The morning opened cloudy and it soon began to rain which lasted all the day more heavily than ever. The season is remarkable for coldness and rain, and this is very bad for me inasmuch as my house suf-248fers thereby. I went up to it to see the man who was putting the Pump in, but he was soon obliged to desist from work, and I had rather a bad time getting home.

Occupied myself reading Tocqueville and Wielands History of the Abderites1 as well as some of the third book of Homer. After the excitement and exhaustion of last week and the turmoil in which we have been kept it is refreshing to get into a quiet, retired place and dwell in antiquity and beautiful pictures. I enjoy it as a relief from anxieties both public and private. The day passed without further comment.