This morning that we drove to the papal palace at eleven was as usual bright and warm. My English correspondent and his wife, both extremely intelligent, had been telling of the steady changes in Rome, its rapid modernization, the influence of the then Jewish mayor in its civic improvement and the waning influence of the Catholics in the matter of local affairs. “All Rome is probably Catholic,” he said, “or nearly so; but it isn’t the kind of Catholicism that cares for papal influence in political affairs. Why, here not long ago, in a public speech the mayor charged that the papacy was the cause of Rome’s being delayed at least a hundred years in its progress and there was lots of applause. The national parliament which meets here is full of Catholics but it is not interested in papal influence. It’s all the other way about. They seem to be willing to let the Pope have his say in spiritual matters but he can’t leave the Vatican and priests can’t mix in political affairs very much.” I thought, what a change from the days of Gregory VII and even the popes of the eighteenth century! The rooms of the Vatican devoted to the Pope--at least those to which the public is admitted at times of audience seemed to me merely large and gaudy without being impressive. One of the greatest follies of architecture, it seems to me, is the persistent thought that mere size without great beauty of form has any charm whatever. The Houses of Parliament in England are large but they are also shapely. As much might be said for the Palais Royal in Paris though not for the Louvre and almost not for Versailles. The Vatican is another great splurge of nothing--mere size without a vestige of charm as to detail. All I remember of my visit was that arriving at the palace entrance we were permitted by papal guards to ascend immense flights of steps, that we went through one large red room after another where great chandeliers swung from the center and occasional decorations or over-elaborate objects of art appeared on tables or pedestals. There were crowds of people in each room, all in evening dress, the ladies with black lace shawls over their heads, the men in conventional evening clothes. Over-elaborately uniformed guards stood about, and prelates of various degrees of influence moved to and fro. We took our station in a room adjoining the Pope’s private chambers where we waited patiently while various personages of influence and importance were privately presented.