ns, and is making a waterfall. I dined with Lady
William Russell, and set off to go to Queen Hortense in the
evening, but found so few carriages in the court that we would
not go in.

[Page Head: THE SISTINE CHAPEL]

April 4th, 1830 {p.309}

To the Sistine Chapel for the ceremonies of Palm Sunday; we got
into the body of the chapel, not without difficulty; but we saw
M. de la Ferronays in his box, and he let us in (Morier and me).
It was only on a third attempt I could get there, for twice the
Papal halberdiers thrust me back, and I find since it is lucky
they did not do worse; for upon some occasion one of them knocked
a cardinal's eye out, and when he found who he was, begged his
pardon, and said he had taken him for a bishop. Here I had a fine
opportunity of seeing the frescoes, but they are covered
with dirt, the 'Last Judgment' neither distinguishable nor
intelligible to me. The figures on the ceiling and walls are very
grand even to my ignorance. The music (all vocal) beautiful, the
service harmoniously chanted, and the responsive bursts of the
chorus sublime. The cardinals appeared a wretched set of old
twaddlers, all but about three in extreme decrepitude--
Odescalchi, who is young and a good preacher, Gregorio, Capellari
[afterwards Pope Gregory XVI.]. On seeing them, and knowing that
the sovereign is elected by and from them, nobody can wonder that
the country is so miserably governed. These old creatures, on the
demise of a Pope, are as full of ambition and intrigue as in the
high and palmy days of the Papal power. Rome and its territory
are certainly worth possessing, though the Pontifical authority
is so shorn of its beams; but the fact is that the man who is
elected does not always govern the country,[15] and he is
condemned to a life of privation and seclusion. An able or
influential cardinal is seldom elected. The parties in the
Conclave usually end by a compromise, and agree to elect some
cardinal without weight or influence, and there are not now any
Sixtus the Fifths to make such an arrangement hazardous. Austria,
Spain, and France have all vetos, and Portugal claims and
exercises one when she can. To this degradation Rome is now
obliged to submit. The most influential of the cardinals is
Albani.[16] At the last election the Papal crown was offered to
Cardinal Caprara, but Albani stipulated that he should make him
Secretary of State; Caprara refused to promise, and Albani
procured the electio