s. He is a very nice, squinting old twaddle, and
we liked him. He asked us if we spoke Italian, and when we
modestly answered, a little, he began in the most desperately
unintelligible French I ever heard; so that, though no doubt he
said many excellent things, it was nearly impossible to
comprehend any of them; but he talked with interest of our King's
health, of the antiquities, and Vescovali, of Lucien Buonaparte
and his extortion (for his curiosities), said when he was
Cardinal he used to go often to Vescovali. He is, in fact, a
connoisseur. Talked of quieting religious dissensions in England
and the Catholic question; and when I said, 'Tres-Saint Pere, le
Roi mon maitre n'a pas de meilleurs sujets que ses sujets
catholiques,' his eyes whirled round in their sockets like
teetotums, and he grinned from ear to ear. After about a quarter
of an hour he bade us farewell: we kissed his hand and backed out
again. We then went to the Cardinal, whom I thanked warmly for
his prompt attention to my request in having given the passports
to _my protegees_. It is the etiquette in the Court of the
Quirinal for the servants to descend from behind the carriage,
and the horses to go a foot pace.

[7] [The Pope was Pius VIII. (Francisco Xavierio
Castiglioni), whose reign was a very short one, for he
succeeded Leo XII. in March 1829, and was succeeded by
Gregory XVI. in December, 1830.]

After this audience I took the passport to the Kellys. The mother
was in bed, but the girl came to me in a transport of gratitude
and joy. They went off in the evening to Florence. La Ferronays
advised me to send them off directly, for fear the priests should
begin to stir in the matter and raise fresh obstacles.

In the afternoon went to Gibson's, the sculptor. He is very
simple and intelligent, and appears to be devoted to his art.
There is a magnificent Venus, composed from various models, like
Zeuxis's statue of Juno at Crotona.

Quando Zeusi l'immagine far volse
Che par dovea nel tempio di Giunone,
E tante belle nude insieme accolse,
E per una farne in perfezione,
Da chi, una parte, e da chi, un' altra tolse.

May 31st, 1830 {p.383}

Yesterday the advocate to whom I had advised Mrs. Kelly to go
came to me, and said he could not understand what she said, and
she had desired him to call on me. I told him the story, and he
said he would look into it and