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Street, about money, to enable me to pay Sir G. Carteret's £3000 which he hath lodged in my hands, in behalf of his son and my Lady Jemimah, towards their portion. Mrs. Rawlinson is dead of the sickness, and her maid continues mighty ill. He himself is got out of the house. I met with Mr. Evelyn in the street, who tells me the sad condition at this very day at Deptford, for the plague, and more at Deale, within his precinct, as one of the Commissioners for sick and wounded seamen, that the towne is almost quite depopulated.

10th. Homeward, and hear in Fenchurch Streete, that now the maid is also dead at Mr. Rawlinson's; so that there are three dead in all, the wife, a man-servant, and maid-servant. Pleased to hear of Mrs. Barbara Sheldon's good fortune, who is like to have Mr. Wood's son, the mast-maker, a very rich man, and to be married speedily, she being already mighty fine upon it.

12th. I and my wife up to her closet, to examine her kitchen accounts, and there I took occasion to fall out with her, for her buying a laced handkercher and pinner without my leave. From this we began both to be angry, and so continued till bed.

13th. Up, without being friends with my wife, nor great enemies, being both quiet and silent. To Paul's churchyard, to treat with a bookbinder to come and gild the backs of all my books, to make them handsome, to stand in my new presses.

14th. (Thanksgiving day.)1 Comes Mr. Foly and his man with a box of great variety of carpenter's and joyner's tooles, which I had bespoke, which please me mightily, but I will have more. Povy tells me how mad my letter 1 In honour of the naval success.

makes my Lord Peterborough, and what a furious letter he hath writ to me in answer, though it is not come yet. This did trouble me; for, though there be no reason, yet to have a nobleman's mouth open against a man, may do a man hurt; so I endeavoured to have found him out and spoke with him, but could not. So to the chapel, and heard a piece of the Dean of Westminster's1 sermon, and a speciall good anthemne before the King, after sermon. After dinner, with my wife and Mercer to the Beare Garden; where I have not been, I think, of many years, and saw some good sport of the bull's tossing of the dogs: one into the very boxes. But it is a very rude and nasty pleasure. We had a great many hectors in the same box with us, and one very fine went into the pit, and played his dog for a wager, which was a strange sport for a gentleman; where they drank wine, and drank Mercer's health first; which I pledged with my hat off. We supped at home, and very merry. And then about nine to Mrs. Mercer's gate, where the fire and boys expected us, and her son had provided abundance of serpents and rockets; and there mighty merry, my Lady Pen and Pegg going thither with us, and Nan Wright, till about twelve at night, flinging our fireworks, and burning one another, and the people over the way. And, at last, our businesses being most spent, we went into Mrs. Mercer's, and there mighty

1 John Dolben, afterwards Archbishop of York.

2 The Bear-Garden was situated on Bankside, close to the precinct of the Clinke Liberty, and very near to the old palace of the Bishops of Winchester. The name still exists in a street or lane at the foot of Southwark Bridge. This old English but barbarous sport, which had been suppressed by the Puritans, was revived at the Restoration.

merry, smutting one another with candle grease and soot, till most of us were like devils. And that being done, then we broke up, and to my house; and there I made them drink, and upstairs we went, and then fell into dancing, W. Batelier dancing well; and dressing, him and I, and one Mr. Banister, who, with my wife, come over also with us, like women; and Mercer put on a suit of Tom's, like a boy, and mighty mirth we had, and Mercer danced a jigg; and Nan Wright and my wife and Pegg Pen put on perriwigs. Thus we spent till three or four in the morning, mighty merry ; and then parted, and to bed.

15th. Mighty sleepy; slept till past eight of the clock, and was called up by a letter from Sir W. Coventry; which, among other things, tells me how we have burned one hundred and sixty ships of the enemy within the Fly. I up, and with all possible haste, and in pain for fear of coming late, it being our day of attending the Duke of York, to St. James's, where they are full of the particulars; how they are generally good merchant-ships, some of them laden and supposed rich ships. We spent five fire-ships upon them. We landed on the Schelling, Sir Philip Howard with some men, and Holmes, I think, with others, about 1000 in all, and burned a town; and so come away. By and by the Duke of York, with his books, showed us the very place and manner and that it was not our design and expectation to have done this, but only to have landed on the Fly, and burned some of their stores; but, being come in, we spied those ships, and with our long boats, one by one, fired them, our ships running all a-ground, it being so shoal water. We were led to this by, it seems,

VOL. III.

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a renegado captain of the Hollanders, who found himself ill used by De Ruyter for his good service, and so come over to us, and hath done us good service; so that now we trust him, and he himself did go on this expedition. The service is very great, and our joys as great for it. All this will make the Duke of Albemarle in repute again, I doubt. Down the river, reading “ The Adventures of five houres," which, the more I read, the more I admire. The guns of the Tower going off, and there being bonfires also in the street for this late good successe.

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16th. This day Sir W. Batten did show us at the Table a letter from Sir T. Allen, which says, that we have taken ten or twelve ships, since the late great expedition of burning their ships and town, laden with hemp, flax, tar, deals, &c. This was good news; but by and by comes in Sir G. Carteret, and he asked us with full mouth what we would give for good news. Says Sir W. Batten, "I have better than you, for a wager." They laid sixpence, and we that were by were to give sixpence to him that told the best news. So Sir W. Batten told his of the ten or twelve ships. Sir G. Carteret did then tell us that, upon the news of the burning of the ships and town, the common people of Amsterdam did besiege De Witt's house, and he was forced to flee to the Prince of Orange, who is gone to Cleve, to the marriage of his sister. This we concluded all the best news, and my Lord Brouncker and myself did give Sir G. Carteret our sixpence a-piece, which he did give Mr. Smith to give to the poor. Thus we made ourselves mighty merry.

17th. Down by water to Woolwich, and had a piece

of bridecake sent me by Mrs. Barbary1 into the boate after me, she being here at her uncle's, with her husband, Mr. Wood's son, and mighty nobly married. They say she was very fine, and he very rich-a strange fortune for so odd a looked maid, though her hands and body be good, and nature very good, I think. With Captain Erwin, discoursing about the East Indys, where he hath often been. And, among other things, he tells me how the King of Syam seldom goes out without thirty or forty thousand people with him, and not a word spoke, nor a hum or cough in the whole company to be heard. He tells me, the punishment frequently there for malefactors, is cutting off the crowne of their head, which they do very dexterously, leaving their brains bare, which kills them presently. He told me what I remember he hath once done heretofore; that every body is to lie flat down at the coming by of the King, and nobody to look upon him upon pain of death. And that he and his fellows, being strangers, were invited to see the sport of taking a wild elephant ; and they did only kneel, and look towards the King. Their druggerman2 did desire them to fall down, for otherwise he should suffer for their contempt of the King. The sport being ended, a messenger comes from the King, which the druggerman thought had been to have taken away his life; but it was to enquire how the strangers liked the sport. The druggerman answered, that they did cry it up to be the best that ever they saw, and that they never heard of any Prince so great in every thing as this King. The messenger being gone back, Erwin and his company asked their drug

1 Sheldon.

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2 Dragoman.

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