A rainy day with a heavy southerly wind and gloomy as the close of the year and short days commonly are. I am sometimes a little depressed. Went to the Office. Time passed there very quietly. No interruption. Continued my Diary and finished the laborious part of it, the account of my absence which I have enjoyed more in the description than I did in the reality. I am prevented from walking very frequently and fear that I shall soon lose the decided improvement which has taken place in my health since my absence. Nothing material took place.

Afternoon looking at Papers as usual—An immense work and rather 31a perplexing one. I must look at the collections made by others and see how they are made. The MS require immediate attention for they will very soon discourage even my wishes. They will be a good Winter’s Work. Evening Mansfield Park. Miss Austen excels in dialogue and in sketching domestic pictures. But she indulges less in them and more in treatise writing in this work, whence it is not so happy. Read Werther which I am going through a second time for the German.

A fine day. I read German in the morning and then attended divine service. Heard Mr. Frothingham in the morning and Mr. Nathl. Hall in the afternoon.1 The first preached a Sermon for Communion drawn from the Text 1 Corinthians 11. 28. “But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.” His object principally to dispel the idea of unworthiness and the consequent disposition frequently occurring in the Christian world of canvassing the relative merits of individuals as claiming to partake of the ordinance. This is not my difficulty. I have never troubled myself with the consciences of other people. But I feel myself not beyond the possibility of weakness and error in after life, and I would not incur so early with my eyes open the violation of so solemn a pledge. This certainly adds nothing to the moral obligation of upright conduct, but it does in my mind increase the crime of failure to perform it.

Mr. Hall is a Cousin of my Wife and has devoted himself to the Ministry in spite of obstacles and discouragements which would have checked most men. He therefore comes forward with added inducements for exertion. His text today was from Philippians 3. 13,14 “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ.” The matter of this Sermon was not remarkable—The taste rather of the delicate than of the vigorous order. The manner solemn and impressive. I was on the whole quite pleased with him and was glad to consider his prospect of success considerable as such energy deserves to be rewarded.

I took a long walk today in which I recognized and conversed with Mr. Munson whom I met at New York in going on to Washington. Resumed my old practice today of reading a Sermon and selected the first of Barrow’s.2 Proverbs 3. 17. “Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace.” Her ways that is, the ways of wisdom or properly understood of religion. The whole Sermon was divided into 32heads and each destined to give some particular illustration of the text. I thought much of these was excellent, but the original definition of wisdom narrow and inadequate. That wisdom must be fully exercised in matters of practice is undoubtedly true, but that extends over the whole field of theory, that it founds itself upon the most extensive examination of thought, feeling and action seems to me to be equally certain. Nevertheless, as there is vigorous thought in Barrow I was pleased. Evening, P. C. Brooks Jr. came in for half an hour. Afterwards, Mansfield Park and Werther. I retired with a feeling of satisfaction at the full performance of my duties.