I found this highly social and sociable party rather impatiently awaiting a reply to their formal, written proposals to the Vatican which had been turned over to a Commission of Cardinals. They were giving a fine imitation of outward leisurely poise, but among themselves they were expressing very definite opinions of the seemingly deliberate delays to which they were being subjected. Mr. Taft was anxious to sail for Manila on the 10th of July, and already had his passage booked on the Koenig Albert , but the immediate prospect seemed to be that he would be held in Rome for the rest of the summer.