Nor do they even exercise it themselves; but each in his turn, too weak to govern, hastens to shift a burden which overpowers him, and delivers us, bound hand and foot, to the worst of his Cardinals!" It is too true that the Popes do not themselves exercise their absolute power.

If the _White Pope_, or the Holy Father, governed personally, we might hope, with a little aid from the imagination, that a miracle of grace would make him walk straight.

He is rarely very capable or very highly educated: but as the statue of the Commendatore said, "He who is enlightened by Heaven wants no other light." Unfortunately the _White Pope_ transfers his political functions to a _Red Pope_, that is to say, an omnipotent and irresponsible Cardinal, under the name of a Secretary of State.

This one man represents the sovereign within and without,--speaks for him, acts for him, replies to foreigners, commands his subjects, expresses the Pope's will, and not unfrequently imposes his own upon him.
This second-hand dictator has the best reasons in the world for abusing his power.

If he could hope to succeed his master, and wear the crown in his turn, he might set an example, or make a show, of all the virtues.