“March 17. Mr. Fenimore Cooper and family are here.  I have passed many pleasant hours with them, particularly one beautiful moonlight evening visiting the Coliseum.  After the Holy Week I shall visit Naples, probably with Mr. Theodore Woolsey, who is now in Rome.

“March 18. Ceremonies at the Consistory; delivery of the cardinals’ hats.  At nine o’clock went to the Vatican; two large fantails with ostrich feathers; ladies penned up; Pope; cardinals kiss his hand in rotation; address in Latin, tinkling, like water gurgling from a bottle.  The English cardinal first appeared, went up and was embraced and kissed on each cheek by the Pope; then followed the others in the same manner; then each new cardinal embraced in succession all the other cardinals; after this, beginning with the English cardinal, each went to the Pope, and he, putting on their heads the cardinal’s hat, blessed them in the name of the Trinity.  They then kissed the ring on his hand and his toe and retired from the throne.  The Pope then rose, blessed the assembly by making the sign of the cross three times in the air with his two fingers, and left the room.  His dress was a plain mitre of gold tissue, a rich, garment of gold and crimson, embroidered, a splendid clasp of gold, about six inches long by four wide, set with precious stones, upon his breast.  He is very decrepit, limping or tottering along, has a defect in one eye, and his countenance has an expression of pain, especially as the new cardinals approached his toe.[1]

[Footnote 1:  This was Pope Pius VIII.]

“The cardinals followed the Pope two and two with their train-bearers.  After a few minutes the doors opened again and a procession, headed by singers, entered chanting as they went.  The cardinals followed them with their train-bearers; they passed through the Consistory, and thus closed the ceremony of presenting the cardinals’ hats.

“A multitude of attendants, in various costumes, surrounded the pontiff’s throne during the ceremony, among whom was Bishop Dubois of New York....

“Academy of St. Luke’s:  Raphael’s skull; Harlow’s picture of the making of a cardinal; said to have been painted in twelve days; I don’t believe it.  ‘The Angels appearing to the Shepherds,’ by Bassan—­good for color; much trash in the way of portraits.  Lower rooms contain the pictures for the premiums; some good; all badly colored.  Third Room:  Bas-reliefs for the premiums.  Fourth Room:  Smaller premium pictures; bad.  Fifth Room:  Drawings; the oldest best, modern bad.

“Friday, March 19. We went to St. Peter’s to see the procession of cardinals singing in the Capella.  Cardinals walked two and two through St. Peter’s, knelt on purple velvet cushions before the Capella in prayer, then successively kissed the toe of the bronze image of St. Peter as they walked past it.