The smoke signal: A transient cipher for enduring human uncertainty

“ The cardinals, creatures of the Pope who has been, are the creators of the Pope who is to be. The Sacred College is permanent: in it there is comprised the continuity of Church history. The whole fullness of the power and significance of the Sacred College is revealed when after the death of a Pope the vacancy is followed by a Conclave.
A Pope dies amidst the prayers of those who surround him. ”

“ The day after the pope’s burial, that is, the tenth after his decease, the cardinals, having heard mass, invoke the Holy Ghost (as they term it) and go in procession two by two into the conclave, where they all meet in the chapel every morning and evening for a scrutiny, which is done by writing their suffrages in little billets, and putting them into a chalice that stands upon the altar: when all are put in, two cardinals are chosen by the rest to read those openly who are named, and to keep an account of the number of each, and this is done till two-thirds join for the same person ”

“ It had before happened that Cardinals suffered imprisonment at the hands of violence, but now it was decreed that they should always be immured as long as they were engaged in the sacred avocation of creating a Pope. It was ruled that on a Pope's decease ten days must. be allowed to elapse before his successor could be chosen, with the view of thriving time for Cardinals at a distance to come to Conclave; on the tenth day the Cardinals present could proceed to an election, the legitimacy of which could not be impugned on account of the absence of any colleagues. ”

“ On the tenth day the cardinals assemble in the forenoon in the choir chapel of St. Peter’s, where the dean of the Sacred College pontificates at a votive Mass of the Holy Ghost, after which the orator of the conclave—who, if a bishop, wears amice, cope, and mitre—is introduced into the chapel, and, after making the proper reverences, ascends a decorated pulpit and holds forth on the subject of electing an excellent pontiff: the pope is dead; long live the pope; the Papacy never dies! ”

“ In Rome there is a daily procession of the clergy from the Church of St. Lawrence in Damaso to St. Peter’s basilica (if the conclave be held in the Vatican) , chanting the litany of the saints and other prayers. When the procession arrives there a Mass de Spiritu Sancto is said by a papal chaplain in a temporary chapel fitted up near the main entrance to the conclave. The singing is by the papal choir. ”

“ But a crowd still collects morning and evening in the great square of St Peter’s, towards the time of the completion of the vote, to look for the smoke which rises from the burning of the voting-papers after each session; when the election has not been effected, a little straw is burnt with the papers, and the column of smoke then apprises the spectators that they have still no pope. Within the conclave, the cardinals, alone in the common hall, usually the Sistine chapel, proceed morning and evening to their double vote, the direct vote and the “accessit.” ”

“ Twice a day, at about the same hour every day till the election is achieved, this smoke, which is eagerly watched for by all Rome, and specially by the commandant of the Castle of St. Angleo, who is waiting to fire a salute for the new pope, tells the city that there is no pope yet. When the hour passes and no smoke is seen, it is known that the election is made, and the cannoneers fire away without waiting to know whom they are saluting.
There is no portion of the day or of the lives of the cardinals in conclave which is not regulated by a host of minute regulations and ceremonies. ”

“ MacKeenon follow us? He could.”
Fay hesitated. He went back over the scene in the great room where Saidee Isaacs had switched off the lights. “Yes, he could,” he admitted finally. “I wonder why he didn’t?”
Her hand grasped his overcoat sleeve. “I believe they found the cipher-key! Don’t you see—they must have found it!”
“They found something more important than us.”
“We’re going back!”
“No! I don’t think we had better do that.”
“Yes we are, Chester. We’re going back and give ourselves up. Isn’t your freedom less than the key to the cipher? Think what it will do to the world. ”

“ Okewood has the cipher, and the Man with the Clubfoot determines to secure it, for without that cipher it is impossible to discover the hiding-place of the treasure; but there is something that the Man with the Clubfoot does not know, whereas Okewood does. ”

“ Then the clouds rush to a common center, and there is a violent conflict of currents, driving clouds in every direction, up and down, round and round. Clouds like great sheets of white smoke dash about in a frightful manner, with such unnatural velocity that the observer is often panic-stricken, and flees to the nearest cellar for safety. Finally a black, threatening mass descends slowly toward the earth, whirling violently, but still manifesting confusion in form. This soon gives place to the peculiar funnel-like shape, with definite outline so well known. ”

“ These meanings usually include the letters of the alphabet and numerals, combinations of which being used to formulate necessary information. Combinations of elements of any system can also, however, be used to indicate any desired meaning.
With reference to period of visibility, signals are of two kinds, transient and permanent. A transient signal is one which disappears as soon as completed; [11] a permanent signal is one that remains in view for some time. Heliograph signals are transient signals, while signals made by code flags are permanent signals. ”

“ For amongst the contingencies which the imagination of busy minds has been fondest of looking to, as likely to prove the means for healing the rupture which has divided the Court of Rome from Italy, none has presented itself oftener than that Conclave which must follow on the death of Pius IX. The future Conclave has floated before the vision of many anxious inquirers as an inevitable but mysterious fact-looming on the political horizon with the same perplexingly impenetrable certainty with which the heavy mystery of death hangs over the boundaries of individual existence. ”

“ Of the terrible doubt of appearances,
Of the uncertainty after all, that we may be deluded,
That may-be reliance and hope are but speculations after all,
That may-be identity beyond the grave is a beautiful fable only,
May-be the things I perceive, the animals, plants, men, hills, shining and flowing waters,
The skies of day and night, colors, densities, forms, may-be these are (as doubtless they are) only apparitions, and the real something has yet to be known,
(How often they dart out of themselves as if to confound me and mock me! ”

“ Uncertainty is a fearful test, when it comes to the soul of a man of great and energetic purpose. So long as there is no doubt about the course to be taken, so long as the plan is plainly revealed, it is easy for a courageous man to advance. But to such a one uncertainty is like a shock to the body, palsying the form and changing a strong arm into a nerveless, useless stick of bone and tissue. A cup may be very bitter, salt with the brine of tears and hot with the fire of vitriol, and yet, if all the ingredients in that cup are known to him who drinks it, grief has not reached its superlative. ”

“ The cardinals might hear from every quarter around them the cry: "A Roman pope! if not a Roman, an Italian!" The cardinals replied, that such aged and reverend men must know the rules of the conclave; that no election could be by requisition, favor, fear, or tumult, but by the interposition of the Holy Ghost. To reiterated persuasions and menaces they only said: "We are in your power; you may kill us, but we must act according to God's ordinance. To-morrow we celebrate the mass for the descent of the Holy Ghost ”

“ Cardinals obliged to leave the conclave by ill-health, on sworn certificates of the two physicians who are shut up with them in conclave, may return to it, if able to do so, before the election is made. No censure or excommunication or deposition of any cardinal by the pope whose successor is to be elected can avail to deprive such cardinal of the right to take part in the conclave and in the election. No cardinal under pain of excommunication may say anything, or promise anything, or request anything, to or from another cardinal for the purpose of influencing him in the giving of his vote. ”

“ As soon as ever the ballot has furnished a return with a majority of two-thirds,—the scrutators have satisfied themselves, in the event of its being a bare majority, that this is not due to the successful candidate's own vote,—and he himself has accepted the choice fallen on him, the Conclave is declared at an end, the doors are thrown open to the world, and in the chapel, where all the canopies are instantly lowered, except that over the newly elected, the Pope receives the homage of the assembled Cardinals, which is called the first act of adoration. ”

“ There is scarcely any commercial industry whose successful existence does not vitally depend upon some one, perhaps several systems of signaling, and improvements of old and inventions of new signal devices are continually necessary to meet the requisite needs demanded by the progress of art and science. Railways are probably the greatest of all commercial users of signals. With them the great mass of intelligence is transmitted by the electric telegraph and telephone, but the flag, the semaphore, the signal light, and many other contrivances furnish indispensable visual adjuncts. ”

“ Exposures of this kind obviate to a great extent the difficulty of sun haze and should be secured when this difficulty is encountered and it is impracticable to change the azimuth of the station.
Altitude.—The location of signal stations at high altitudes will tend to obviate difficulties arising from smoke, haze, and dust. The undulation of the atmosphere noticeable on a hot summer's day is always less at a distance from the earth's surface, and it is often practicable to read signals from a tree or housetop when they would be unintelligible from the ground. ”

“ Signal stations should be convenient for messenger service and hence as near commonly traveled roads as the physical contour of the country will permit. Locations for signal stations should be so selected that the visual lines do not cross traveled roads, camps, etc., as dust and smoke in the daytime and lights at night are factors in determining the visibility of signals. Signal stations can if necessary be artificially concealed by erecting screens constructed of limbs of trees, etc., about the flanks and rear. Sheltered positions should be utilized in windy weather. ”

“ The commandment {236} presupposes that the Spirit can be quenched. Cold looks, contemptuous words, silence, studied disregard, go a long way to quench it. So does unsympathetic criticism.
Every one knows that a fire smokes most when it is newly kindled; but the way to get rid of the smoke is not to pour cold water on the fire, but to let it burn itself clear. If you are wise enough you may even help it to burn itself clear, by rearranging the materials, or securing a better draught; but the wisest thing most people can do when the fire has got hold is to let it alone ”

“ Very likely the smoke hurts their eyes; but the smoke will soon pass by; and it may well be tolerated in the meantime for the sake of the heat. For this apostolic precept takes for granted that fervour of spirit, a Christian enthusiasm for what is good, is the best thing in the world. It may be untaught and inexperienced; it may have all its mistakes to make; it may be wonderfully blind to the limitations which the stern necessities of life put upon the generous hopes of man: but it is of God; it is expansive ”

“ May we all be found, then, waiting more upon God—making the very difficulties of our day an occasion for drawing near to the mercy-seat, and then we shall not only exert a salutary influence in our respective spheres, but our own heart will be comforted and encouraged by private waiting upon our Father, for the promise has never yet failed, "They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength!" ”

“ Rebuked the fear of man.
We dwell with fears on either hand,
Within a daily strife,
And spectral problems waiting stand
Before the gates of life.
The doubts we vainly seek to solve,
The truths we know, are one ”

“ Shall pining captives in a beleaguered garrison, pressed by famine, decimated by disease, outnumbered by force—shall these light their beacon-fires of hope, and sit to the last by their smouldering ashes, struggling on, either till calm endurance win its recompence, or until hope and life expire together? And shall the spiritual builder, or merchant, or soldier, be left alone coward and faint-hearted, and give way to unworthy distrust, or pusillanimous despair ”

“ If I were to believe the rumours of Rome, we should have a pope to-morrow; but I am in a moment of discouragement, and I refuse to believe in such happiness. You can understand that that happiness is not political happiness, the joy of a triumph, but the happiness of being free and seeing you again. When I speak to you so much about the Conclave, I am like the people who have a fixed idea and who believe that the whole world is interested in that idea. And yet, in Paris, who thinks of the Conclave, who troubles about a pope or my tribulations? ”

“ In one scuffle indeed, a hot-headed fool who had with singular want of discretion engaged in a quarrel at too great a distance from his companions, got his thick wig somewhat unpleasantly shaved to the skull a hand’s breadth or more—a fortunate occurrence indeed as it turned out, since the sight of blood had the instantaneous effect of closing the senatorial proceedings of the great conclave, which had been all night sitting in deliberation, so that its members were yawning in a state of considerable exhaustion and owlish stupefaction. ”

“ If when we pass into the darkness we are going into a cave with no outlet at the other end, then there is no hope, and you may write over it Dante's grim word: 'All hope abandon, ye who enter here.' But let in that thought, 'surely there is an afterwards,' and the enclosed cave becomes a rock-passage, in which one can see the arch of light at the far end of the tunnel; and as one passes through the gloom, the eye can travel on to the pale radiance beyond, and anticipate the ampler ether, the diviner air, 'the brighter constellations burning, mellow moons and happy stars,' that await us there. ”

“ It often happens, that one is chosen pope, of whom nobody thought before; and this comes to pass, when the cardinals are tired out by so many intrigues, and are glad to get out of the conclave. It is also observed, that a pope often proves quite another man, when he comes to sit in the chair, than that he was before, when only a cardinal.
Ever since the time of Pope Sixtus IV., that is, since the year 1471, the popes have made it their business to enrich their families out of the Church revenues, of which there are very remarkable instances. ”

“ We awake to find done what our sleepy brains missed in the doing, and after months or years perceive ourselves in a second older by all that period. We are jogged by the elbow, roused ruthlessly and curtly bidden to look and see how we are changed, and wonder, weep, or smile as may seem best to us in face of the metamorphosis. A moment of such awakening came to me now; I seemed a man different from him who had, no great number of minutes before, hastened to the house, inspired by an insane hope, and aflame with a passion that defied reason and summed up life in longing. ”

“ After my ardent endeavour Came the delirious Joy, flooding my life like a sea, Days of delight that are burnt on the brain for ever and ever, Days and nights when you loved, before you grew weary of me. Softly the sunset decreases dim in the violet Distance, Even as Love's own fervour has faded away from me, Leaving the weariness, the monotonous Weight of Existence,— All the farewells in the world weep in the sound of the sea. ”

“ In a Symbol there is concealment and yet revelation: here therefore, by Silence and by Speech acting together, comes a double significance. And if both the Speech be itself high, and the Silence fit and noble, how expressive will their union be! Thus in many a painted Device, or simple Seal-emblem, the commonest Truth stands-out to us proclaimed with quite new emphasis.
'For it is here that Fantasy with her mystic wonderland plays into the small prose domain of Sense, and becomes incorporated therewith. ”

“ The 4-foot kit is the standard field flag kit and the range at which signals can be exchanged with it depends on a variety of factors, such as the condition of the weather, the location of stations, the proficiency of signalmen, etc. The speed for continuous signaling is seldom greater than five to six words per minute.
Care of flag material.—Signal flags should be examined at the close of drill or practice and repairs made to any rents or loose ties discovered. Flags, when soiled, should be thoroughly washed and dried in the sun. ”

“ He will enter in the proper places, at the head of the blank, the number of the message, the call letter of his station, with his personal signal, the check (number of words or groups of cipher contained in message, counting address and signature) , and, after "OK" has been received, he will enter the time the message was sent, and the call letter of the receiving station, with the personal signal of the receiving operator.
Order of transmission.—To transmit a message, the operator will send: (1) The number of message and call letter of his station; (2) his personal signal; (3) the check ”

“ It is a most impudent kind of sorcery to attempt to blind us with the smoke, without convincing us that the fire has existed. ”

“ Unconscious deception, exaggerated and distorted reports, defective and misleading observation have been demonstrated to be most potent reagents, whereby alleged miracles are made to throw off their mystifying envelopings and to leave a simple deposit of intelligible and often commonplace fact. That the methods of this or that medium have not been brought within the range of such explanation may be admitted, but the admission carries with it no bias in favor of the spiritualistic hypothesis. It may be urged, however, that where there is much smoke there is apt to be some fire ”

“ Poor players, who make a trick or two in playing, But know that death must win the game at last. As round the Fowler, red with feathered slaughter, The little joyous lark, unconscious, sings,— As the pink Lotus floats on azure water, Innocent of the mud from whence it springs. You walk through life, unheeding all the sorrow, The fear and pain set close around your way, Meeting with hopeful eyes each gay to-morrow, Living with joy each hour of glad to-day. I love to have you thus (nay, dear, lie quiet, How should these reverent fingers wrong your hair?) ”