Thermometer at 6.° that is, two degrees below any point reached at Washington, during the Winter. My morning was completely taken up with the visits of persons coming with every variety of reason why they wish to be provided for by Government. It is a little tedious to listen to all this, but I suppose it is the fate of place. I feel consoled with the reflection that I am not in a Department. At one o’clock I stopped the series and went down into the City to my son’s office, and to attend to some business matters. Mr Dana came in and dined with me, and we had a good deal of conversation on public affairs. In the evening I went with Henry and mary to the opera to hear a new piece of Verdi’s called Un ballo in Maschera. I did not relish it much. Perhaps the fault was in me. The prima donna, Madam Colson had a bad cold which affected her naturally thin voice. Bergnoli had not the kind of airs most favorable to his voice, and the others were mediocre. Home in snow.