Alternations of snow and rain and sunshine making it uncomfortable out of doors. The letters and newspapers came from America, and employed me much of the morning. I am conscious however at this time of a momentary reaction of a singular nature. The strain caused by my son’s presence in the army being taken off, and that produced by the negotiation through Mr Russell having ceased, it seems as if I had nothing at hand to fill the void. The American papers show the decline of interest in the progress of the war, and a growing excitement in domestic politics. At this distance all that we can do is patiently await the issue of events. My relaxation consists in the study of numismatics. I have now produced a set of money scales in which I am studying the weight of the respective coins—a department of investigation never touched by me before. Yet it is essential to a comprehension of the history of courage of the precious metals, especially, as well as of the genuineness of particular coins, in antiquity. Mr Bowles called to take his leave. He reports that Mr Bates has consented to take the lead in the sanitary commission organization, and all the rest will probably follow. He has managed with some adroitness the discordant elements of the American society here. Walk with Brooks and visit Messr Hunt and Roshell’s to see the Welsh present of Jewels to the Princess of Wales. It was a bracelet and stomacher made of diamonds and emeralds, not an agreeable combination to the eye, and as it seemed to me heavy and tasteless. The person in attendance showed us some of his other ornaments of the same description which were much more elegant. Some of them costing six to eight thousand pounds—the caprices of superfluous wealth. Evening, a reception at Lady Shaw LeFevre’s not large, but embracing several of my acquaintance.597