Milder and more damp. I was occupied this morning in reading until divine service which I attended all day. Mr. Frothingham preached from 1. Kings 17. 14. “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.” Patience, perseverance, submission. This was the substance of the discourse. Matthew 13. 33. “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened.” I was unable in the afternoon wholly to fix my attention. But the general subject may be gathered from the text as applied to the doctrines of Christianity which from so small an origin have spread so extensively over the earth.

On my return home I read a discourse of Dr. Barrow’s from Psalm 119. 60. “I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments.” The subject the necessity of a speedy and thorough performance of duty. And the consideration of the various subterfuges resorted to for the purpose of excusing indulgence.

Wrote a letter to my father, short,1 and in the evening after Thomas Frothingham who took tea here had gone, I went with my Wife to see her brother Edward and his Wife. Mr. Alexander the Painter was there. Conversation about pictures. Home early.