Secret Societies Of The Middle Ages.—Iii.

" Your lordship never explained to me so full y the reasons of the baron ' s captivity , " observed the priest . "But I now perfectly understand them . At the time the baron penetrated into the penetralia of your mansion at Venice , the interests of your family might have been seriously compromised by the revelation of what'he had seen there . " " Assuredlyfatherand but that my sister Avould not consent that

, , Ave should subject him to the 2 > enalty of the cord and dagger , never would he have quitted that house alive after having beheld the mysteries of that chamber , although , for our safety she agreed to his perpetual captivity . Thus , a Avoman ' s cajwice spared him , and he is IIOAV at large to publish all he knoivs—as he did yesterday at the tribunal—of the secret chamber . "

" The cord and dagger can reach him still my lord , " said the priest Avith a significant glance . " No , let him live , " Avas the reply . " He is totally unaAvare of the names of those AVIIO occupied the house Avherein he beheld such objects ; and moreover , " added the speaker , proudly , " our house is IIOAV too pOAverfultoo highllacedto care about such revelations . NoI

, y p , , say , let him live . " " As your lordship pleases , " Avas the meek reply . " I have received too many benefits at the hands of your lordship ' s family to disobey a command from your lordship ' s lips . "

There are noAv the folloiving points to be explained to the reader , the history of the Borgia family , the mysteries of the secret chamber , and the nature ofthe stronghold ofthe Vehm tribunal above alluded to . We Avill take the subject of the Borgia famil y first ; and cannot better commence tlie history of this extraordinary house than by describing the election of its head Roderic , or Eoderigo Borgia ,

commonly known as Alexander VI , to the high office of pope . The manner of electing a pope has remained unchanged for centuries ; and as the same ceremonies are ahvays observed , we cannot lay before our readers a better or more elegantly Avritten account than that of Cardinal Wiseman , of the election of Pope Leo the tAvelfth . * " The interval betAveen the close of one pontificate and the

commencement of another , " says the cardinal , "is a period of some excitement , and necessarily of much anxiety . There is no interregnum in successive monarchy ; but in elective monarchy , and in the only one surviving in Europe , there is of course a space of provisional arrangements , foreseen and predisposed . Time is required for the electors to assemble from distant provinces , or eA'en from foreign countries ; aud

this is occupied in paying the last tribute of respect and affection to the departed Pontiff . His body is embalmed , clothed in the robes of his office , and laid on a couch of state , Avithin one of the chapels of St . Peter . These preliminaries occupy three days ; during Avhich rises , as if by magic , or from the crypts beioAv , an immense catafalque —a colossal architectural structure—Avhich fills the nave of that basilica ,