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."