Quiet day. I spent it in writing letters to Lord Russell and to the Consuls at Liverpool and Queenstown. These continue to make work for me. Mr Dudley is a very faithful man but he is a little impulsive. And I am afraid he has got into a serious difficulty with the government here. As to Mr Denier at the other place it is very clear that he is incompetent. The government has discovered it and has already requested me to name some person to succeed him. This work occupied me all day. No arrival from America, and the suspense is becoming more and more painful. I do not think since the beginning of the war I have felt so profoundly anxious for the safety of the country. In the evening Mrs Durant came in for a little while. I had visits from Sir Gore Ouseley and Sir Charles Lyell, in the afternoon.