Chilly weather continues. I went by invitation to breakfast with Mr Munchton Milnes at ten o’clock. A small company consisting of Mr Senior, Sir James Colville. Lord Robert Cecil, Lord Stanley, an Italian gentleman whose name I did not catch and myself. The room was very cold, but in all other respects the entertainment was the most instructive and profitable I have met with here. conversation literary and legal. The Italian exceedingly well informed. The mixture was curious but harmonized well. Latterly the subject of America was started on which I assumed as much of indifference as possible. Mr Senior seemed inquisitive about the condition of the Southern States, and wondered why their friends here did not furnish information. I remarked that their strength here lay in th suppression of all details about them. The picture would not bear examination. I had myself tried to obtain all particulars that I hope to get published ,and the effect had been to open the eyes of many. Lord Stanley though that the feeling here was more friendly than it had been since the spring and I inclined to believe it. Good news of the war is all that is needed to help us into high esteem even among the most malignant of the aristocracy. I left a twelve o’clock in order to go home and finish up my letters for the evening’s mails. A walk with my daughter Mary. And for once a quiet evening at home. Read more of the extraordinary history of a contemporaine. What a record!