Morning mild. A few more such days and vegetation will begin. I attended divine Service and heard Mr. Frothingham preach from Ezekiel 14. 9. “And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet.” A curious text like many of those which he selects. His reflections were upon the opening year, and the feelings awakened in various classes of persons by the event. His explanation of the text was a little in his way—ingenious and imaginative but not satisfactory. Afternoon Mr. Robbins1 from Job 22. 30. “He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.” An ingenious poetical discourse with not much of substance.

I read a discourse of Sterne’s, Psalm 45. 6.7. “O come, let us worship and fall down before him: for he is the Lord our God.” Upon the duty of prayer. A discourse which amounts to not much, but is respectable as Episcopal discourses generally are.

Evening I went out and called at Mr. Brooks’ but he was not at home so I returned. I still felt very stiff and my lungs experienced some little irritation but on the whole better. Dr. Bigelow came in for a few minutes. The children go on slowly with their cough. Continued to work upon my Lecture.

Wet and cloudy but still mild. I went to the Office where I sat down to work upon my Accounts. Drew up a portion of the Quarterly Account with my father, and packed up to deliver to the Post several copies of my Pamphlet. The Newspapers are still very mum about it but it touches. S. T. Armstrong stopped me today and said he proposed to write me a letter about it, to which I replied my strong desire that he would.

There are a few melancholy details respecting poor Thomas Adams that give me a turn of pain whenever I think of them. Such is life!

I continued my Accounts and took a walk. Herodotus. Afternoon, Correspondence secrète, but it is positively the last Afternoon I will waste in this manner. Evening at home. Lockhart. Scotts Journal of his trip to the Orkneys.1 Afterwards, finished my Lecture or at least the first draft of it.