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BELTEN, OR BALTEI^’■. 
the number of cardinal priests were anciently .fixed to twenty^eight, 
new titles were to be established, in proportion as new cardinals were 
created. The cardinal deacons were originally no more than seven- 
teen, for the fourteen quarters of Rome; but they were afterwards 
increased to nineteen, and after that were again diminished. Pope 
Pius IV. enacted, in 1562, that the pope should be chosen only by 
the senate of cardinals, exclusive of the clergy, in the time of Alex- 
ander III. in 1160. Others go higher still, and say, that Nicholas II. 
having been elected at Sienna, in 1058, by the cardinals alone, occa- 
sioned the right of election to be taken from the clergy and people 
of Rome ; only leaving them that of confirming him by their consent, 
which was at length likewise taken from them. At the creation of 
a new cardinal, the pope performs the ceremony of opening and shut- 
ting his mouth ; which is done in a private consistory. The shutting 
his mouth implies the depriving him of the liberty of giving his opinion 
in congregations ; and the opening his mouth, which is performed 
fifteen days after, signifies the taking off this restraint. If the pope 
happens to die during the time a cardinal’s mouth is shut, he can 
neither give his voice in the election of a new pope, nor be himself 
advanced to that dignity. 
Tim dress of a cardinal is a red soutanne, a rocket, a short purple 
mantle, and a red hat. The cardinals began to wear the red hat at 
the council of Lyons, in 1243. The decree of pope Urban VIII. 
where by it is appointed, that the cardinals be addressed under the 
title of Eminence, is dated 1630 ; till then, they were called Illustrus- 
simi. When cardinals are sent to the courts of princes, it is in 
quality of lcgates-a-latere4 and when they are appointed governors 
of towns, their government is called by the name of legation. 
Beltan, or Belteix. 
This is the name of a superstitious custom observed in the High- 
lands of Scotland. It is,” says Mr. Pennant, in his Tour, “ a kind of 
rural sacrifice performed by the herdsmen of every village on the 1st 
of May. They cut a square trench in the ground, leaving the turf iii 
the middle ; on that they make a fire of wood, on which they dress a 
large sandell of eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk ; and bring, besides 
the ingredients of the qaudle, plenty of beer and whisky, for each of 
the company must contribute something. The rites begin with spill- 
ing some of the caudle on the ground, by way of libation ; on that, 
every one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine square 
knobs, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver 
of their floeks and herds, or to some particular animal, the real 
destroyer of them : each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks 
off a knob, and, flinging it over his shoulder, says. This I give to thee, 
preserve thou my horses ; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep ; and so on. 
After that they use the same ceremony to the noxious animal. This I give 
to thee, O fox, spare thou my lambs ; this to thee, O hooded crow; this 
to thee, O eagle ! When the ceremony is over, they dine upon the caudle, 
and after the feast is finished, what is left, is had by two persons for that 
