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DIARY 169

After this I attended on the session of the House; next hunted up some Senate Documents concerning Oregon. After supper, I carried my reply to the Vancouver letter to the In- telligencer office for publication, and then came home and went to copying the Journals of the House relative to Oregon. About half past seven I went up to the President's, as it was reception night, when everyone who pleases has access to the White House and is allowed to promenade [in] the East Room and the halls. It was quite a showy time. I next came home and copied more journals, and went to bed about 12 M.

December 22, 1849 This morning I read the papers and copied a letter which I wrote Mr. Collamer, Postmaster Gen'l, and directed some papers to my constituents. I then went to the session of the House, where I remained till about six o'clock. Today a resolution passed to ballot three times, and if no one was elected Speaker in that time, then he who had the highest number of votes on the 4th ballot was to be elected. On the 1st ballot Cobb had 95, Winthrop 90 ; 2nd ballot, Howell Cobb had 95 and Winthrop 96 ; 3rd ballot, Cobb had 97, Win- throp 97; 4th ballot, Cobb had 102 and Winthrop had 100, after which Stanley offered a resolution declaring Cobb duly elected, which prevailed, some 31 voting against it. In the evening I copied from the Journals of 1 ses. 29th Con., and went to bed at 12 o'clock.

December 23rd, 1849 This morning, being Sunday, we did not have breakfast till about 9 o'clock, immediately after which I went to class meeting and presented my letter of admittance to Br. Purcell. Next after this I went to the Wesleyan Chapel and listened to a professor of Dickinson College who preached from John, 3rd chapter, and I think first verse : "What manner of love hath he bestowed on us that we should be called the sons of God." The sermon labored to show our duty to God, illustrating by the relations of father and children on earth. By his position it would seem that until after the advent of Christ, no one of the Jews was ever in the habit of calling God his father, but that, until that time, the relation was con- sidered more like that of servant. He also illustrated the