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1863
April
25th.
employed as nurses. She was very sorry to hear Mary Felton was here in that capacity. We expect Father to night. He went to New York partly on Naval Commission business but also to attend the meeting for the formation of the National Academy. We saw by the papers on Wed. he presided. We have not received a letter from him since he left.

Mon. 27th.     Father arrived about six o'clock. His visit in N.Y. was pleasant. He was appointed to preside at the meetings for the formation of the National Academy but declined all permanent office, since being virtually President of the Smithsonian, he would have much [[business?]] to transact with the Academy & could not therefore be very well one of its officers. Father expressed to the Academy, his estimation of the great responsibility of the Institution how important it was that every member should be hard working. Should any fail to bring forth [[fruits?]], they should be excluded & their places supplied by those who hearty exertions would [[favor?]] the cause of science.
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April
27th.
Father said the giving of the oath of Allegiance was very impressive. It was first administered to him by prof. Caswell. After which in his office of presiding he gave it to the 33 members present. they all standing & repeating it after him. Some objections were made to the oath at first on the ground that as it excluded from the Society all who had ever taken up arms against the government. Southern [[Secessionists?]] should our country be united would be debarred from being members, this difficulty was settled by the agreement that the oath should be the same as that of the Senate & change when that changed.

Thursday
31st.
I find I have made a mistake of a day or two in my dates this month somewhere I must be more careful in future. This is [[Fast?]] Day we attended church in the morning heard a sermon not at all tended to excite humility since the clergyman spent a least an hour in [[debating?]] upon our grandeur, our extent our immeasurable superiority over all nature our eneffable ^greatness past present & to come. In the evening we went to hear Mr. Sunderland who in a notice in the Intelligencer & other papers had signified his intention of "[[displaying/defining?]] his position" his church might be disintegrated
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