Morning pleasant. I went to the Office and was occupied mostly by Mr. Walsh who came in and entered upon a discussion which lasted a great while. He is quite an intelligent man and when at leisure I like to talk with him. We discussed today the old pamphlet of Alexander Hamilton against my Grandfather,1 one of the series of belligerent measures in which we have for two generations been involved. When I reflect upon this state of war and turbulence which has heretofore 359attended us, I do not think I can pursue it. The task is so painful a one. Yet what is the consequence to myself? Degeneracy and voluntary sloth.

Walk to the Athenaeum and then a little way round. Home, Livy. Afternoon, Sismondi and Corneille. The Cid is a singular mixture of nervous versification and artificial love conceits, of romantic heroism and boasting pomposity. De la Motte Fouqué, a curious story which I do not yet find any way to unravel.

Evening, Madame Junot. I have looked into various works for the purpose of getting a clearer notion of her husband’s character and find it is not very good. She herself admits as much. Swift’s Journal to Stella, the oddest of things.

Morning mild. I amused myself reading the second part of the backwoods of Canada which is quite interesting. Alas! Alas! that stern necessity should drive men to the limits of civilization to hew out for themselves a new creation—So it is. The crimes, the wars and the debts of thousands of years press upon the latest generation with amazing force, and compels it to begin the work of social organization anew.

Attended divine service and heard Mr. Frothingham from Ecclesiastes 12. 7. “Then shall the dust return to the earth, as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” A magnificent thought which embodies all that can be said upon the subject. Mr. Frothingham used it to introduce some pathetic reflections upon a late case of death in his parish, Miss Homer, which brought tears from most of his female hearers. Walk. Mr. Walsh dined with me.

Afternoon, Jeremiah 12. 5. “If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses; and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan.” He explained the last phrase to mean the sudden incursion of wild beasts when driven by the flood from their customary hiding places. But I lost the train of most of the Sermon.

Read a discourse of Dr. Barrow in continuation of that last Sunday and upon the same text. He pursues the subject of the prevailing motives to a concealment of piety, as for example, the desire of being courteous, and deference to the opinions of others, dislike of singu-360larity and prudential considerations. Evening, we went down to see Mr. Brooks. Nobody there but himself and his son and daughter. Evening middling. Home early.