Morning clear but cold with a sharp frost such as we do not often have so late. I spent an hour in coins and then attended divine service. Heard Dr. Frothingham preach from Hebrews 11. 35. “Women received their dead raised to life again: that they might obtain a better resurrection.” This is Easter Sunday, and the discourse was upon the resurrection. I did not however gather so much from it as from a very 24clear narrative discourse of Mr. Greenwood’s upon the same subject. His text from Matthew 28. 6. “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” He entered upon a description of the spot of the agony and burial, and then drew a rapid sketch of it’s history down thereby meaning to adduce additional evidence of the truth of the gospel history of the Resurrection. There was a neatness and accuracy of delineation joined with a high tone of moral reflection which made this on the whole one of the most interesting discourses I ever heard from the pulpit.

Read a Sermon of Buckminster upon the formation of habits. Jeremiah 13. 23. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.” Buckminster’s mind was a nicely discriminating one and his felicity of style enabled him very forcibly to describe his meaning. He wanted only a few years of experience to set him at the head of all English Sermon writers.

Wrote pretty steadily upon my letters to Mr. Biddle and having finished the first one, inclosed it to Mr. Buckingham with a proposal to publish. Will he do it?1 At Mr. Brooks’ for an hour and a half. P. R. Dalton there. Banking the talk. P. C. B. Jr. has just returned from New York where the Bank Convention has been sitting. I should judge from his talk that the majority of the Banks were at their old game. Mr. Gallatin was not popular with them and Mr. Biddle was. So it is. The Slough of Despond seems increasing. Home and continued writing.

Morning very cold for the season of the year. I felt obliged to go to Quincy but it was one of those cold blustering days when one would by far prefer to be at home.

The ride out was not bad, but the cold was such as to render it difficult to do much when there and to make the return in the face of the North wind uncomfortable enough. There seemed to be indications of progress however which encourage me. The masons were at work doing their last jobs at the fire places, but on the whole every thing was sufficiently discouraging. The Country is no place of attraction during our month of April. Glad to get home. The ground did not thaw in the sun today.

Afternoon, busy writing my papers. A thought struck me which ap-25peared to me of much value. T. K. Davis came in to tea and I read to him what I had by me, which he appeared to like. After he went, I finished the second and third numbers.