Fine clear day. I went to the Office and passed my time very quietly reading the small talk of Mr. Taylor’s book. There is something amusing in it, just as there is in a panorama of moving figures. The motion and variety pleases even where we take no interest whatever in the individuals. What a view of human nature. He praises few and censures many yet without any malice, for he is evidently a Courtier and has been a Legacy hunter.

Walk and home. I finished the copy of Lincoln’s letter this afternoon, but I mean to try after an alteration before it finally goes. Read part of the profound work of Lord Bacon, the Novum Organum. A wonderful mind. My Wife now sits for two hours of the evening with me, but retires early on account of the fatigue of the child. The election rages.