The members of the Consulta of the Finances are a sort of sham deputies; very sham ones, I assure you, although the Count de Rayneval, to suit his purpose, is pleased to call them “the Representatives of the Nation.”  They represent the nation as Cardinal Antonelli represents the Apostles.

They are elected by the Pope from a list presented by the Communal Councils.  The Communal Councillors are elected by their predecessors of the Communal Council, who were chosen directly by the Pope from a list of eligible citizens, each of whom must have produced a certificate of good conduct, both religious and political.  In all this I cannot for the life of me see more than one elector—­the Pope.

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.  The councillors elected by the nation are eliminated by one-third every two years.  The councillors named directly by the Pope are irremovable.

Verily, if ever constituted body offered guarantees to power, it was this Council of Finances.  And yet, the Pope does not trust to it.  He has given the presidence to a Cardinal, the vice-presidence to a Prelate; and still he is only half re-assured.  A special regulation places all the councillors under the supreme control of the Cardinal President.  It is he who names the commissioners, organizes the bureaux, and makes the reports to the Pope.  Without his permission no papers or documents are communicated to the councillors.  So true is it that the reigning caste sees in every layman an enemy.