The special correspondent of the Times at Rome gives a
curious sketch of the Cardinals likely to be of consequence at the next Papal election. The most influential are said to be Di Pietro, a Roman noble of 72, noted for extravagance ; Do Luca, a learned Sicilian, possibly tinged with Liberalism ; Medd, a "native of Allumiere," a great jurist, 71 years old, and "one of the wisest and most moderate men of the Sacred College ;" and
Nina, a Roman of a moderate spirit and inclined to compromise. Cardinal Bonaparte, with a reputation for ability, has since the fall of the Second Empire kept almost entirely out of sight ; whilst Chigi is a diplomatist, intent on correspondence with the great, but believed to desire the Papal Throne. Pecci, the Camerlengo, is a Roman of 67, blameless and moderate ; while his immediate rival, Panebianco, considered in many quarters the most probable of all candidates, is held in Rome to be a monk, obstinate, gloomy, and fanatical, with a temper hardened by sleeplessness, which in him amounts to a disease. These sketches, it should be under- stood, only profess to represent popular opinion in Rome, where the bad qualities of a Cardinal, whose character may be a good one on the whole, are very carefully noted. That habit will cease by-and-by, now that the favour or wrath of a Cardinal no longer brings any one material advantage or detriment.
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