Very hot. Office 10-12. Dictated a statement on the administration of new members. At 12, went to T. V.’s 【宋子文] rooms at his request. I arrived a few minutes before Hu Shih 【胡適] came. T. V. showed me his telegram to C. 【蔣中正], recommending that Hu Shih be made Premier and I Minister of Foreign Affairs. When Hu Shih arrived, T. V. showed C.’s reply, urging Hu and me to return at once, Hu to be Vice-P. and me to be Minister of Foreign Affairs. Hu Shih announced he had already replied to Yen 【閻錫山], rejecting the portfolio of Foreign Affairs. Although the cable was courteous, it was definite. Then I tried to press the larger project: that of a new cabinet. For some unknown reason, Hu was, today, more unreasonable than usual. He kept repeating his fears and his own sense of inadequacy. Told him that all he needed to be careful about was the conservation of his energies—denying himself to friends and the curious. He thrust out with a reminder of T. V.’s treatment of him while he was Ambassador in Washington. Finally, T. V. urged him to keep an open mind. Hu also related how he refused the offer of Ambassador by C. in the winter of 1947, how he advised C. not to appoint Wong 【翁文灝] Premier, how Wong’s monetary scheme turned out to be a crime, etc.
Afternoon, S.C. on admission.
As soon as the supper was over, I fell asleep.