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Jan.
Prussian officer. Father brought in a book to day containing an article upon Architecture He was commencing to read it aloud when Madame G. came in to the parlor. In a conversation with her He said that when he was seven or eight years of age he left his home to live for a time with his grandmother in the country He returned to the city from a different direction from that in which he left it & the house appeared to be on the wrong side of the street so that now when he looks back all his life before seven years of age seems to him to have been passed upon one side of the street & the rest of his live spent in the same house upon the other. He mentioned this to show the permanence of an impression upon the mind. Another lecture from Prof [[Guyot?]]. Mr. [[Erlich?]] & wife came in after the lecture.

Jan. 8th   Count [[Pataleas?]] passed the evening with us.
" 10th. Sat.  Father & Prof Guyot have gone to the club. I have not had much time to read the papers this week as the house has been filled with company. The excitement is great in regard to the siege of Vicksburg but it is very difficult to know certainly the state of affairs. As far as we can learn the fighting has been very severe. Gen Sherman appears to have done well. Father said to day to Prof Guyot that he had never been much of a politician until his attention
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Jan 10th,   was directed to Meteorology that led him to study climatology, the productions of the earth & political economy & He had come to the conclusion several years before in Princeton that we could hardly hold together as a nation more that 25 ^years longer. Our prosperity he thought had been due to our great extent of country to the quantity of food, enough & to spare for all men. but now we could spread no further the extent of arable land in the West was not as great as supposed. The struggle for life was commencing, we were increasing with fearful rapidity as every year each member of society must interfere ^more & more with every ^other member so that the government ought to be proportionably strengthened. We needed good men now not many & the encouragement of great foreign immigration he thought a mistake. 

France has not yet recognised the Southern Confederacy. There has been a severe battle at Murfreesboro Tenn. Gen. Rosecrans being in command of our forces & Gen. Johnston leading the confederates. Victory was in our favor but the loss on both sides was terrible. Gen. Banks & Com. Farragut are Gen. Shermans assistants at Vicksburg. The Monitor, the gallant antagonist of the Merrimac has gone down with nearly all her crew. She foundered at sea off Cape Hatteras.

Jan. 24th. Sat.     Prof Guyot & Madame Sandoz left us on Thurs. We have enjoyed their visit very much. Prof
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