Heavy rain. At home all day and evening. Hoarseness and cold.

I found myself somewhat incommoded by my cold, how I caught 309which is far beyond my comprehension, but as the weather was very bad with a decided prospect of a North Easterly storm of some continuance I felt content to remain in the house and devote myself to my usual train of occupations.

Read a part of an article on the Bank of England in McCulloch’s Dictionary,1 and continued my work on the letters. After dinner I took up Menzel seriously and made great progress in his second volume. He writes well at times but evidently under strong prejudices and has all the national characteristics. Moreover his book makes me estimate the German mind rather below what I had done before. It wants practical basis, the thing which makes the English literature so useful as well as attractive.

Evening with my Wife at home. Read over several numbers in the last North American Review, very sensible. My father made a call to see how we did. We hear today by the Newspapers of the suspension of specie payments by the Baltimore Banks. This was no more than I expected.

Heavy rain. At home all day.

The rain continued to fall so heavily all day that I felt no inclination to go to town nor to try my cold by any movement out of doors. My time passed rapidly enough at home in reading some of McCulloch’s Article commenced yesterday, and in copying some farther articles as usual. I also looked over a file of letters with a view to selection. They are however of a later date and very few of them will bear publication yet. On the whole I have already obtained a pretty good stock of letters to begin with.

Afternoon continued Menzel with some assiduity. His account of history is interesting. Decidedly averse to the literary reputation of Muller whom he appears to me to treat too roughly. He is evidently full of prejudices—and political zeal.

My father came in for a moment in the evening to inquire how I did. My cold is better. Nothing new excepting that the Rhode Island Banks have all decided to suspend specie payments, and those of the District of Columbia.