the King of France that nobody else would, and yet no man upon a defence, he being all fury and no judgment in a fight He tells me above all of the Duke of York, that he is more himself and more of judgment is at hand in him in the middle of a desperate service, than at other times, as appeared in the business of Dunkirke, wherein no man ever did braver things, or was in hotter service in the close of that day, being surrounded with enemies, and then, contrary to the advice of all about him, his counsel carried himself and the rest through them safe, by advising that he might make his passage with but a dozen with him, ‘For,’ says he, ‘the enemy cannot move after me so fast with a great body, and with a small one we shall be enough to deal with them and though he is a man naturally martiall to the hottest degree, yet a man that never in his life talks one word of himself or service of his own, but only that he saw such or such a thing, and lays it down for a maxime that a Hector can have no courage He told me also, as a great instance of some men, that the Prince of Condé’s excellence is, that there not being a more furious man in the world, danger in fight never disturbs him more than just to make him civill, and to command in words of great obligation to his officers and men, but without any the least disturbance in his judgment or spirit.

6th By barge with Sir W Batten to Trinity House Here were my Lord Sandwich, Mr Coventry, my Lord Craven, and others A great dinner, and good company Mr Prin also, who would not drink any health, no, not the King’s, but sat down with his hat on all the while, but nobody took notice of it to him at all.

11th With my wife only to take the ayre, it being very warm and pleasant, to Bowe and Old Ford and thence to Hackney There light, and played at shuffleboard, eat cream and good cherries and so with good refreshment home.

13th Spent the whole morning reading of some old Navy books, wherein the order that was observed in the Navy then, above what it is now, is very observable.

15th At home, to look after things for dinner And anon at noon comes Mr Creed by chance, and by and by the three young ladies³⁴ and very merry we were with our pasty, very well baked, and a good dish of roasted chickens, pease, lobsters, strawberries And after dinner to cards and about five o’clock, by water down to Greenwich, and up to the top of the hill, and there played upon the ground at cards And so to the Cherry Garden, and then by water singing finely to the Bridge, and there landed, and so took boat again, and to Somerset House And by this time, the tide being against us, it was past ten of the clock, and such a troublesome passage, in regard of my Lady Paulina’s fearfullness that in all my life I never did see any poor wretch in that condition Being come hither, there waited for them their coach, but it being so late, I doubted what to do how to get them home After half an hour’s stay in the street, I sent my wife home by coach with Mr Creed’s boy, and myself and Creed in the coach home with them But, Lord! the fear that my Lady Paulina was in every step of the way and indeed at this time of the night it was no safe thing to go that road, so that I was even afraid myself, though I appeared otherwise We come safe, however, to their house, where we knocked them up, my Lady and all the family being in bed So put them into doors, and leaving them with the maids, bade them good night.

16th The talk upon the ’Change is, that De Ruyter is dead, with fifty men of his own ship, of the plague, at Cales³⁵ that the Holland Embassador here do endeavour to sweeten us with fair words, and things like to be peaceable.

20th I to the Duke, where we did our usual business And among other discourse of the Dutch, he was merrily saying how they print that Prince Rupert, Duke of Albemarle, and my Lord Sandwich, are to be Generalls, and soon after is to follow them ‘Vieux Pen’ and so the Duke called him in mirth Old Pen They have, it seems, lately wrote to the King, to assure him that their setting-out ships was only to defend their fishing-trade, and to stay near home, not to annoy the King’s subjects, and to desire that he would do the like with his ships which the King laughs at, but yet is troubled they should think him such a child, to suffer them to bring home their fish and East India Company’s ships, and then they will not care for us To my Lord’s lodgings, and were merry with the young ladies, who made a great story of their appearing before their mother the morning after we carried them, the last week, home so late, and that their mother