinals who have the best chances of gaining the suffrages of their colleagues, there is a Roman proverb which says that three are the streets leading straight to the Vatican, those of the Coronari (rosary-makers), Argentieri (silver-smiths), and Lungara (long street):[1] which is taken to mean that much outward show of devotion, expenditure of money, and an
- ↑ There are three streets in Rome with these names.
duty of declaring that the Imperial Court of Vienna is unable to accept his Eminence Severoli as Supreme Pontiff, and gives him a formal exclusion (gli da una formale esclusiva).' The party supporting Cardinal Severoli consisted of the opposition to Consalvi, the influential Secretary of State during the previous reign. His enemies were numerous and resolute. Their candidate having been checkmated by this veto, the party avenged itself by asking Severoli to indicate the man of his choice. He named Cardinal Della Genga, who was then elected and reigned as Leo XII.—the type of stupid reaction, and, as against Consalvi, the expression of unmitigated spite. Consalvi was not a statesman of a high order, but he was possessed of certain qualities of affability and knowledge of the world which raised him above the level of the dull narrow-mindedness of this bigot.
