Missed Prayers this morning, the last Sunday in the Junior Year in which I have not attended one single one throughout. Whether this is an objection against my conduct I am not prepared to say nor whether I should have felt in the least degree better had I been able to say I had attended them all. After breakfast I read part of Pope’s correspondence with Gay, Arbuthnot and others. It is rather amusing but too formal, polished and complimentary for that sort of writing. He says he can trust nothing from his hands in the way of letters strictly confidential and evidently writes for the press. Some of his language I find very queer, many obsolete or ungrammatical words, the comparative degree used improperly, as deader &c. There are some very excellent observations however, interspersed, the letters from Lord Peterborow1 I like very well.

I attended Chapel to hear Dr. Ware in the morning give us a very short sermon upon the books of Moses, and the President, another upon Filial duty. This was one of his curious productions. He began by telling us that as we were most of us so soon to rejoin our parents, he could see no better season than this for inculcating reverence to parents, he then divided the subject into respect, gratitude, love and obedience, and repeated the arguments usually brought forward upon such occasions. For my own part my conscience was not affected by any of his observations so that I had leisure to amuse myself. I wrote my Journal also in the afternoon and continued Pope’s Correspondence.

After tea I went to walk with Dwight and Richardson and talked 291and laughed about nothing. I then went and paid a visit at Bartletts room for the first time for a great while. We had much argument there concerning the Officers of the next company when God knows whether there ever will be a next company. The Southern and Northern feeling will have a powerful conflict in that class. I was surprised to see Bartlett so tainted, but he takes impressions from the first man he meets with. I left him in great disgust and returned home. As it was early and I had nothing else to do, I continued the Correspondence of Pope and finished half a volume this Evening. I then read my Bible and retired. X.