the strength we have, we pray you, do it diligently, dearest brethren.'

"Having said this he raised his hands to heaven and said: 'Omnipotent
God, grant to the holy Church, and to these fathers, a pastor who will
preserve her and increase her; give to them a good pastor who will rule
and govern thy flock the most maturely that one can rule and govern. And
I pray for you and comfort you as much as I know and can. Pray for me to
God in your prayers.' When he had ended these words he raised his right
arm and, with a generous soul, gave the benediction,' _Benedict vos Deus,
Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus_'--speaking with a raised voice and
solemnly, _in modo pontificate_"

These tremulous words, broken and confused by the weakness of his last
hours, were taken down by the favorite scribe, Giannozzo Manetti, in the
chamber of the dying Pope; with much more of the most serious matter
to the Church and to Rome. His eager desire to soften all possible
controversies and produce in the minds of the conclave about his bed, so
full of ambition and the force of life, the softened heart which would
dispose them to a peaceful and conscientious election of his successor,
is very touching, coming out of the fogs and mists of approaching death.

In the very age that produced the Borgias, and himself the head of that
band of elegant scholars and connoisseurs, everything but Christian,
to whom Rome owes so much of her external beauty and splendor, it is
pathetic to stand by this kind and gentle spirit as he pauses on the
threshold of a higher life, subduing the astute and worldly minded
churchmen around him with the tender appeal of the dying father, their
_Papa Niccolato_, familiar and persuasive--beseeching them to be of one
accord without so much as saying it, turning his own weakness to account
to touch their hearts, for the honor of the Church and the welfare of the