The bar regarding those few instances of two simultaneous English cardinals (Notebook 1 March, Letters 8 March) has perhaps been set too low. From 1879 until 1887 there were, in fact, three English ­car­dinals – Manning, Howard and Newman – elevated respectively in 1875, 1877 and 1879. Newman received his biglietto in Cardinal Edward Howard’s palazzo in Rome on 12 May 1879. Howard was later appointed Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati. As a young diplomat in Rome, my grandfat