The Daughter of an Empress

And while Ganganelli breathed out his last sigh, resounded the bells

of St. Peter's, thundered the cannon of Castle Angelo, and the curious

people thronged around the Vatican, where the conclave was in solemn

session for the choice of a new pope. Thousands stared up to the palace,

thousands prayed upon their knees, until at length the doors of the

balcony, behind which the conclave was in session, were opened, and the

papal master of ceremonies made his appearance upon it.

At a given signal the bells became silent, the cannon ceased to thunder,

and breathlessly listened the crowd.

The master of ceremonies advanced to the front of the balcony. A

pause--a silent, dreadful pause! His voice then resounded over the

great square, and the listeners heard these words: "Habemus pontificem

maximum Pium VI.!" (We have Pope Pius VI.) And the bells rang anew, the cannon thundered, drums beat, and trumpets

sounded; upon the balcony appeared the new pope, Juan Angelo Braschi,

Pius VI., bestowing his blessing upon the kneeling people.

As they now had a new pope, nothing remained to be done for the deceased

pope but to bury him; and they buried him.

In solemn procession, followed by all the cardinals and high church

officials, surrounded by the Swiss guards, the tolling of the bells and

the dull rolling of the muffled drums, the solemn hymns of the priests,

moved the funeral cortege from the Vatican to St. Peter's church.

In the usual open coffin lay the corpse of the deceased pope, that the

people might see him for the last time. As they passed the bridge of St.

Angelo, when the coffin had reached the middle of the bridge, arose a

shriek of terror from thousands of throats! A leg had become severed

from the body and hung out of the coffin, swinging in a fold of the

winding-sheet. Cardinal Albani, who walked near the coffin, was touched

on the shoulder by the loosely swinging limb, and turned pale, but he

yet had the courage to push it back into the coffin. The people loudly

murmured, and shudderingly whispered to each other: "The dead man has

touched his murderer. They have poisoned him, our good pope! His members

fall apart. That is the effect of Acqua Tofana."(*) (*) Archenholz relates yet another case where the Acqua

Tofana had a similar violent and sudden effect. "A

respectable Roman lady, who was young and beautiful, and had

many admirers, made in the year 1778, a similar experiment,

to rid herself of an old husband. As the dose was rather

strong, death was followed by the rapid and violent

separation of the members. They employed all possible means

to retain the body in a human form until the funeral was

over. The face was covered with a waxen mask, and by this

means was the condition of the corpse concealed. This

separation of the members seems to be the usual effect of

this poison, and is said to occur as soon as the body is

cold."