Sunday March 8th 1863
Rained again today most of the time and I have kept my room till near night. I went down to Maj Williams and spent an hour and then came back to tea after which I attended religious Services at the Colored Church on 11th st. A white man preach[ed] a very good discourse and the services were conducted throughout with as much propriety as is usual in any other church. The singing was not as artistic but quite as melodious. The Church was crowded to excess and it soon became very warm. There was quite a sprinkling of white folks who were there like myself out of curiosity. I could not but remark that nothing occured in the Sermon or during the exercises to indicate the Color or condition of the audience. The people were very respectably dressed and among the females crinolines were quite as plenty as in other churches. The morning paper contains no news. The Gold Speculators have “caught it” awfuly, the article having fallen within the past week from 172 to 150. Mr Chase has almost unlimited power now to control the finances of the Nation and can Issue money (paper) to meet all contingencies likely to occur for the next year, the probability is that “green backs” will be our circulating medium henceforth.