The Diary
Chapter List

Chapter_2272

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12th. By coach to the Duke of Albemarle, where Sir W. Batten and I only met. Troubled at my heart to see how things are ordered there without consideration or understanding. Thence back by coach and called at Wotton’s, my shoemaker, lately come to town, and bespoke shoes, as also got him to find me a tailor to make me some clothes, my own being not yet in town, nor Pym, my Lord Sandwich’s tailor. So he helped me to a pretty man, one Mr. Penny, against St. Dunstan’s Church. Thence to the ’Change and there met Mr. Moore, newly come to town, and took him home to dinner with me and after dinner to talk, and he and I do conclude my Lord’s case to be very bad and may be worse, if he do not get a pardon for his doings about the prizes and his business at Bergen, and other things done by him at sea, before he goes for Spain. I do use all the art I can to get him to get my Lord to pay my cousin Pepys, for it is a great burden to my mind my being bound for my Lord in £1,000 to him. Having done discourse with him and directed him to go with my advice to my Lord express tomorrow to get his pardon perfected before his going, because of what I read the other night in Sir W. Coventry’s letter, I to the office, and there had an extraordinary meeting of Sir J. Minnes, Sir W. Batten, and Sir W. Penn, and my Lord Brouncker and I to hear my paper read about pursers, which they did all of them with great good will and great approbation of my method and pains in all, only Sir W. Penn, who must except against everything and remedy nothing, did except against my proposal for some reasons, which I could not understand, I confess, nor my Lord Brouncker neither, but he did detect indeed a failure or two of mine in my report about the ill condition of the present pursers, which I did magnify in one or two little things, to which, I think, he did with reason except, but at last with all respect did declare the best thing he ever heard of this kind, but when Sir W. Batten did say, “Let us that do know the practical part of the Victualling meet Sir J. Minnes, Sir W. Penn and I and see what we can do to mend all,” he was so far from offering or furthering it, that he declined it and said, he must be out of town. So as I ever knew him never did in his life ever attempt to mend anything, but suffer all things to go on in the way they are, though never so bad, rather than improve his experience to the King’s advantage. So we broke up, however, they promising to meet to offer some thing in it of their opinions, and so we rose, and I and my Lord Brouncker by coach a little way for discourse sake, till our coach broke, and tumbled me over him quite down the side of the coach, falling on the ground about the Stockes, but up again, and thinking it fit to have for my honour some thing reported in writing to the Duke in favour of my pains in this, lest it should be thought to be rejected as frivolous, I did move it to my Lord, and he will see it done tomorrow. So we parted, and I to the office and thence home to my poor wife, who works all day at home like a horse, at the making of her hangings for our chamber and the bed. So to supper and to bed.